Highlandville, MO

Highlandville is a Christian County city in the Ozarks, south of Springfield and close to the hills, springs, and trails that shape the southern edge of the metro. Ferdinand Frank Kentling, a German immigrant, established a trading post here in 1868 after settling along Wilderness Road. His Dutch Store served wagon travelers, trappers, and cotton farmers moving goods toward Springfield's railroad center, and he became the settlement's first postmaster. A post office has operated since 1872, and the city incorporated in 1993.

Today the city is part crossroads, part trail system for the surrounding Ozarks. Two Rivers Bike Park has a 14-mile multi-use singletrack network, while nearby Busiek State Forest offers about 18 miles of trails, camping, and a shooting range. Mountain Springs Trout Park adds spring-fed water and a local fishery. Spokane R-VII serves the schools, and the old road corridor still connects Highlandville to Springfield and the Christian County countryside. The city's story runs from a wagon-stop trading post to a modern small city whose most visible surroundings are hills, roads, springs, and forest.