Seligman, Missouri

How Seligman is governed

Form of government not yet listed.

0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

Website

thecityofseligman.com

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Population over time

From 851 in 2010 to 813 in 2020 (−4.5%).

History

Before the Louisiana Purchase

During French exploration, what was to become Seligman was in the heart of the Osage Nation. The French claimed it as part of the Illinois Country, selling it to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Osage claims were ceded by the Treaty of Fort Clark, which was ratified in 1810.

Early settlers

Seligman originally developed from a small trading post that built up around or near the homestead of Andrew, George, John, Joshua, and Jacob Roller from Scott County, Virginia, some of the first permanent European settlers to arrive in the area in the 1830s. At that time the region was a rough-hewn wilderness covered with large timber.

In May 1841, the county court approved construction of the first road through the territory, known today as Old Wire Road. This road originally was a trace cut by hundreds of Cherokee in 1838 as they wound their way across Missouri to Tahlequah, Oklahoma as part of the federal government's Indian Removal Act of 1830 or "Trail of Tears", which passed about five miles west of the Roller homestead. Shortly thereafter, a telegraph line was built which followed this trail, and Old Wire Road was built following the telegraph line.

By 1848 the Butterfield Stage Coach had established a route through the area from St. Louis, Missouri to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and brought even more settlers into the area. By the 1860s, the site had developed into a trading post called Roller's Ridge, though the earliest original name of the community may have been Herdsville, named after Adam Herd or Hurd, who was also an early pioneer.

Education and religion were avidly important to the early settlers. Two schools were built in the area for local children, one north of town about which little is known, and one south of town called "Red Chink", named for the red clay that was used to finish the log construction. These were both subscription schools, a common practice in which each child paid the teacher a dollar a month. School terms were only six months long, but sometimes semesters were extended if enough students enrolled. A Baptist church was also constructed on the outskirts of town, but few records remain.

Civil War

During the Civil War development mostly ceased as the region was thrown into turmoil and became increasingly lawless. Bushwhackers attacked townspeople in their homes, robbing them of gold, silver, food and supplies. Some bushwhackers were supported by the Union Army and encouraged to commit acts of terror and sabotage to undermine morale. Local government was apparently in disarray—county officials did not hold session from April 1861 to July 1864. During the war, General McCulloch, General Pearce, and General Price met at a private home in Roller's Ridge to discuss the proposed site to wage battle at Cross Hollows in Benton County, Arkansas, before the Battle of Pea Ridge.

Reconstruction

After the war, development in Roller's Ridge resumed and settlers continued to arrive. In 1866, Christian E. Fawver and his family came to the area from Illinois in a covered wagon and reopened Victory Mills, a gristmill on the upper arm of Big Sugar Creek north of town, and converted it to steam power. This became an important site for local residents. Before the mill opened, locals had to haul their grain to the site of the nearest railroad in Pierce City, Missouri —- a two-day trip. The population continued to grow, and on April 1, 1872, the U.S. Postal Department authorized the establishment of a post office to serve the community, designating it Herdsville. In 1876, another subscription school was built for the town's children, a two-story building with a regular attendance of 40 students. A deep well was dug in the center of Main Street to supply the town's needs, which was named the "Exhaustable Fountain" [sic], but because of the growing population, this well later went dry. Commerce increased, and in 1880 a dray service began operation in town, hauling and delivering freight by wagon with up to three teams of horses or mules. It also operated occasionally as a taxi service.

Arrival of the railroad

In 1880, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad built a line from Pierce City to Herdsville. Arriving trains were loaded on a turntable and rotated manually to return to Pierce City. The company also gave 80 acres (32 ha) of land for the purpose of building a town, and also designed its streets, complete with names. At this time, the town consisted of only one whiskey and drug store, and the population consisted mostly of railroad workers, but this store was later joined by a general store operated by Woodridge Anabel, and a hardware store operated by Drew Wilkerson.

In 1880 the town was platted, and on September 27 renamed Seligman in honor of Joseph Seligman, a wealthy railroad financier who had died the previous April. On March 8, 1881, the town was incorporated. In choosing the name Seligman, the residents recognized that the arrival of the railroad had been a great boon to the small settlement. Apparently as an act of gratitude, Mr. Seligman's widow, Babet Seligman, gave the community $500 and one acre of land towards the building of a church. Together with $300 raised locally, Benjamin McCann constructed the Union Church in 1884. The church still stands and was in continuous use by various Protestant denominations from the time it was built until 1959.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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