La Plata, MO

La Plata is a Macon County city whose place on the map is still defined by rail. Drury Davis established a trading post near the current town in 1827, and the early settlement grew around a blacksmith shop, inn, and stagecoach stop. Railroads reached La Plata in the nineteenth century, turning the city into a shipping point for timber, livestock, grain, and goods from northern Macon County and neighboring Adair County. Today U.S. 63 runs along the east side, with Macon to the south and Kirksville to the north.

La Plata station keeps that transportation story alive. The restored Art Deco depot is a scheduled Amtrak stop on the Southwest Chief, linking this small Missouri city with Chicago and Los Angeles. La Plata R-II operates the elementary school and high school, and the La Plata Public Library adds a local civic stop. The La Plata Square Historic District and other listed homes fill out the older townscape. Day to day, the city balances a county-road rhythm with a surprisingly long-distance rail connection: school, library, U.S. 63, and a train that still crosses the prairie on its way across the country.