Mound City was founded in 1855. It was named from Sugar Mound nearby, a hill covered with sugar maple trees.
During the Civil War, a military post was established at Mound City. On October 25, 1864, Mound City was attacked twice by Confederates retreating south after their defeat at the Battle of Westport. The military post was closed and abandoned in June 1865 after the end of the war.
base of Sugar Mound to the south bank of Little Sugar Creek, they laid out their town site and proclaimed to the world that they were there to welcome people of like views and to defy their foes. Mound City thus became a center of free-state activities. A mile north on the stage road was the old town of Moneka, at and around which had gathered another settlement of free-state men. Between these two towns there was a common bond of political interest, although
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Then in 1859 Mound City opened the county-seat question, and the result of the ballot was a small majority in its favor. Paris set up a howl and announced its intention to contest the election. After the result was known the friends of Mound City, with a plentiful supply of teams, and accompanied by Colonel Jennison, with a howitzer and a band of determined horsemen, appeared on the public square at Paris and moved the county-seat down to Mound City. This coup
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Mound City, 1855 to 1885
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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