Doolittle, Missouri

Doolittle is a city in western Phelps County, Missouri. It had a population of 630 at the 2010 census.

History[edit]

Doolittle is among the younger communities in Phelps County, having been established only in 1941 as a by-product of the construction of Fort Leonard Wood some 20 miles to the southwest. Thousands of workers were hired for the building process, and in this stretch of the Ozarks there were not enough communities to adequately house them; many employees had to share beds in shifts. Some of them found housing in an unincorporated stretch of Phelps County between Rolla and Newburg, which for that reason came to be known as Centertown.

As construction continued, more businesses and permanent residents appeared in the Centertown area to service the workers, and Lou Hargis, a local entrepreneur, launched a campaign to have the new community incorporated as a city. This succeeded, with Hargis and several other notables acting as trustees until April 1944, when the first city elections were held. At this time, it was decided to rename the town "Doolittle" in honor of World War II hero Lieutenant General James "Jimmy" Doolittle, who had led a famous air raid on Tokyo, Japan in 1942. When the dedication ceremony was held in 1946, General Doolittle himself arrived in his B-25 Mitchell to speak.^[1]

Though the workers who were the reason for Doolittle's existence mostly departed after the completion of the fort, the town maintained itself over time, profiting from its proximity to U.S. Route 66 and then its replacement, Interstate 44. A few attractions and service industries from those days are still visited on occasion by tourists retracing the old U.S. 66 route.^[2]

Geography[edit]

Doolittle is located mostly along the south side of Interstate 44, about seven miles west of Rolla and immediately north of the city of Newburg. Old U.S. Route 66 (Eisenhower Street within Doolittle) parallels the interstate just to the south; it is intersected by State Route T (Truman Street) in the downtown section. The city's official coordinates are 37°56’33”N 91°53’28”W.

The city lies on the northern edge of a rugged ridge that separates it from Newburg and Little Piney Creek just to the south, with the Gasconade River a few miles to the west. It has a total area of 2.68 square miles, and an average elevation of 955 feet.^[3]

Demographics[edit]

At the 2010 census, Doolittle had a total of 630 inhabitants, grouped into 251 households, with a population density of 105.6 people per square mile. This figure represented a slight decrease from the 2000 census, when Doolittle had a population of 644. 97.46% of the inhabitants were White, 0.63% were Native American, 0.32% were Asian, and 1.59% were from two or more races.

The median age in Doolittle was 41.7 years, with 23.2% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 9.0% between 18 and 24 years old, 21.1% between 25 and 44, 31.1% between 45 and 64, and 15.6% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 48.4% male, 51.6% female.^[4]

According to the 2018 American Community Survey, Doolittle had a median household income of $37,188, and a median family income of $43,750. The unemployment rate was 15.1%. The per capita income was $21,177. About 14.9% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 15.3% of people under the age of 18 and 5.7% of people 65 years old or older.^[5]

Education[edit]

Like most of western Phelps County, Doolittle is part of the Newburg R-II School District (PK-12), based in neighboring Newburg.^[6]

Community Life[edit]

In a nod to its World War II origins, most of the town's streets are named for famous American generals, including Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and George Patton.

For enthusiasts of old U.S. 66, there are several landmarks from the days when the highway ran through the middle of Doolittle. Among these are the narrow Beaver Creek Bridge, Ramsey's (or Centerville) Garage, Malone's Service Station, and the T&T Cafe and Garage (now the "I-44 Antique Mall and Flea Market").^[7]

References[edit]