A new flouring-mill was erected in the spring of 1877, and for the size is one of the best mills in the county. It was in working order on the 1st of April. The machinery is all of the most approved pattern, and the flour is of a superior quality.
Jameson has been steadily growing. It has not ” boomed,” as some would say, but it is the only town in Grand River township, and as the township grows, so does Jameson. Her merchants are enterprising, and they not only make a market for the productions of the township, but purchase all that is brought in or can be induced to come there from other sections of the country. This making a market and selling all kinds of goods at low prices has given a great impetus to trade, and probably few towns in this section of Missouri does as large a business for its size as Jameson. It is the home of sound business judgment and enlightened progress.
In 1860 Grand River township had a population of 2,122, forty-three of whom were colored. Jamesport was then a town and it had fifty-nine persons within its limits. In 1860 Grand River township covered a good deal of territory, and as the county judges were in the habit of changing boundary lines, making new townships, and then blotting them out at the next term of the court, it is hard to know just what” the gains and improvements in each township were up to 1870. In 1869 Union was made from Gallatin and Grand River townships. The same year 0 rant or Jamesport was taken from Grand River and Jackson, and in 1870 Lincoln and Washington were taken from Grand River. This left the township with its present limits.
In 1870 then, the township after being cut up, had 1,086 whites and seven colored, or a total population of 1,093. There was really no village in the township. Prairie City did have a name, and was located in the north part of the township, but it never Boasted of many houses, and is now only known as a farm. Its history is more of tradition than actual fact.
The census of 1880 is before us, and the population of Grand River township is as follows:
In 1880 it was 1,652
In 1870, as before reported, was
Giving a gain of 559
Over fifty percent the last decade. The population of Jameson in 1880 was 405; at the present time it exceeds five hundred.
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