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Dresden, Missouri

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1983. It stands in Dresden Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65301. The Survey maps it on the Hughesville quadrangle. It stands 817 feet above sea level.

Dresden within Pettis County

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 23 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.

In the county-history sources

7,059 words on this township

The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Dresden Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Dresden was laid out in the spring of 1863, by Agee and Thos. J. Lester. It comprises an eight3--acre lot, and was evenly divided between the two gentlemen, each taking forty acres. It is situated on the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section twenty-one, and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section twenty-two, township number forty-six, range twenty-two. Mr. Agee came from Kentucky and Mr. Lester from Virginia. The former now lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the latter still resides in the village which he founded. The town is situated on the main line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and has considerable importance as a shipping and trading point. In the midst of a fertile agricultural and stock-raising region, it has but one drawback, that of being so near Sedalia, whose overshadowing business influence reaches into the country that should be tributary to this village, and draws the greater portion of the trade to herself. While Dresden was the terminus of the railroad it was a business point of considerable importance, but when the railroad was extended, its business push and enterprise went with it to a lar^e extent. The Missouri Pacific Railway was finished to the town in 1863, and it remained the terminus for nearly a year. In its young days it enjoyed the reputation of being one of the largest shipping points on the road, but since it has been left behind by the larger towns arQund it, it has lost its prestige, and now ranks only third or fourth in point of shipping and trade in the county, and from a village of five hundred inhabitants, it has dwindled to 300. But at this it steadily holds its own. It is losing nothing, and as the country grows richer around it its business cannot fail to improve. At the time of its best days, some of the strongest firms that have done business in the county were interested here. Among them were Nussburg, Clony & Crawford, Sanfelter, and others. Bard & Miller also built a business house here, but did not move their stock, displaying their good judgment in putting their trust in Sedalia.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

Schools. - It is a proud feature of the village of Dresden that it has a good school and able teachers. It can be made far more effective by an enthusiastic working together of both Board of Education and teachers. Either, without the co-operation of the other, will always be ineffective, and to secure the best results neither labor nor money should be spared.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

The first school building was a frame one, and was erected by John and W. Agee, about 1860, before any town of Dresden had been located. The same building is now used for school purposes, but it has been enlarged to accommodate the increasing demands made upon it. William Warren was an able teacher of the place, and he now resides at lona, in this county. James M. Bigby, a Mr. Summers and wife were also among the early teachers. The building now used is a one-story house with two departments. Some of the recent teachers were Prof. A. A. Neal and wife. Prof. Neal was formerly principal of the Georgetown Academy, and now resides on his farm at Lincoln, Benton County. Also, of late years, there have been employed Mr. Ross, Mrs. T. P. McCluney and Mrs. J. M. Lee. The last year (1881-2) the school has been under the supervision of Miss Olive Wharton, of Sedalia, and Mrs. J. H. Cook, of Dresden.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

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 Dresden Township - it names this place 19 more 19 times.

Fires near this place

1 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Dresden in 2018, burning about 58 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 burning1

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
13 March 2018Debris and open burning58 acresMissouri Department of Conservation176065-08052-03132018-1600

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pettis County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Dresden: 11 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Barium-Barite. 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
Bothwell Barite MineBarium-BaritePast Producer
Bradford Quarry No 2 & PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Dresden QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Dresden QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Eckles QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Johnson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Main Road QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Pettis County

Storms near this place

15 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dresden in 15 storm reports between 2000 and 2023: 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2014Flash FloodDresden1 hurtHighway T was closed due to several culvert washouts. One injury was also reported.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindDresden-Power line poles were snapped south of La Monte along MO-127.
April 2023HailDresden-An elementary school in Dresden reported half dollar sized hail as a supercell moved through on the afternoon of 4 April.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindDresden-In areas near La Monte there were several outbuildings destroyed and RV was overtunred at HWY T and Menefee Road. Also several large tree limbs were reported down in the area.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindDresden-A RV was turned over at HWY T and Meneffee Road near Sedalia.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindDresden-Tin was ripped off of the two barn roofs with approximate 15 foot gap in the roofs.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDresden-An Emergency Manager reported sustained winds to 55 mph, with a gust of 63 mph near La Monte.
May 2013Flash FloodDresden-Several feet of water was reported over Rieckhoff Road near State Highway T.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindDresden-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph.
April 2007HailDresden-Reported on Highway 50.
October 2007HailDresden-no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindDresden-no account filed
May 2003HailDresden-no account filed
August 2001HailDresden-no account filed
February 2000Thunderstorm WindDresden-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pettis 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
La Monte5.0 miles23
Georgetown5.2 miles18
Hughesville6.4 miles23
Sedalia6.5 miles22
Stokley9.4 miles23
Newland9.5 miles18
Green Ridge9.9 miles19
Houstonia10.3 miles23

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 DresdenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5306996The 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 717048. 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.