Memphis, MO

Since the founding of our communities, organizations, businesses and citizens have stepped forward to build and serve their community. Click on any of the logos below to learn about those who made this website possible! If you would like to learn about becoming a sponsor CLICK HERE!

Quite simply, quality of life is what the Memphis Area is all about. The rural northeast Missouri community combines the simplicity of small-town life with the luxury of quality facilities that many larger cities do without. Despite a population of less than 5,000 this area boasts a hospital, airport, nursing home, community theatre, industry, recreational activities and a quality school system, just for starters.

Where else can you get all this and have beautiful scenery & outdoor activities galore (premium hunting, boating, horseback riding & fishing) right out your back door?

For centuries rural areas have battled the population drain as their youth moved off to big cities to earn their fortune. The Memphis Area is experiencing a shift in this age-old migration pattern, as parents are deciding our community is a perfect place to raise their children. People are returning to their home community while still others have decided Scotland County is the type of community they would like to live in.

Although Scotland County was organized by an act of the Missouri General Assembly on January 29, 1841 the town of Memphis did not come to be until more than two years later. County commissioners met at Sand Hill on May 15, 1843 to select the county seat. A spot near the geographical center of the county was chosen, and after some debate, was named Memphis, after the ancient city of Memphis, Egypt. The name had been previously used by a U.S. Post Office that operated on the North Fabius River a short distance away. The land for the town, about fifty acres, was donated to the county by early settler Samuel Cecil. After being laid out in town lots the original plat of Memphis was filed with county court on October 11, 1843. However a few homes already existed on the site and had for several years, the first being a log cabin constructed in 1835 by Burton Tompkins.

Scotland County’s first courthouse, a two-story brick structure, was completed in June, 1845 at a cost of $1,500 dollars. However just a decade later the building was declared unsafe by the county court and a second, larger courthouse was constructed in the middle of the town square in 1856 at a cost of $19,500. The second building served the county well until the turn of the 20th century, but at just forty feet by seventy feet it was becoming increasingly cramped. It was condemned in May, 1905 and razed in early 1907. The current Scotland County courthouse was constructed between October, 1907 and July, 1908 at a cost of $50,000.