Leadington, MO

Leadington is a small St. Francois County city wrapped inside Park Hills, one of those Missouri Lead Belt places where the municipal map makes more sense once you know the mining history. The town was platted in 1895 after lead mining reached the site, and the Federal Lead Company helped build the first housing in the early 1900s. A post office opened in 1894 and remained until 1966. Those dates are the local shorthand for a town that grew beside mine shafts, company homes, and the larger Flat River industrial district.

Mining changed after the big area operations closed in the 1970s, but Leadington still lives inside the Park Hills service and shopping orbit. Missouri Mines State Historic Site, old mine landscapes, regional roads, and the schools and jobs around Park Hills keep the Lead Belt story close. The city has no need to pretend it is separate from its neighbor; its unusual city-within-a-city geography is part of the scoop. Leadington is a compact residential pocket with a hard-rock past and a daily routine tied to the wider Park Hills community.