Visitors Guide to New Madrid, Missouri

New Madrid sits along the banks of the Mississippi River at the north end of a horseshoe bend in the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of Missouri. One of the first American settlements west of the Mississippi, New Madrid boasts a rich and colorful history. The Mississippi played and still plays a significant role in the makeup of New Madrid. The town’s origins begin with claims that two French Canadian brothers, Françoise and Joseph LeSieur, were commissioned by St. Louis merchant Gabriel Cerré to set up a trading post in 1786-1787 at a Delaware village in the area.

George Morgan, an American merchant, land speculator, and Indian agent and Colonel during the Revolutionary War noted the site as a promising location for an American colony and acquired a conditional land-grant circa 1788 from the Spanish. Morgan published a prospectus and arrived at the land grant in 1789 with about 60 colonists to settle approximately 1 mile south of today's town, where Morgan platted Nuevo Madrid, the name honoring Madrid, the capitol of Spain. Political intrigue influenced the Spanish to rescind Morgan's grant the settlers were allowed to keep their property. A short-lived Spanish military post of little consequence, Celeste, was established. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlement in the area increased, resulting in the creation of the District of New Madrid in 1805 District of New Madrid. This was followed by the organization of New Madrid County in 1812 with New Madrid as temporary county seat. The county seat was relocated three times until the size of New Madrid County was reduced to its current size and New Madrid selected the county seat in 1822. The town was slow to grow until the arrival in 1878 of the Little River Valley & Arkansas Railroad helped it expand its economic base as a trading center.

New Madrid is best known as the namesake of the strongest earthquake in recorded history. Two quakes struck the region on December 16, 1811, with a speculated magnitude of 8+ on the Richter scale. The effects of the shocks are said to have rung church bells as far away as Detroit, Washington D.C. and Charleston, South Carolina. On January 23 and February 7, 1812, two others major earthquakes of speculated magnitudes of 7+ followed. Although these events are now mostly remembered as a single earthquake, based on the records of a Louisville, Kentucky, resident named Jared Brooks, who built a series of pendulums to document the events, there were 1,874 different quakes during this time period. Eyewitness accounts of the initial two powerful quakes said that the land sank 50 feet in some areas, gases spewed from cracks in the earth, and the Mississippi River, damned by an uplift, flowed backward for two days. The earthquakes left permanent changes on the landscape. Several islands that had been mapped on the Mississippi River simply vanished. East of Tiptonville, water poured into a swampy area that sank several feet, creating Reelfoot Lake. The effects of the earthquakes caused the Federal government to initiate its first disaster relief effort. A request, dated January 13, 1812, by William Clark, famous for his exploration with Meriwether Lewis and the Corps of Discovery and then the governor of the Louisiana Territory asked for federal relief for the "inhabitants of New Madrid County." The Federal government responded by issuing New Madrid Certificates, entitling displaced landowners to new acreage in Louisiana Purchase territory.

New Madrid was the site of an extended battle in the Civil War for control of the Mississippi River. The area began the war under control of the Confederacy who not only heavily fortified the town but also Island No. 10, an approximately 2 mile long and half-mile wide island situated at the first bend of a double bend in the river just south of town. The island’s fortifications were reinforced by a floating battery of nine guns and a short battery on the Tennessee shore and effectively blocked any river traffic. In early 1862 General John Pope and Flag Officer A. H. Foote were ordered to attack Island No. 10. In order to take the island New Madrid had to be captured first. On March 3 Pope’s forces began an artillery duel with the forts to the east and west of town and with the gunboats in the river. Pope quickly learned that bigger guns were needed. On March 13 newly arrived 128-pound siege guns pounded New Madrid and the gunboats so severely that the defenders evacuated their positions during the night and retreated to Island No. 10. The Union Army then proceeded to spend 19 days as 600 engineers cut a 12 mile channel north of Island No. 10 to make a new river connection with New Madrid allowing transports and supply ships to bypass Island No. 10. After the new channel was completed two of Foote’s riverboats ran the gauntlet of Island No. 10 in order to protect Pope’s forces as they crossed the river to the Tennessee side. On April 7 Pope’s force made the crossing and on April 8 Brig. General William W. Mackall, outnumbered three to one, surrendered Island No. 10. Today visitors can learn about the Battle of Island No. 10 from the viewpoint of a local historian at the New Madrid Historical Museum. The museum also has a Civil War Room that features letters, clothing, equipment, and weaponry of the period. A brochure featuring a map of the local sites can be found at various locations around town or be downloaded. The history of New Madrid can be explored at the New Madrid Historical Museum in the downtown district.

The Mississippi is clearly the most significant physical landmark in the area of New Madrid. The river’s history is closely intertwined with that of the city. As with the original French trading post that preceded it, New Madrid was established along the river’s edge because the Mississippi was the primary artery for commerce in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In time, the original town site was eroded by recurrent floods on the river, and New Madrid was forced to adjust its location because of the vagaries of Mother Nature. The town is now protected by a system of levees. The levee just south of the downtown area provides scenic views of the Mississippi River as well as recreational opportunities. Nearby is the Hart-Stepp House Art Gallery, housed in the oldest home in New Madrid, and featuring the work the area's most talented artists.

www.new-madrid.mo.us - The official website of the New Madrid.

Explore the Upper Delta Region of the Mississippi River