Anderson, MO

Anderson is a McDonald County city in southwest Missouri, where Missouri 59 and 76 meet U.S. 71 near Indian Creek. The 2020 census counted 1,981 residents. Robert Anderson opened a store and post office here in 1886, giving the place its name; the railroad later extended through town toward Noel and helped the settlement grow. I-49 now passes east of the city, but the older road pattern still gives Anderson its crossroads shape.

For a while, strawberries made Anderson famous. The local cooperative began shipping berries in 1903, and the city picked up the Strawberry Capital of the World nickname before competition from larger growing regions changed the business. Canning and cheese processing also tied the town to nearby farms. McDonald County High School keeps a school-day center in town, while Indian Creek runs south toward the Elk River. Anderson has the practical feel of a place built by roads, a post office, and crops that once left town by rail.