Phelps City was platted in 1868. The community was named for Willis Phelps, one of the owners of the town site. A post office was established at Phelps City in 1868, and remained in operation until 1954. The settlement is located along the main line of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, and there was a train station called Phelps Station. In 1904, there were a couple dozen homes and two churches in the town. The Missouri River floods of the 2010s, especially the 2019 flood, heavily affected this community and largely led to its diminution. The BNSF Railway still runs trains daily through Phelps on the Napier Subdivision.
accepted the position of night agent at Langdon, Mo., which position he held until October, 1892. He was then transferred to East Leavenworth, Mo., at which place he was station agent until June 20, 1894. From there he removed to Langdon, where he was station agent until Sept. 4, 1901. He then went to Phelps City, Mo., in the same capacity, where he was stationed until in 1904, when he was returned to East Leavenworth as station agent, and he is yet at that place in that capacity.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
iempleton first began practicing in his profession in 1878 and first “hung oat his shingle” at Nishnabotna, Mo. Later he located in Rock Port, where he remained until in 1885, when he went to Langdon, Mo., to practice his profession and conduct a drug store for Dr. Richard Buckham. In 1887 he located at Phelps City, Mo., where he has since prac¬ ticed in his profession, enjoying a good practice. In 1897 he engaged in the drug business at Phelps City and he is at present conducting that business.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Phelps City, 1868 to 1954
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
2025
