CAPPS/CAPPS LANDING

By Kelly Warman-Stallings
The Ghost Towns of Central Missouri

I am not sure when the settlement of Capps came into existence, but probably in the mid 1800s. The Capps family, for whom the vicinity was named, was in Miller County as early as the 1840s. The small river town, which was located near the Osage River in northeast Miller County, had several business places at the turn of the 20th century. Situated on the south side of the river, and located in Osage township, it contained several general stores, a post office, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, a doctor's office, and a ferry boat crossing. It also had a school nearby, about 1/2 mile south.

The ferry boat crossing was called Capps Landing (some called the town Capps Landing as well) and it was a very important and major way of crossing the river for our pioneer forefathers. It was the nearest ferry and many folks relied on it both north and south of the river in Osage and Jim Henry townships.

Tuscumbia, the county seat in Equality Township, had a ferry also but it was quite a few miles upriver from Capps. The post office was established in 1892 and was in operation until 1911. After the turn of the century, Perry Nixdorf (son of Dr. Anton P. Nixdorf) set up a doctor's office in the small town. He also had a practice in the nearby town (across the river) called Mary's Home at the same time and traveled the river between the two settlements. This busy doctor resided in the Pleasant Farm area.

In 1878, the county had a total of 65 schoolhouses, yet only 56 teachers were employed and received wages of $22.50 per month. In 1878 there were 55 schools for the white children and one school for the black children. In 1930/31 there was a Capps school district No.39 and school was held in a small one-room schoolhouse just south of the small village. The teacher in 1930 was Lucy Kubachek who lived in Tuscumbia. The Capps school district was also known as Spring Dale.

Today, very little remains of the town. Once more, Mother Nature has reclaimed the land with her wooded areas and the mighty Osage rolls past what was once a busy ferry crossing. The Capps cemetery is still maintained and still bears the name of this once busy river town.

Regional Ancestral Names: Barnhart, Barton, Birdsong, Boyd, Capps, Clark, Flaugher, Hamilton, Johnson, Lee, Martin, Pendleton, Piles/Pyles, Robinson, Wickham, Hodge.