St. Joseph, a city and county-seat of Buchanan co., Mo.; on the Missouri river; 60 miles N.W. of Kansas City. It is the third city in the State in population and is one of the wealthiest cities of its size in the United States.
St. Joseph has upward of 400 manufacturing establishments, with a capital exceeding $10,000,000, and annual products of over $12,000,000. The chief manufactures are clothing, shirts, overalls, flour and grist mill products, boots and shoes, furniture, machinery, packed meat, and woolen blankets. The city is the trade center of a large and rich agricultural region. It is also an important shipping point for cattle, hogs, and grain, and has stock yards covering about 450 acres. The assessed property valuation exceeds $35,000,000, and the total bonded debt is about $1,300,000.
The city has an area of 9 square miles. The sewer system covers 38 miles, and the streets are lighted by electricity. There is a public school enrollment of over 9,600 pupils, and the annual expenditure for education is nearly $140,000. The annual cost of maintaining the city government is about $320,000.
The city was established by Joseph Ribideaux in 1843; incorporated as a town in 1845; and chartered as a city in 1885. After the discovery of gold in California it became prominent as the starting point for mining parties on their way across the prairies. During the Civil War it was fortified by the Federal government. Pop. (1910) 77,403.
Entry from
Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912.