Area Notable Historical Events
1000 AD Mississippian Indians create the petroglyphs at what is now Washington State Park.
1723 Phillip Francois Renault, director-general of The Company of the West, discovers and starts mining lead along the Fourche au Renault and Old Mines Creek in Washington County. What would become Old Mines is first settled.
1763 Francis Azor discovers lead, and a mining settlement springs up at what would become Mine au Breton and later Potosi.
1798 Moses Austin arrives in Washington County and industrializes the production of lead.
1799 Moses Austin builds Durham Hall, his home in Potosi.
April 30, 1803 Louisiana Purchase Treaty signed with France. Missouri becomes a part of the United States.
1811 First Post Office in Washington County established at Mine au Breton.
August 21, 1813 Washington County is created.
February 26, 1814 50 acres of land donated for county seat of Washington County.
1814 County Seat called St. George then changed to Potosi after just a few weeks.
1815 First Courthouse built at current School Administration Building site.
1815 First Jail built on site of current Courthouse.
1815 Lionel Brown first Sheriff of Washington County.
1816 Bank of St Louis opens, Moses Austin invests heavily.
1816 Potosi Methodist Church Sunday School begins.
1817 Potosi Academy built.
1819 Post Office established at Caledonia.
1819 Bank of St Louis fails, Moses Austin loses everything.
1819 Lionel Brown, first Sheriff, killed in duel by John Smith T.
1820 Moses Austin granted permission by Spanish Authorities to settle 300 families in Texas.
June 10, 1821 Moses Austin passes away.
August 10, 1821 Missouri granted Statehood.
1823 Firmin Rene Desloge arrives in Washington County and starts The Missouri Lead and Smelting Company which would eventually become St Joseph Lead Company.
1823 The first furnace to smelt iron ore in Washington County and the third in the state of Missouri, the Springfield Iron Furnace on Furnace Creek is built.
1824 William Henry Ashley helps establish the Rendezvous system of fur trading.
1824 Andrew Henry helps to discover the Oregon Trail.
1825 The first Potosi Methodist Church is built.
1825 Stephen Austin, son of Moses, takes the 300 families to Texas.
1826 Potosi and the village of Mine-au-Breton incorporate under the name Potosi.
1831 The first St. James Catholic Church is built.
1832 Daniel Dunklin of Potosi elected Missouri’s fifth governor.
1832-3 The first Potosi Presbyterian Church is built.
1833 The first Baptist Church building is built.
1836 Stephen Austin dies in Texas.
1837 State Supreme Court is held in Potosi, and is held here until 1843.
1838 Trail of Tears march comes through Washington County.
1840 George Cresswell builds a Scotch Hearth Lead Furnace at Aptus.
1849 Sons of Temperance build Temperance Hall now the Masonic Lodge.
1850 Second Courthouse built at High and Missouri streets.
1850’s A market for barite develops and barite begins to be mined along with lead.
1859 The Iron Mountain Railroad comes to Potosi.
August 10, 1861 About 150 Confederate Cavalry attack the Home Guards in the First Battle of Potosi during the Civil War.
September 27, 1864 600 men from Gen. Joseph Shelby’s Confederate Forces attack Potosi in the Second Battle of Potosi during the Civil War.
1870 First public grammar school built.
January 1871 Only public hangings to occur in Potosi.
1871 First African-American Church in Potosi built.
October 22, 1873 Hamilton Ironworks put in blast occurs and begins short lived production in northern Washington County.
December 4, 1874 John Anderson Lankford, Dean of African American Architects, born near Potosi.
1893 The present Washington County Jail was built.
1893 The first bank located in Potosi was incorporated.
January 10, 1894 Fire destroyed a large portion on Potosi.
October 1895 Knights of Pythias Lodge formed in Potosi.
1899 Willard D. Vandiver, US Congressman from Caledonia, responsible for Missouri being known as the “Show Me State”.
1900 Bell Telephone began long distance telephone service in Potosi.
1900 First automobile seen on streets of Potosi.
1902 “Iron Mountain Baby” is thrown from a train near Irondale.
1903 The second Potosi Methodist Church is built, now Belgrade State Bank.
1903 Local telephone service begins.
1905 First Electrical Power is generated in Potosi.
1907-8 The present Courthouse, Washington Counties third, is built.
1907-8 The second Potosi Presbyterian Church is built.
1911 First four-year High School graduating class.
May 30, 1917 A tornado occurs in Mineral Point.
