Belmont, Missouri

Belmont is a ghost town in Mississippi County, on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Missouri at the Mississippi River.^[1] The GNIS classifies it as a populated place under the name "Belmont Landing".^[2]

Belmont was platted in 1853, and named after August Belmont, a businessman interested in the site.^[1] A post office called Belmont Landing was in operation from 1867 until 1869, and a post office called Belmont from 1869 until 1923.^[3]

Belmont was the scene of a Civil War battle, the Battle of Belmont in 1861.^[4] The community lends its name to the Columbus-Belmont State Park, a Civil War site across the Mississippi River in Hickman County, Kentucky.^[5]

After the Reconstruction era, whites asserted their dominance, often by violence and intimidation. In May 1905, a mob of 200 to 300 whites lynched Tom Witherspoon, aka Robert Pettigrew, an African-American man, for alleged kidnapping and threats against a white man.^[6][7] This event took place during an era of increased violence by whites against blacks due to economic problems and social tensions. A series of floods (1912, 1922, and 1937) inundated the town of Belmont, particularly the 1937 flood. Many people moved away after this destruction and the town became abandoned; the post office closed in 1923.^[1]

36°45′59″N 89°07′18″W / 36.7664457°N 89.1217338°W / 36.7664457; -89.1217338

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