St Joseph, MO Summer Camps

About St Joseph, MO

Saint Joseph is the county seat of Buchanan County and chief city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state, third largest in Northwest Missouri . The metropolitan area had a population of 127,329 in 2010. St. Joseph is located on the Missouri River, but is perhaps best known as the starting point of the Pony Express and the death place of Jesse James. Saint Joseph is also home to Missouri Western State University.

History of St Joseph, MO

The intersection of Francis and North 4th Streets in downtown St. Joseph Saint Joseph was founded on the Missouri River by Joseph Robidoux, a local fur trader, and officially incorporated in 1843. In its early days, it was a bustling outpost and rough frontier town, serving as a last supply point and jumping-off point on the Missouri River toward the "Wild West". It was the westernmost point in the United States accessible by rail until after the American Civil War. The main east-west downtown streets were named for Robidoux's eight children: Faraon, Jules, Francis, Felix, Edmond, Charles, Sylvanie, and Messanie. The street between Sylvanie and Messanie was named for his second wife, Angelique. Between April 3, 1860, and late October 1861, Saint Joseph was one of the two endpoints of the Pony Express, which operated for a short period over the land then inaccessible by rail, to provide fast mail service. Today the Pony Express Museum host visitors in the old stables. In 1882, on April 3, the outlaw Jesse James was killed at his home, originally located at 1318 Lafayette, now sited next to The Patee House. In the post-Civil War years, when the economy was down, the hotel had served for a time as the home of the Patee Female College, followed by the St.