Pickering, Missouri
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64476. It stands on Harmon Creek. The Survey maps it on the Pickering quadrangle. 149 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,043 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresPickering fell from 160 to 149 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 160 | |
| 2020 | 149 | -11 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1943 USGS Maryville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Pickering quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Maryville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
3,585 words on this townshipThe History of Nodaway County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Union Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The next settlement in Union Township was made by Dr. Josiah Coleman, who entered the land where Pickering is now located. This is a most delightful situation, on the rolling prairie as it rises out of the first terrace, some three-quarters of a mile from the One Hundred and Two River. Here Dr. Coleman opened a farm, and administered professionally to those who came and settled around him. He afterward sold his farm, disposing of the portion on which the town of Pickering now stands to Judge Andrew Royal, and went to Kansas.
Passage source: The History of Nodaway County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, published 1882.
After this, a settlement was commenced at Lower White Oak Grove, by John Ray. Alvin Sturgill came next and opened a farm on the south side of White Oak Grove. David Cooper took a claim a little north of Pickering, thus becoming a neighbor of Dr. Coleman. The settlement of Lower White Oak Grove received an addition in the person of Edward Ray, who located there and opened a farm. Valentine Ray soon followed, and took a claim in the same neighborhood. Martin Van Buren took a claim about one mile and a half west of Pickering. Martin Fakes settled soon after on the west side of the township, on the divide west of White Oak Grove. About this time settlers began to come into Union Township more rapidly, so that it is difficult to note the settlement of each one in consecutive order.
Passage source: The History of Nodaway County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, published 1882.
This pleasant little village, of about 200 inhabitants, is situated nearly midway between Maryville and Hopkins, on the Maryville Branch of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad. Dr. Josiah Coleman made an original survey of the town, and named it Pickering, in honor of Pickering Clark, who held a position on this railroad. It is a tradition of the town that when the first train came down the road and approached this point, this name was selected, and the place was christened Pickering. Dr. Coleman's interests were bought out by Judge Andrew Royal who purchased the forty acres upon which the town is now located, for $3,000. Judge Royal re-surveyed and laid it out the second time in 1871. There was no public sale of lots, but lots were disposed of at private sale.
Passage source: The History of Nodaway County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, 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 Union Township - it names this place 9 more 9 times.
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Pickering: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Storms near this place
26 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pickering in 26 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 12 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | $2,000 | Power lines down. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | $1,000 | Windows were reported blown out of a house. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 70 mph. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | $1,000 | Thunderstorm winds lifted pickup truck off the road and turned a tiling machine over near Highway 148 and Icon road. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | $500 | A home was reported to have some minor roof damage. |
| October 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | Downed tree on top of home. |
| October 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | Downed power lines and power outages in the Pickering area. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Pickering | - | Two inch hail was reported just south of Pickering in northern Nodaway County. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | A trained spotter reported a 60 mph wind. |
| October 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Pickering | - | A photo was taken by a resident of a fully condensed tornado near Highway FF and Road B. Powerlines and tree limbs were across the roadway at FF and 170th. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | A member of the public sent to the NWS security camera footage of several trees being damaged due to strong winds moving through the area. The limbs in the footage appeared to be 4 to 6 inches in diameter; however, the condition of the limbs or type of tree are not known. Other reports from Pickering indicated that the wind was still causing damage as late as 3:02 am CST, so used that as the ending time for the wind at Pickering, although it is conceivable that the wind lasted a bit longer than 3:02 am CST. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | A tree caused damage to a roof in Pickering. This report was received via social media. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 70 mph. Tree limbs were reported down. |
| April 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Pickering | - | A brief EF0 tornado touchdown, from 1140 to 1141 am CST, was observed in open rural land. |
| August 2007 | Flood | Pickering | - | The 102 River at Maryville crested at 23.94 feet, or 5.94 feet above flood stage. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | Swing set damaged due to the high winds. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pickering | - | Large trees down. |
| April 1998 | Hail | Pickering | - | Public reported dime-size hail at Pickering. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Pickering | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Pickering | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q966062 | The 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 724305. 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.
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.





