Shelbyville, MO

SHELBYVILLE, The county seat of Shelby county, Black Creek township; it is situated on the left bank of Black Creek, and on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, 160 miles from Jefferson City.  The post office was first established in 1835.  The town contains four churches, viz.: Christian, Baptist, Methodist, North and South, one high school and an excellent institution if learning in flourishing condition, viz.: Shelbyville Male and Female Seminary.  The Masons hold a lodge here, St. Andrews No. 96, and the Odd Fellows' Shelbyville Lodge, No. 33.  The chief productions are, corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco.  Its timber, oak, hickory, elm, and walnut.  Improved land may be bought for $10 per acre, and unimproved $8.  Population 700. (The Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1860)