Tightwad, Missouri

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Tightwad, Missouri
Village
Location of Tightwad, Missouri
Coordinates: 38°18′22″N 93°33′5″W / 38.30611°N 93.55139°W / 38.30611; -93.55139Coordinates: 38°18′22″N 93°33′5″W / 38.30611°N 93.55139°W / 38.30611; -93.55139
Country United States
State Missouri
County Henry
Area[1]
 • Total 1.01 sq mi (2.62 km2)
 • Land 1.00 sq mi (2.59 km2)
 • Water 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation 876 ft (267 m)
Population (2010)[2]
 • Total 69
 • Estimate (2012[3]) 69
 • Density 69.0/sq mi (26.6/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 64735
Area code(s) 660
FIPS code 29-73240[4]
GNIS feature ID 0741321[5]

Tightwad is a village in Henry County, Missouri, United States. Its population was 64 people in the 2010 United States Census.

History and name

Located astride Missouri Route 7, Tightwad was an unincorporated location until 1984 however a U.S. Post Office had existed there at the turn of the 20th century. The village's unusual name is said to stem from an episode in which a store owner cheated a customer, who was a postman, by charging him an extra fifty cents for a better watermelon. Some sources claim the transaction involved a rooster rather than a watermelon.[6] Due to its proximity to Truman Reservoir, Tightwad saw some limited growth starting in the mid-1980s. As of 2010 the villages' business district offerings included a bank (see below), café, tavern, and convenience store.[7]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.01 square miles (2.62 km2), of which, 1.00 square mile (2.59 km2) of it is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water.[1]

Demographics

The median income for a household in the village was $24,375, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $35,417 versus $30,625 for females. The per capita income for the village was $18,981. There were no families and 16.7% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 21.4% of those over 64.[8]

2010 census

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 69 people, 31 households, and 18 families residing in the village. The population density was 69.0 inhabitants per square mile (26.6 /km2). There were 36 housing units at an average density of 36.0 per square mile (13.9 /km2). The racial makeup of the village was 98.6% White and 1.4% from two or more races.

There were 31 households of which 19.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.9% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.72.

The median age in the village was 53.5 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 2.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 15.8% were from 25 to 44; 30.4% were from 45 to 64; and 29% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 50.7% male and 49.3% female.

Tightwad Bank

The first Tightwad Bank opened in 1984 as a branch of the Citizens Bank of Windsor (Windsor, Missouri) at first housed in a portable trailer then eventually a one-story brick building still in use today.[9] Publicity over the unusual name eventually led to deposits totalling over $2 million. However an expected business boom from nearby Truman Reservoir never materialized and the bank fell victim to armed robbery twice in the 1990s. Thus in November 2006, UMB, the bank's owner at the time, announced that the Tightwad branch bank would close and accounts would be shuffled to UMB locations in Warsaw and Clinton, Missouri.
In May 2008, Tightwad Bank was reopened, under new ownership, as an FDIC insured institution. The bank is a full-service branch of the former Reading State Bank, Reading, Kansas. To capitalize on the notoriety of the unusual name, the Reading locations' name was changed to Tightwad Bank as well.[10] "We're seeking the customers with a sense of humor", admitted bank co-owner Donald Higdon in a 2008 interview with The Washington Post.[9] [11] In 2010 the two locations of Tightwad Bank reported combined deposits of over $20 million (US).[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-07-08. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-07-08. 
  3. ↑ "Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-05-30. 
  4. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  5. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  6. ↑ Margot Ford McMillen, Paris, Tightwad, and Peculiar: Missouri Place Names, University of Missouri Press (October 1994), ISBN 0-8262-0972-6. Excerpt online at http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/otherbooks/mcmillen.htm
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "What's So Funny About Tightwad's Money?". Miller-McCune. 2010-11-29. 
  8. ↑ Tightwad village, Missouri - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Slevin, Peter (2008-08-18). "In Rural Missouri, The Place to Bring Your Cents of Humor". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
  10. ↑ "About us". Tightwad Bank. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
  11. ↑  http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/11/20/ap3189864.html.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
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