page_title: Monett, Missouri
section_title: Settlement: 1870-1887
hierarchical_section_title: Monett, Missouri / History / Settlement: 1870-1887
caption_attribution_description: English: Logan McKee flying the Dechenne Aeroplane in Monett, Missouri
context_page_description: Monett is a city in Barry and Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is also the most-populous city in Barry and Lawrence counties. The city is located in the Ozarks, just south of Interstate 44 between Joplin and Springfield. The population was 8,873 at the 2010 census. The population was estimated to be 9,124 by the City of Monett on July 1, 2019.
context_section_description: Monett was created as a railroad town by the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway ("Frisco Line") which came through in 1870 and would build branch going off the main line to Paris, Texas. Both lines are still in existence and operated by the BNSF Railway.  During this time the area went through several names including Kings Prairie Depot, Plymouth, Plymouth Junction (when the southern branch was built in 1880), Gonten (named for the local postmaster because the Post Service said there were other Plymouths); and finally Monett in 1887 when the area was formally platted and the Monett name was applied to the post office.  It was named for Henry Monett who was a popular general station agent for various railroads including the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Nickel Plate Railroad") before becoming an agent for the New York Central Railroad shortly before his death at the age of 35 in 1888.
  The community was very much noted for being a rail town and had a Harvey House operating at the Frisco train station from 1896 until 1930.  The community in the Ozark Mountains also had a thriving fruit business and was nicknamed the "Strawberry Capital of the Midwest."  The Ozark Fruit Growers Association building (built in 1927) which is part of the Downtown Monett Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
  The David W. Courdin House, Downtown Monett Historic District, and Waldensian Church and Cemetery of Stone Prairie are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  In 1894, a lynching and race riot in took place in Monett before the violence spread to Pierce City and other southwestern Missouri towns. Monett became a sundown town, banning African Americans from living or staying there after dark, with a sign across the main street saying: "Nigger, don't let the sun go down." "Monett, Peirce City, Rogers, Ark., and several other towns around here have driven the negros out."
caption: Logan McKee flying the Dechenne Aeroplane in Monett, Missouri
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