Clarkton, Missouri

Clarkton is a city in northern Dunklin County, Missouri. It had a population of 1,288 at the 2010 census.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Geography
* 3 Demographics
* 4 Education
* 5 References

## History[edit]

A community was laid out on the Clarkton site around the beginning of the Civil War, named Beech after the many beech trees in the area. In 1876, after the construction of a plank road running from just south of Beech into New Madrid County, it grew into a permanent settlement and was renamed in honor of Henry E. Clark, a contractor for the road.[1] Clarkton struggled during its early years, as most business was subsequently drawn towards Malden, but it revived after the arrival of a branch line of the Frisco Railroad in 1895.[2]

## Geography[edit]

Clarkton is located at the intersection of Missouri State Highways 25 and 162 in northern Dunklin County, directly adjacent to New Madrid County to the east. The city of Gideon is about two and a half miles to the east, and Malden is seven miles to the north. Its exact coordinates are 36°27’03”N 89°58’04”W.

The city is located on the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It has a total land area of 1.13 square miles, and an average elevation of 282 feet.[3]

## Demographics[edit]

At the 2010 census, Clarkton had a total of 1,288 inhabitants, grouped into 495 households, with a population density of 1,139.8 people per square mile. This figure represented a slight decrease from the 2000 census, when Clarkton had a population of 1,330. 84.32% of the inhabitants were White, 5.05% were African-American, 0.31% were Native American, 8.15% were from some other race, and 2.17% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 9.78% of the population.

The median age in Clarkton was 32.9 years, with 30.0% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 10.2% between 18 and 24 years old, 25.4% between 25 and 44, 24.0% between 45 and 64, and 10.3% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 48.4% male, 51.6% female.[4]

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, the median household income in Clarkton was $27,663, and the median family income was $29,414. The unemployment rate was 12.9%. The per capita income was $11,853. About 28.7% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 32.8% of people under the age of 18 and 11.4% of people 65 years old or older.[5]

## Education[edit]

Clarkton and the surrounding area are served by the Clarkton C-4 School District, a PK-12 public institution with an enrollment of about 320 students.[6] Its mascot is the Reindeer, and the school colors are purple and white. The town also has a small library.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_dunklin.html
2. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=G-AlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA286#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt
4. ↑ https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
5. ↑ https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
6. ↑ https://www.greatschools.org/missouri/clarkton/schools/