| Napoleon, Missouri | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Location of Napoleon, Missouri | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Lafayette |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.7 sq mi (4.5 km2) |
| • Land | 1.7 sq mi (4.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 748 ft (228 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 208 |
| • Density | 119.3/sq mi (46.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 64074 |
| Area code(s) | 816 |
| FIPS code | 29-51140[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0723115[2] |
Napoleon is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. Located about 30 miles east of Kansas City, it is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The population was 208 at the 2000 census.
Napoleon is located at (39.129800, -94.072099)[3].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.5 km²), all of it land.
Napoleon lies just a few miles west of Wellington, Missouri; the two towns having been named after the commanders at the Battle of Waterloo. About halfway between the two towns lies a small, unincorporated crossroads called "Waterloo".
Napoleon, Missouri is located in the northwestern corner of Lafayette County, Missouri and bordered on the north side by the Missouri River and on the south side by U.S. Hwy 24 and on the west side by Jackson County, Missouri. It is about 40 miles east of the Kansas/Missouri line on the south side of the Missouri River and about 6 miles east of the Independence city limits as of this writing. The town measures about 2 & ½ miles east to west and about one mile north to south at its widest point. The town was referred to as Poston's landing for some time and appears that it was a trading post before the first platting of Napoleon by William Ish in 1836. The town at the platting of Napoleon was a venture of shares by several people. There doesn't seem to be records of anyone actually owning specific land in it during this time. The state of Missouri was only 33 years old at the time of the platting of its borders. Shortly after the platting, there was a currency problem. Our Federal Government said that only coin money would be used for purchases. They didn't have enough coins in stock at the time so much business was done through exchange and barter systems. This didn't leave much room for a fledgling town to get started so, almost as fast as it appeared, it disappeared.
Dr. James Belt, a physician from Wellington, Missouri traveled through here often and finally decided to try to buy the town. During its 10 to 15 years of existence, shares were split, traded, share holders died and shares were spit between heirs and the number of people with monetary interests in Napoleon had grown from about 5 or 6 to about 15 or 20. Dr. Belt set forth buying first one person's shares and then other shares until William Ish, the founder of the town, was the last to deal with. Dr. Belt bought William Ish's shares and at that point, Dr. Belt owned the town of Napoleon, Missouri. Unfortunately all marks, for the most part were gone and he had to lay the whole town markings out again. So, he drew up a new map which was entirely different in structure and names, yet on the same ground and took it to the County seat in Lexington, Missouri and recorded it as the new town of Lisbon, Missouri. This was done in 1856. He knew most the people around the area, the money issues had settled down by then, a good portion of the English and French settlers had sold out to the German population that was immigrating into the area. The German people were stable people and made the town of Napoleon thrive. It boasted saw mills, grain mills, general stores, pharmacies, shoe cobblers, physicians, barbers, rail road station, post office, coal mining, newspaper, school, livery stable, saloons, dry goods stores and many other businesses by 1887. The main part of town sits more than 100 feet above the river.
In 1887, the town incorporated as a 4th Class City in the State of Missouri. During this time, there was a problem with a town named Lisbon and a post office named the Napoleon Post Office, so the town once again took on the name of Napoleon, Missouri. Many records of real estate bare the name Lisbon on them to this day. Napoleon had one of the better natural docking ports on the Missouri River which was used for many purposes. The Missouri River changed course in 1914 and dug into the bank of Napoleon, further embedding itself as a major port while cutting the prime bottom farm land in half north of Waterloo and leaving Wellington about a mile from the river at that point. Wellington had a former name also. It was originally called Tyre. Waterloo was a major farming community that never did incorporate but had grain mills, stores for the farmers and lakes for hunting. There are stories that circulate claiming the names of the towns of Wellington, Waterloo & Napoleon relate to the battle of Waterloo, although there doesn't seem to be any record substantiating this.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 208 people, 86 households, and 63 families residing in the city. The population density was 119.3 people per square mile (46.2/km²). There were 99 housing units at an average density of 56.8 per square mile (22.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.71% White, 1.92% African American, 0.48% Asian, and 2.88% from two or more races.
There were 86 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.1% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 32.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 121.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,875, and the median income for a family was $45,625. Males had a median income of $36,042 versus $23,036 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,546. About 9.0% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those sixty five or over.
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