Athens, MO

ATHENS, A post village of Clark county, situated on the Desmoines river and on the line of the Keokuk and Ft. Desmoines and Minnesota Railroad, 10 miles from Waterloo, the county seat, 210 from St. Louis, and 150 from Jefferson City.  This village was first settled by natives of Kentucky and Virginia, and a post office established in 1844.  The chief products of the town are corn, wheat, rye, and barley; minerals, lead and coal; timber, oak, walnut, hickory, and elm.  The average price of cultivated lands $20 per acre; uncultivated $10.  There is one stage route from this place to Alexandria, distance 24 miles.  It contains an Academy, under the charge of Messrs. Slaughter and Burch, five churches, viz., one Baptist, one Presbyterian, one Christian, and two Methodists, one Masonic lodge, Kenner Lodge No. 180, one I.O.O.F., Cataract No. 98, one wagon maker, one druggist, one express office, one flouring mill, two grocers, five general stores, one hotel, one livery stable, one lumber yard, and one woolen factory.  Population 500.  (The Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1860)