Stage Roads of Randolph County

Below is a conjectural map of the stage roads and other major roads through Randolph County, Missouri in the pre-Civil War period. Note, the roads shown here may not have followed the precise route shown on this map. However, it is hoped one can get a general idea of where the roads were and what routes they may have taken. Tracing the 19th Century old stage roads using surviving roads in Randolph County is difficult. One only need look at the 1876 Randolph County Atlas, the 1910 Randolph County plat map, and the plat map of 1930 to realize that roads appeared and disappeared, were rerouted and rebuilt. An example of roads changing can be seen in the following clippings from a report on the activities of the County Court in the May 29, 1858 edition of the Randolph Citizen.

And again in a County Court report in the July 31, 1858 edition Randolph Citizen, we see a petition to change the route of the Fayette Road.

If one reads through old papers like the Randolph Citizen one may get the idea they were always rerouting one road or another. Some roads consistently followed the same paths though, a few even became major modern highways. The Paris-Keytesville Road is an example of this. A large stretch is Highway 24 into Moberly and then Route JJ leading into Huntsville. Another four mile stretch leaving Huntsville are parts of Routes C and O. Looking at the 1876 Randolph County Atlas one can see the path it took was unchanged from then to now. The Glasgow-Huntsville Plank Road is another example as it mostly followed what is now Highway 3. The paths of the roads shown on the map were determined from many sources, primary among these were the "New Map of Missouri" published in 1838 by J.H. Colton & Co, (you can see it at http://digital.shsmo.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Maps/id/102), an 1845 map of Missouri published by Sidney E. Morse and Co., an 1845 Map of Missouri published by Harper and Brothers,the 1846 New Map of Missouri published by S.A. Mitchell, an 1856 Map of Missouri published by D. Appleton and Company, an 1864 map of Missouri published by Johnson and Ward, and the 1876 Randolph County, Missouri Atlas. Editions of the newspaper, the Randolph Citizen, and various histories of the county were also consulted as were records of the Bureau of Land Management. The Randolph Citizen has been particularly indispensable in locating many of these roads. Public sales in the paper that mention the road often give legal descriptions of the land being sold. Stories about the activities of the County Court in the Citizen often give the names of people who live and own property on the roads being discussed.

There were two major stage roads through Randolph County. The East-West road was the Paris-Keytesville Road. The other major stage road, was the one which ran North-South from Huntsville to Glasgow and Fayette via Mount Airy and Roanoke. It was probably originally the way to Franklin, Missouri which in the early 19th century was the major settlement in the region. This road eventually became the Glasgow-Huntsville Plank Road, a toll road (you can read about the Glasgow-Huntsville Plank Road at Glasgow-Huntsville Plank Road). The routes of these roads are well known and easily traced using modern highways and county roads that have been unchanged since 1876. Another road whose route is largely known is the Bloomington-Huntsville Road, which followed what is now Route C through Randolph County. Route C only follows the general path, of the Bloomington-Huntsville Road however, and not its precise one as Route C has been relocated in places and straightened in others. It does not appear on the "New Map of Missouri," and therefore was probably not a major road in 1838. This makes sense as Bloomington was barely in existence in 1838. It does appear on later maps however. The Bloomington-Huntsville Road was also a stage road.

A major road in the 19th Century was the Old State Road. It is sometimes referred to as the Fayette Road in the old histories, and also the Fayette to Huntsville Road, and part of it may have been the same road as what was called the Huntsville to Smithland Road. Since roads still follow the path it did in the 1870s, it is not unreasonable to think it followed the route shown on this map. It is not known if it was a stage road. There are no records of stages running on it, but nevertheless it was a major thoroughfare to Fayette. It is frequently mentioned in old histories and newspaper accounts. This is perhaps because it was an alternative route to the Glasgow-Huntsville Road which eventually became a toll road. Like today, some folks liked to avoid roads that charged tolls. Like the Bloomington Road it does not appear on the "New Map of Missouri." One can still take the path it took by taking county roads and state roads all the way into Fayette. Note it is not to be confused with a Fayette Road to the west which was sometimes also called the Fayette to Huntsville Road and also the "Old Fayette Road." That road was a county road that served as an alternate route to the Glasgow-Huntsville Plank Road, and the Old State Road.

