Here in the Southeast Lowland Region of Missouri on a Delaware and Shawnee Indian village site, Kennett was laid out as the seat of Dunklin County, 1846. The town was first called Chilletecaux for a Delaware Indian living here at the time. Later known as Butler, it was named for Mayor of St. Louis, L.M. Kennett in 1851. The county name honors Gov. Daniel Dunklin.
Kennett grew as a trade and legal center as Dunklin developed into a noted cotton, soybean, and livestock farming area. When organized in 1845, Dunklin County was an isolated region of forest, overflowed land, and swamp bearing the marks of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. First settlers, hunters and trappers, were followed by others who came to harvest the forests.
Effective land reclamation began in 1893 when the state provided for organization of county drainage districts and levees on the St. Francis River. Dunklin County is in the Little River Drainage District, one of the largest drainage systems in the U.S., organized 1905. Drainage districts include some 300,000 of Dunklin's 347,524 acres.
Kennett is the seat of the first "Bootheel" county formed after Missouri was made a state. The extreme southeast counties of Dunklin (1845) and Pemiscot (1851), with a section of New Madrid (1812), are said to be part of Missouri through efforts of J. Hardeman Walker of Pemiscot County.
Here in Dunklin County, near Cardwell on the St. Francis River, the 230 altitude is the lowest spot in Missouri.
Kennett grew as a trade and legal center as Dunklin developed into a noted cotton, soybean, and livestock farming area. When organized in 1845, Dunklin County was an isolated region of forest, overflowed land, and swamp bearing the marks of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. First settlers, hunters and trappers, were followed by others who came to harvest the forests.
Effective land reclamation began in 1893 when the state provided for organization of county drainage districts and levees on the St. Francis River. Dunklin County is in the Little River Drainage District, one of the largest drainage systems in the U.S., organized 1905. Drainage districts include some 300,000 of Dunklin's 347,524 acres.
Kennett is the seat of the first "Bootheel" county formed after Missouri was made a state. The extreme southeast counties of Dunklin (1845) and Pemiscot (1851), with a section of New Madrid (1812), are said to be part of Missouri through efforts of J. Hardeman Walker of Pemiscot County.
Here in Dunklin County, near Cardwell on the St. Francis River, the 230 altitude is the lowest spot in Missouri.
Kennett Chamber of Commerce
1601 First Street
Kennett, Missouri 63857
(573) 888-5828 • Contact Us
1601 First Street
Kennett, Missouri 63857
(573) 888-5828 • Contact Us