1917 WWI Home Guard and Washington County Draft Board established.
June 1917 Washington County Red Cross established at Caledonia.
1917 First moving picture show shown in Potosi.
1917-8 Townsend Hospital, now the old Potosi Hotel, is built.
1918 Local Potosi Boy Scouts of America Troop founded.
1924 Potosi Light and Power Company begins service.
June 23, 1930 The Potosi Lions Club is chartered.
March 21, 1931 Cordia-Humphrey American Legion Post #265 is chartered.
1932 First Television in Potosi, sold at Coles Furniture Store.
1935 CCC camp constructed at Berryman.
1935-6 Potosi High School, now John A. Evans Middle School, is built.
1936 Texans try to dig up the remains of Moses Austin.
1937 Minerva Society formed in Potosi.
1938 Texans again try to dig up the remains of Moses Austin.
1938 First Shoe Factory built in Potosi.
January 1944 Potosi Assembly of God Church begins.
1944 William Eversole, of Caledonia, works on the development of the Atomic Bomb.
1948 Washington County Health Department formed.
November 20, 1951 St Joseph Lead Company begins the 950-foot Indian Creek Lead Mine. The mine was closed in 1982.
1952 Parke M. Banta serves as the first General Counsel for the Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare until 1960.
1954 First door to door mail delivery in Potosi.
1956 Parking meters first installed in Potosi.
1956-8 The current Potosi High School building is built.
1957 St Joseph Lead Company enters into a joint venture with Bethlehem Steel to form the Meramec Mining Company and starts sinking a shaft for the Pea Ridge Iron Mine. Production ceased in 2001.
February 22, 1959 Radio Station KYRO goes on the air.
1963 Potosi celebrates its bicentennial.
1963 Washington County Memorial Hospital is built.
1964 Doe Run Company’s Viburnum #29 Lead and Zinc Mine opens and is the only current active lead mine in Washington County.
1964-5 The current Potosi Elementary School is built.
December 21, 1967 A tornado strikes Potosi.
1969 A tornado strikes Old Mines
1974 Potosi City Park is opened.
February 1981 Funeral Homes end ambulance service, Ambulance District is formed.
November 9, 1984 A tornado strikes Potosi.
1986 Population Center of the United States determined to be at Ebo, 10 miles NW of Potosi.
1987 Potosi Correctional Center opens.
1723 Phillip Francois Renault, director-general of The Company of the West, discovers and starts mining lead along the Fourche au Renault and Old Mines Creek in Washington County. What would become Old Mines is first settled.
1763 Francis Azor discovers lead, and a mining settlement springs up at what would become Mine au Breton and later Potosi.
1798 Moses Austin arrives in Washington County and industrializes the production of lead.
1799 Moses Austin builds Durham Hall, his home in Potosi.
April 30, 1803 Louisiana Purchase Treaty signed with France. Missouri becomes a part of the United States.
1811 First Post Office in Washington County established at Mine au Breton.
August 21, 1813 Washington County is created.
February 26, 1814 50 acres of land donated for county seat of Washington County.
1814 County Seat called St. George then changed to Potosi after just a few weeks.
1815 First Courthouse built at current School Administration Building site.
1815 First Jail built on site of current Courthouse.
1815 Lionel Brown first Sheriff of Washington County.
1816 Bank of St Louis opens, Moses Austin invests heavily.
1816 Potosi Methodist Church Sunday School begins.
1817 Potosi Academy built.
1819 Post Office established at Caledonia.
1819 Bank of St Louis fails, Moses Austin loses everything.
1819 Lionel Brown, first Sheriff, killed in duel by John Smith T.
1820 Moses Austin granted permission by Spanish Authorities to settle 300 families in Texas.
June 10, 1821 Moses Austin passes away.
August 10, 1821 Missouri granted Statehood.
1823 Firmin Rene Desloge arrives in Washington County and starts The Missouri Lead and Smelting Company which would eventually become St Joseph Lead Company.
1823 The first furnace to smelt iron ore in Washington County and the third in the state of Missouri, the Springfield Iron Furnace on Furnace Creek is built.
1824 William Henry Ashley helps establish the Rendezvous system of fur trading.
1824 Andrew Henry helps to discover the Oregon Trail.
1825 The first Potosi Methodist Church is built.
1825 Stephen Austin, son of Moses, takes the 300 families to Texas.
1826 Potosi and the village of Mine-au-Breton incorporate under the name Potosi.
1831 The first St. James Catholic Church is built.
1832 Daniel Dunklin of Potosi elected Missouri’s fifth governor.
1832-3 The first Potosi Presbyterian Church is built.
