Gad's Hill, Missouri

Gad's Hill is an unincorporated community in Wayne County, Missouri is located between two towns in Missouri — Des Arc and Piedmont. Named for the country home of Charles Dickens,^[2] it was established in 1872 by George W. Creath.^[3]

At its small train station on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway line, the first train-robbery in the state occurred on January 31, 1874.^[4] At 3:00 in the afternoon, the James-Younger gang boarded the train and proceeded to rob the passengers. While the exact amount was never certain, newspapers at the time estimated between $2,000 and $22,000 was stolen.^[5] Now in Gads Hill, a bar is opened there called the Jesse James Saloon.

References

1. ^ "Gads Hill". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:750014. 
2. ^ Goodspeed Publishing (1888). History of Southeast Missouri. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Company. p. 460. ISBN 0-89308-431-X. 
3. ^ The State Historical Society of Missouri, David W. (January 1919). "How Missouri Streams, Counties and Towns Were Named". Missouri Historical Review (Vol. 13, No. 2) (Eaton). 
4. ^ Conard, Howard L. (1901). Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, Vol. 2. St. Louis: Southern History Company. p. 544. 
5. ^ Beights, Ronald H. (June 2005). "Jesse James and the Gads Hill Train Holdup". Wild West Magazine (TheHistoryNet.com). Archived from the original on 2006-03-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20060317155048/http://www.historynet.com/we/blgadshill/. Retrieved 2006-03-27.