History
The town that shook
A Spanish river town, the great earthquakes of 1811–12, and a Civil War siege that opened the Mississippi. This is the story of one of Missouri’s original counties.
River and fault
Kentucky Bend and the seismic zone
New Madrid County lies in the Bootheel along the Mississippi, where the river makes a double loop around Kentucky Bend, a piece of Fulton County, Kentucky, cut off by the river. The land is flat, rich bottomland, and it sits on top of the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
The town of New Madrid began in the early 1780s, when bands of Shawnee, Delaware, Creek, and Cherokee refugees settled the site under Spanish rule. It was first called L’Anse à la Graisse, the “Cove of Grease,” for the bear and buffalo fat processed there, before the Spanish renamed it New Madrid.
Founding and early years
From L’Anse à la Graisse to New Madrid
New Madrid County was organized on October 1, 1812, one of Missouri’s original counties, and named forthe Spanish district of Nuevo Madrid.
The earthquakes
The winter the ground shook
Beginning on December 16, 1811, the ground around New Madrid shook again and again for months. Three great earthquakes struck: on December 16 in northeast Arkansas, on January 23, 1812, in the Bootheel, and on February 7, 1812, near New Madrid itself, which destroyed the town. Together with more than a thousand smaller shocks, they are counted among the strongest earthquakes in the United States outside a subduction zone.
One witness wrote that the river’s current ran backward for a few minutes. In Tennessee, land sank and streams were blocked, creating Reelfoot Lake. The New Madrid Historical Museum has eyewitness accounts you can read or hear.
New Madrid
The county seat on the river, home to the historical museum, the Hunter-Dawson house, and the observation deck.
Portageville
The county’s largest city, on the Pemiscot County line.
Marston
On I-55, near a Missouri welcome center for southbound travelers.
Since then
A mansion, a siege, and a river opened
In 1859–60 Amanda Hunter finished a 15-room Greek Revival and Italianate house in New Madrid, after her husband William died of yellow fever; craftsmen and some of the family’s enslaved people built it. Two years later the war arrived. In March 1862 Union Gen. John Pope brought siege guns against New Madrid, and the Confederates left on the night of March 13–14. After the gunboat Carondelet ran past the batteries at Island No. 10 on April 4, Pope crossed the river and trapped the Confederate army; it surrendered in early April, opening the Mississippi as far as Fort Pillow.
The county’s population peaked at 39,787 in 1940 and fell sharply from 1950 to 1970. In 1966 the city bought the Hunter-Dawson house and gave it to the state, which opened it as a historic site in 1967.
Keeping the history
See it for yourself
Hear the eyewitness accounts at the New Madrid Historical Museum, look out over the Mississippi from the observation deck, and tour the Hunter-Dawson house.
For tours of the Hunter-Dawson house, call Missouri State Parks at (573) 748-5340.
Plan a visit
New Madrid Historical Museum
The place to start: earthquake eyewitness accounts, the Civil War battles at New Madrid and Island No. 10, and the river trade. The observation deck is a short walk up the levee.
- Location
- 1 Main Street, New Madrid, MO 63869
- Phone
- (573) 748-5944
- Hours
- Hours change with the season; call ahead.
Verify before relying on this. Compiled from Wikipedia, Missouri State Parks, and the New Madrid Historical Museum. Early dates vary between sources.
