Ghost town in Missouri, United States
Zeta is a
ghost town in
Stoddard County , in the
U.S. state of
Missouri .
[1] It was named after the Greek letter
zeta by George H. Crumb, who built a rail line between Zeta and
Bloomfield .
[2]
[3]
Development
The town was a stop along the
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway within
Richland Township , located near
Aquilla and
Durnell .
[2] It also was a stop along the "
Cotton Belt Route ", and had been a part of the defunct
Missouri Southeastern Railway service between Zeta and Bloomfield.
[4]
[5] Additional rail lines existed between Zeta and
Vanduser in neighboring
Scott County .
[6]
Varying records indicate that a post office called Zeta was established in 1895 and potentially also in 1910, and remained in operation until 1936.
[7]
[8]
[2] Zeta also was home to multiple farms and
sawmills .
[9]
Current state
One of the few remnants of Zeta left is the Crowder-Zeta
special road district ; its name being shared with nearby
Crowder .
[10]
[11] As of 2024, a
Nestlé Purina PetCare factory is located immediately north of the historical location of Zeta, south of
Missouri supplemental route Y , which was formerly and locally known as the "Zeta-Crowder road."
[12]
[13]
[1]
Notable events
In 1916, a man from Zeta, Emil L. Gerardi, claimed to be a candidate for president in the
1916 United States presidential election .
[14]
On
May 30, 1917 , an
F3 tornado touched down west of
Acorn Ridge, Missouri and crossed through Zeta and Stoddard County, killing three people in Zeta.
[15]
On December 6, 1924, the Zeta rail depot was
set on fire along with the depot in nearby
Ardeola , which had completely burned down.
[16]
References
^
a
b
c
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Zeta (historical)
^
a
b
c Hamlett, Mayme Lucille (1938).
Place names of six southeast counties of Missouri (Thesis thesis). University of Missouri--Columbia.
doi :
10.32469/10355/70281 .
^
"George H Crumb, Zeta" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . January 31, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^
"Zeta MO Cotton Belt Route" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . December 3, 1897. p. 3. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^
"Zeta MO rail line improvements" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . September 11, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^
"Zeta-Vanduser rail line" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . November 14, 1902. p. 5. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^
"Post Offices" . Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved December 26, 2016 .
^
"A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets of Missouri" . thelibrary.org . Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^ Williams, Walter, ed. (1904).
The state of Missouri; an autobiography . Missouri: Press of E.W. Stephens.
LCCN
05009158 .
^ Mintee, Susan (February 2007).
Special Road District Financial Reporting Practices (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2007. Office of the Missouri State Auditor. p. 28. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^
"Crowder-Zeta Special Road District notice" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . July 27, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
^
"Zeta Crowder road" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . June 10, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
^
"Zeta Crowder road rights" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . October 1, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
^
"Emil Gerardi Zeta MO" . The East Prairie Eagle . June 9, 1916. p. 2. Retrieved April 1, 2024 .
^ Grazulis, T. P. (1990).
Significant Tornadoes, 1880-1989 . Environmental Films.
ISBN
978-1-879362-00-0 .
^
"Zeta and Ardeola depot fire" . The Bloomfield Vindicator . December 12, 1924. p. 1. Retrieved April 2, 2024 .
36°57′20″N 89°52′05″W / 36.955606°N 89.868144°W / 36.955606; -89.868144