1833 The first Baptist Church building is built.
1836 Stephen Austin dies in Texas.
1837 State Supreme Court is held in Potosi, and is held here until 1843.
1838 Trail of Tears march comes through Washington County.
1840 George Cresswell builds a Scotch Hearth Lead Furnace at Aptus.
1849 Sons of Temperance build Temperance Hall now the Masonic Lodge.
1850 Second Courthouse built at High and Missouri streets.
1850’s A market for barite develops and barite begins to be mined along with lead.
1859 The Iron Mountain Railroad comes to Potosi.
August 10, 1861 About 150 Confederate Cavalry attack the Home Guards in the First Battle of Potosi during the Civil War.
September 27, 1864 600 men from Gen. Joseph Shelby’s Confederate Forces attack Potosi in the Second Battle of Potosi during the Civil War.
1870 First public grammar school built.
January 1871 Only public hangings to occur in Potosi.
1871 First African-American Church in Potosi built.
October 22, 1873 Hamilton Ironworks put in blast occurs and begins short lived production in northern Washington County.
December 4, 1874 John Anderson Lankford, Dean of African American Architects, born near Potosi.
1893 The present Washington County Jail was built.
1893 The first bank located in Potosi was incorporated.
January 10, 1894 Fire destroyed a large portion on Potosi.
October 1895 Knights of Pythias Lodge formed in Potosi.
1899 Willard D. Vandiver, US Congressman from Caledonia, responsible for Missouri being known as the “Show Me State”.
1900 Bell Telephone began long distance telephone service in Potosi.
1900 First automobile seen on streets of Potosi.
1902 “Iron Mountain Baby” is thrown from a train near Irondale.
1903 The second Potosi Methodist Church is built, now Belgrade State Bank.
1903 Local telephone service begins.
1905 First Electrical Power is generated in Potosi.
1907-8 The present Courthouse, Washington Counties third, is built.
1907-8 The second Potosi Presbyterian Church is built.
1911 First four-year High School graduating class.
May 30, 1917 A tornado occurs in Mineral Point.
1917 WWI Home Guard and Washington County Draft Board established.
June 1917 Washington County Red Cross established at Caledonia.
1917 First moving picture show shown in Potosi.
1917-8 Townsend Hospital, now the old Potosi Hotel, is built.
1918 Local Potosi Boy Scouts of America Troop founded.
1924 Potosi Light and Power Company begins service.
June 23, 1930 The Potosi Lions Club is chartered.
March 21, 1931 Cordia-Humphrey American Legion Post #265 is chartered.
1932 First Television in Potosi, sold at Coles Furniture Store.
1935 CCC camp constructed at Berryman.
1935-6 Potosi High School, now John A. Evans Middle School, is built.
1936 Texans try to dig up the remains of Moses Austin.
1937 Minerva Society formed in Potosi.
1938 Texans again try to dig up the remains of Moses Austin.
1938 First Shoe Factory built in Potosi.
January 1944 Potosi Assembly of God Church begins.
1944 William Eversole, of Caledonia, works on the development of the Atomic Bomb.
1948 Washington County Health Department formed.
November 20, 1951 St Joseph Lead Company begins the 950-foot Indian Creek Lead Mine. The mine was closed in 1982.
1952 Parke M. Banta serves as the first General Counsel for the Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare until 1960.
1954 First door to door mail delivery in Potosi.
1956 Parking meters first installed in Potosi.
1956-8 The current Potosi High School building is built.
1957 St Joseph Lead Company enters into a joint venture with Bethlehem Steel to form the Meramec Mining Company and starts sinking a shaft for the Pea Ridge Iron Mine. Production ceased in 2001.
February 22, 1959 Radio Station KYRO goes on the air.
1963 Potosi celebrates its bicentennial.
1963 Washington County Memorial Hospital is built.
1964 Doe Run Company’s Viburnum #29 Lead and Zinc Mine opens and is the only current active lead mine in Washington County.
1964-5 The current Potosi Elementary School is built.
December 21, 1967 A tornado strikes Potosi.
1969 A tornado strikes Old Mines
1974 Potosi City Park is opened.
February 1981 Funeral Homes end ambulance service, Ambulance District is formed.
November 9, 1984 A tornado strikes Potosi.
1986 Population Center of the United States determined to be at Ebo, 10 miles NW of Potosi.
1987 Potosi Correctional Center opens.
