Information Sheet

 

 

R         Little River Valley Land Company.

946                  Booklet, ca. 1908.

                                    One folder, photocopies.

 

 

 

This is a promotional booklet for the Little River Valley Land Company, which marketed land made available by the drainage of the swamps in southeastern Missouri.  A. L. Harty served as president and W. F. Smith served as secretary of the firm, which was based at Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

 

In the early 1900s the Little River Drainage District was organized to drain the swamplands of southeastern Missouri and convert the area into agricultural land.  The Little River Valley Land Company was an effort to market the land to prospective investors and settlers.  This undated 60-page illustrated booklet described the reclaimed land in favorable terms, and offered unimproved lowland parcels at $15 to $20 per acre.  The front cover is entitled “Southeast Missouri: The Gar­den Spot of the Mis­sissippi Valley,” while the title page bears the legend, “Southeast Missouri: Its Advantages and Opportunities.”  The general offices of the Little River Valley Land Company were in the Himmelberger-Harrison Building in downtown Cape Girardeau.

 

The booklet is arranged in thematic sections describing the climate, soils, transportation in­frastructure, crops, and natural resources of the region.  There is a lengthy section (pages 35-56) describing the counties (Cape Girardeau, Stoddard, Bollinger, Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemis­cot, and Scott), cities, and towns in the drainage area.  There are many photographic illustrations.  There is a map of  the area, showing major railroad lines, on pages 30-31.

 

 

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