Decatur, AR

Decatur began as Corner Springs, named for the fresh-water spring near William F. Burrow's farm. When local residents sought a post office in 1882, postal officials rejected Corner Springs and then Mitchell, so the community took the name of Stephen Decatur, a War of 1812 hero, in 1883. The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad reached town in 1893, turning Decatur into a shipping point for strawberries, peaches, and later apples. Crops changed, but the spring, Highway 59, and the railroad-era town plan still give the place its shape. Decatur is an Ozark foothill city with a name chosen at the post office and a local history shaped by what could be shipped out.