Eldon, Missouri

Eldon, Missouri
City
Location of Eldon, Missouri
Country	United States
State	Missouri
County	Miller
Area
• Total	3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2)
• Land	3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	925 ft (282 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	4,895
• Density	1,450.2/sq mi (559.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	65026
Area code	573
FIPS code	29-21484Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	0729476Template:GR

Eldon is a city in Miller County, Missouri, United States. It is thirty miles southwest from Jefferson City. The population was 4,895 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Eldon is located at 38°20′53″N 92°34′54″W.Template:GR According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²), all of it land.

Economy

The town was the home of several manufacturing companies including Keiper Automobile Seat products and Fasco Electric Motors. However, during the economic recession of 2009, Fasco closed in February of 2009, and many other companies followed suit.

Eldon would be an ideal spot for most manufacturing facilities due to its central location in the state of Missouri and the available workforce in the area due to recent factory closings.

Media

It has two newspapers, The Eldon Advertiser, a paid circulation publication, is the oldest newspaper in Eldon, started in 1894. The founder of Eldon, George Weeks, was the first person to have a subscription to Eldon Advertiser. The Eldon Advertiser has an in-town and rural subscription base and a county-wide circulation, with more of a focus on Eldon news and school events. The Eldon Advertiser also reports news of the surrounding communities.The Eldon Advertiser is the only legal newspaper in Eldon. The Eldon Weekly Standard is a free newspaper. The Weekly Standard goes to all residents of the community, surrounding rural routes and their surrounding communities.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 4,895 people, 2,194 households, and 1,270 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,450.2 people per square mile (559.2/km²). There were 2,396 housing units at an average density of 709.8/sq mi (273.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.14% White, 0.33% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.31% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population.

There are 2,194 households out of which 26.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. 38.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 22.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,103, and the median income for a family was $34,621. Males had a median income of $27,818 versus $17,690 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,015. 15.8% of the population and 12.0% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 22.5% of those under the age of 18 and 16.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Notable people

• Christian Cantwell, 2008 Olympic shot-put silver medalist
• David Allan Coe, country music singer
• William Mueller, professional wrestler known under the names, "Trevor Murdoch" and "Jethro Holiday"
• Harley Race, professional wrestler
• Heidi Strobel, Survivor: The Amazon contestant

Popular culture mentions

• The television show Petticoat Junction was based on the Burris Hotel that existed in this small railroad town in the midwest. Paul Henning the producer and creator of the show, was married to the granddaughter of the owner of the hotel and often visited.

External Links

• Historic Sanborn Maps of Eldon from University of Missouri Digital Library