And finally a stage road that saw a lot of traffic in the 19th century was the Paris-Smithland Road. The route of this road is difficult to trace as many of the roads were rerouted, and it is probable that sections of it no longer exist. Looking at the 1876 Randolph County Atlas, and modern road maps, it is clear some of the roads, esp. as you get closer to Middle Grove have changed. This road may have originally ran through Oak Point, a situation which changed when Smithland supplanted Oak Point's position in Prairie Township. Smithland was later supplanted by Renick when the North Missouri Railroad was built. The route shown on the map is merely conjecture. It probably fell victim to more popular routes and perhaps the railroad as well.

A road for which there are few clues, but known to exist was the Columbia-Huntsville Road. It is not presented on this map, and does not appear on the 1838 "New Map of Missouri," although it does appear on later maps. There are no known stage stops in Randolph County to help guide us as to its route beyond Smithland. Another road that is largely lost is one that ran to Oakdale in Shelby County via Woodville in Macon County. This was known as the Shelbyville-Huntsville Road as after 1840 it ran to Shelbyville. Although it is shown on the 1838 "New Map of Missouri" as well as later maps only small portions of its route can be traced, This is due to the rerouting and closure of roads in Cairo and Salt River Townships of Randolph County. What can be traced is shown on the map. There are no recorded stage stops for it, and no record of stages having traveled it. There was also a road shown on the 1838 "Map of New Missouri," and later maps that ran from Oak Point to Williamsburg in Callaway County. Later maps have it running from Smithland to Williamsburg. It too cannot easily be traced, and only short stretches may still exist. Again part of the problem is that no stage stops were recorded along its route to guide us in determining the path it took.

One will note that just as today there were sometimes multiple ways to get somewhere. Traveling from Paris, Missouri to Fayette, Missouri for example one could have taken the stage to Smithland onto Old Jacksonville and then to Fayette. Or one could have traveled to Huntsville and then taken the Glasgow-Huntsville Road south. If one did not want to take the stage, one could have traveled via one's own means of transport from Paris to Huntsville on the stage road and then taken the Old State Road south. Going that way one could easily traveled by stage over portions along the way.

Judging by known stage stops it would seem the stage stopped every five to six miles with every other stage stop being a place one could stay over night. For example if one were going to Glasgow from Paris via Huntsville, one could have stayed overnight in Milton which had a hotel. One would have again stopped at the Old Tavern/Allen, and then possibly stayed overnight again in Huntsville. Huntsville being a hub had several hotels. One would then go on to stop in Mount Airy, where it is known that the horses were changed, and then stayed the night in Roanoke which had a hotel. Many stage stops may have been lost to history. These may have been mere stations much like Burckhartt's Station prior to the founding of Milton. Looking at this map one can see there is no stop in Randolph County between Huntsville and Bloomington. None were recorded. However, it is over thirteen miles to the county line from Huntsville. It would go to reason there must have been at least one stop in Randolph County on the Huntsville-Bloomington Road. Similarly, no stage stops were recorded in the histories for the Paris-Keytesville Road west of Huntsville. One can assume the stage stopped at Fort Henry five miles to the west as it had a store and post office, but after that the next stop would have been McHargue in Chariton County. McHargue was a full eight miles away from Fort Henry, longer than the standard five to six miles between stops.

It must be stressed that the paths shown on this map of some of these roads are merely conjecture. Even the roads whose routes are largely known like the Paris-Keytesville road are not totally accurate. We know the Paris-Keytesville Road was rerouted in places by several hundred feet throughout its history. In its early days it could have been rerouted by a mile or two with no record to guide us. We do know it was rerouted from time to time from old court records and newspaper accounts. The Glasgow-Huntsville Road is no different. We know it did not precisely follow Highway 3 from old records. A modern day example of the rerouting of highways was when Highway 24 was moved a mile south of where it was between Huntsville and Moberly in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The routes of the other roads as depicted on this map could therefore vary wildly from what they actually were.

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