Town History

One of the first known settlers at Sarcoxie was Chief Sarcoxie, head of the Turtle Band of the Delaware Tribe. Historians have translated Sarcoxie's name as meaning "As Tall As He Is". This is said to mean he was high up in tribal government, but photos reveal that he also looked "tall".

The first permanent settler to Jasper County in 1831 was Thackery Vivion from Kentucky, who located near Sarcoxie Spring and built a mill of logs on Center Creek a quarter mile east of the present town square. Platted in 1840, Sarcoxie is the oldest town in Jasper County and the only town in the United States with that name.

Sarcoxie was considered a hot point during the Civil War. The first Confederate Flag, the "Star and Bars," was flown in Missouri on the Sarcoxie Square. Legend has it that the 100-foot wide flag flew from a 100-foot flag pole and was guarded closely for weeks. Following the war years, Sarcoxie became a major cow-town as a stopping point where Texas cowboys moved their herds north to the railhead at Sedalia during the 1890s.

The first electric lights in Southwest Missouri appeared in 1887 at the mill where J.J. Sprague invented a dynamo and sent an order to Edison for ten incandescent bulbs.