Crane, MO

Crane is a Stone County town on Crane Creek, where the name does double duty as a waterway and a post office. The town was first known as Hickory Grove, but the post office name had to change; Crane was chosen for the nearby creek. A post office called Crane has operated since 1887, and the town was platted in 1895. Missouri Route 413 runs through the town northwest of Elsey and south of Billings, while Crane Creek cuts right through the local map. This is southwest Missouri in a tidy package: creek, highway, school district, and a place-name that came from the landscape.