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Deerfield, Missouri

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1884 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Deerfield Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64741. It stands on Hackberry Branch. The Survey maps it on the Deerfield quadrangle. 40 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 781 feet above sea level.

Deerfield within Vernon County

Population over time

2 figures

Deerfield fell from 81 to 40 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201081
202040-41 (-51%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 24 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Deerfield township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Vernon County, Missouri : Past and Present, Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1911 - Deerfield Township

Schell City Public School

down into Vernon county on a marauding expedition. They first visited the residence of Col. Smiley H. Sample, who lived on the Fort Scott and Nevada road, a mile northwest of Prewitt. He had a considerable sum of money which his wife secured and hid away when she first heard the robbers. Colonel Sample was called out and shot down while standing on his cellar door.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

2,685 words on this township

History of Vernon County, Missouri : Past and Present, Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1911 names this settlement in its chapter on Deerfield Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Deerfield township comprises all of township 35, range 32. It lies between the two Dry woods and immediately south of the Marmaton, and is therefore bordered with timber on three sides. A central portion of the township is gently rolling prairie, abound¬ ing in fine fertile farms.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Missouri : Past and Present, Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1911.

The first settlers in this township were Col. George Douglass, who came to the north side of the Marmaton (northeast quarter section 6), a mile northeast of Deerfield, in May, 1834; Abram Redfield and Capt. Alexander Woodruff, who settled near Deer¬ field in 1836; (?) John Chorn, who located near Big Drywood on section 19, two and a half miles south of Deerfield, and Gabriel M. Stratton, who bought out Chorn 's claim in about 1837 or 1838. Ebenezer C. Howe came in 1839 and settled at Deerfield, having previously come to the Union Mission in 1838.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Missouri : Past and Present, Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1911.

In 1856 Judge J. H. Requa came over from Bates county and settled on section 5 in the northwestern part of the township, nearly two miles northeast of Deerfield. The quarter section upon - which he settled he purchased from Abram Redfield, Esq., for $120. Although Esquire Redfield had entered the land, he had forgotten it and sent Requa on a wild goose chase to the land office at Clinton to enter it for himself. He was astonished when Requa returned in a little ill-humor and said: "Why, squire, you already own that land you sent me to enter. Colonel Marvin, the register, says you have owned it for five years." The honest and well-meaning Esquire Redfield then agreed to sell the land to Requa for $80 less than even the entry price - a very cheap tract indeed.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Missouri : Past and Present, Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1911.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Deerfield Township - it names this place 11 more 11 times.

Fires near this place

15 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Deerfield between 2000 and 2015, burning about 508 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
23 September 2011Debris and open burning20 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
12 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use35 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
21 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined118 acresMissouri Department of ConservationDEERFIELD
14 June 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
13 May 2011Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
10 April 2011Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
28 March 2015Debris and open burning3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservation122117-10867-03282015-2251
16 March 2015Debris and open burning200 acresMissouri Department of Conservation122116-10867-03162015-1640

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Vernon County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Deerfield: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unknown - ClayClayPast Producer
Unknown - ClayClayPast Producer
Unknown - ClayClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Vernon County

Storms near this place

33 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Deerfield in 33 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 16 hail, 10 flood, 6 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2024FloodDeerfield-Moderate flooding on the Marmaton River closed the westbound lane of Highway 54.
April 2024FloodDeerfield-State Highway H was closed at the Marmaton River due to flooding.
April 2024FloodDeerfield-Highway KK at the Marmaton River was closed due to flooding.
May 2023HailDeerfield-Quarter sized hail was reported.
April 2022HailDeerfield-Quarter sized hail was reported via social media.
May 2022FloodDeerfield-Highway KK at the low water crossing on the Dry Wood Creek was closed due to flooding.
March 2022HailDeerfield-Quarter sized hail was reported.
March 2020FloodDeerfield-State Highway KK was closed due to flooding at Dry Wood Creek.
March 2016HailDeerfield-Law enforcement reported quarter sized hail in Deerfield.
March 2016HailDeerfield-Law enforcement reported quarter sized hail in Deerfield.
March 2016HailDeerfield-The public reported quarter sized hail just west of Deerfield.
May 2015FloodDeerfield-Westbound Highway KK was closed south of Deerfield because of flooding.
November 2015FloodDeerfield-Route KK was closed in Vernon County at Dry Wood Creek.
December 2015FloodDeerfield-Route KK at Dry Wood Creek was closed due to flooding.
June 2013FloodDeerfield-Route KK was closed.
April 2012Flash FloodDeerfield-Both eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 54 were closed due to flooding of Dry Wood Creek.
March 2012FloodDeerfield-Route KK between Highway 43 and Route T south of Deerfield was closed due to flooding.
December 2009Flash FloodDeerfield-Some low water roads and bridges were flooded across the county.
May 2009Flash FloodDeerfield-Dry Wood Creek flooded a section of Highway KK.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindDeerfield-Severe thunderstorm wind gusts downed a few large limbs.
May 2007Flash FloodDeerfield-Numerous areas of Vernon County experienced flash flooding from excessive rainfall. Highway 54 approximately one mile east of Deerfield was flooded.
December 1997Flash FloodDeerfield-One to two inches of rain fell on saturated ground during the early morning resulting in flooding of low water crossings along the Marmaton River.
March 2017HailDeerfield-no account filed
February 2017HailDeerfield-no account filed
July 2015HailDeerfield-no account filed
March 2015HailDeerfield-no account filed
April 2007HailDeerfield-no account filed
May 2006HailDeerfield-no account filed
May 2006HailDeerfield-no account filed
January 2005Flash FloodDeerfield-no account filed
April 2005HailDeerfield-no account filed
April 2005HailDeerfield-no account filed
May 2003HailDeerfield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Vernon County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Ellis3.2 miles21
Katy3.5 miles24
Bunnville (historical)4.1 miles24
Eve4.1 miles24
Temple (historical)5.0 miles20
Richards5.5 miles22
Moundville5.9 miles21
Hong6.1 miles20

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on DeerfieldAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2414764The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 716817. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.