Wittenberg is an unincorporated community in Brazeau Township in eastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. [1] It is located on the Mississippi River, 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Perryville. Wittenberg is situated in the Brazeau Bottoms on Brazeau Creek opposite Grand Tower, Illinois, and Tower Rock, the latter a landmark island in the Mississippi River.
Wittenberg is one of seven towns and villages in the area founded by German Lutheran immigrants in 1839. Wittenberg and the others—Altenburg, Dresden, Frohna, Johannisberg, Paitzdorf, and Seelitz—were all named by settlers for towns in the Saxony region of their native country. [2] The city's namesake, Wittenberg, Germany, is important in Lutheran history as the place where Martin Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses , which sparked the Reformation. [3]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 114 | — | |
| 1910 | 87 | −23.7% | |
| 1920 | 269 | 209.2% | |
| 1930 | 95 | −64.7% | |
| 1940 | 84 | −11.6% | |
| 1950 | 54 | −35.7% | |
| 1960 | 30 | −44.4% | |
| 1970 | 9 | −70.0% | |
| 1980 | 4 | −55.6% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census [4] | |||
The immigrant group would eventually form the backbone of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and they considered Tower Rock, nearby in the Mississippi River, to be their own version of Plymouth Rock in their search for religious freedom. [5] At its high point, Wittenberg had as many as 400 residents. In addition to St. Paul's Lutheran church and one-room school, the town supported a brewery, a furniture factory, two grocery stores, a tavern, a flour mill, a cooperage, and two hotels. [5]
Among Wittenberg's claims to fame is the last train robbery in Missouri. In November, 1922, a train bound for San Francisco, California, from St. Louis was robbed approximately two miles (3.2 km) north of Wittenberg. Over $100,000 was taken by Jack "Quail Hunter" Kennedy, a notorious train robber and last active member of the Jesse James gang. [6] Unfortunately for the robbers, one of Kennedy's two accomplices was secretly working undercover for the railroad police. When Kennedy and the other robber showed up to board their getaway autos, they were met by a host of law officers including two deputy sheriffs, three railroad special agents, and six postal inspectors. Not heeding demands to surrender, Kennedy reached for his weapon, and both robbers were shot dead.
Floods in 1927 and 1973 caused severe damage to the town, destroying most of the businesses. The school closed in 1969. [5] In 1980, the few remaining residents of Wittenberg took on the U.S Census Bureau. The official government tally was four, but the village members were able to prove that in fact the population was double that, with eight residents. [2] Finally, in 1983, with the population now only five people, residents petitioned a Perry County judge to disincorporate the town, with the motion being granted. The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 destroyed what little was left of the community. [5] Today only a few house foundations, steps, and the paved riverfront boat dock remain. In 1994, the Lutheran Historical Society of Perry County erected a large marker on the site where the Wittenberg Lutheran Church once stood. [5]
Wittenberg lies at the southern end of Brazeau Bottom along the Mississippi River. To its west lie the Mississippi River bluffs, and to the east lie Tower Rock, Grand Tower Island, and Grand Tower, Illinois. Brazeau Creek empties into the Mississippi River at Wittenberg. The Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge crosses the Mississippi River at Wittenberg.
Perry County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,956. Its county seat is Perryville. The county was officially organized on November 16, 1820 from Ste. Genevieve County and was named after Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval hero of the War of 1812.
Grand Tower is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 605 at the 2010 census. The town gets its name from Tower Rock, a landmark island in the Mississippi River.
Altenburg is a city in Perry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 341 at the 2020 census.
Martin Stephan (1777–1846) was pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Dresden, Germany during the early 19th century. He organized the Saxon emigration to the United States in the early 19th century.
Tower Rock, also known as Grand Tower, is a rock formation and landmark island in the Mississippi River, in Brazeau Township, Perry County, Missouri, near the town of Wittenberg, Missouri, and across the river from Grand Tower, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Brazeau is an unincorporated community in southeastern Perry County, Missouri, United States.
Menfro is an unincorporated community in northeastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. It is located 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Perryville.
Uniontown is an unincorporated community located in Union Township in southeastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. It is situated on U.S. Route 61, ten miles southeast of Perryville.
New Wells is an unincorporated community in northern Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is located 20 miles (32 km) north of Cape Girardeau and is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge is a suspension bridge carrying a natural gas pipeline across the Mississippi River between Wittenberg, Missouri and Grand Tower, Illinois.
John F. Kennedy was an American outlaw, described as "the West's last notorious train robber".
Apple Creek is an unincorporated community in south central Perry County, Missouri, United States, though not to be confused with the town of Old Appleton which was originally known as Apple Creek. The community is just north of Missouri Route F between I-55 to the west and U.S. Route 61 to the east. Uniontown lies two miles east on Route 61.
Cinque Hommes is one of the eight townships located in Perry County, Missouri, in the United States of America.
Seventy-Six was an unincorporated community in Brazeau Township in eastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. It was located fourteen miles east of Perryville, ninety miles south of Saint Louis, and lay directly on the Mississippi River.
Brazeau is one of the eight townships located in Perry County, Missouri, in the United States of America.
The Brazeau Bottom is an alluvial floodplain, also called a 'flat', extending along the Mississippi River in Perry County, Missouri.
Pointrest was an unincorporated community in Bois Brule Township in Perry County, Missouri, United States.
Brazeau Creek is a stream flowing through Perry County, Missouri and emptying into the Mississippi River.
Grand Tower Island is a river island in the Mississippi River in the midwestern United States, within the state of Missouri on its border with the state of Illinois. Formed within recorded history by the movement of the river, it consists of a bulge-shaped piece of land between the river's primary channel and an oxbow lake. Land on the island is generally valuable for farming, especially when protected from flooding, while the lake has developed a reputation as a valuable sport-fishing location.
The Saxon Lutheran immigration of 1838–39 was a migration of Confessional German Lutherans seeking religious freedom in the United States in the early 19th century. The immigrants were among the original founders of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
37°39′09″N89°31′28″W / 37.65250°N 89.52444°W
Municipalities and communities of Perry County, Missouri, United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |