Since 1974, the Iron County Historical Society has been dedicated to preserving, protecting and sharing the rich history of Iron County, Missouri and its people. Through our museum, publications, programs and outreach, we can help you discover this rich history and help you with researching your own family's history. If you are already a member of the society, you can log-on by clicking on the Members Only link. If you are not already a member, we would encourage you to join us and help us to share our rich heritage with future generations. Check out our Coming Events page to keep up with the latest on upcoming historical society events and use our Blog page to get the very latest on historical society news, the latest information on changes to the website and information to assist you in researching your Iron County and other ancestors. Our museum is located inside the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center (and AMTRAK Station) on Missouri State Highway 21 in Arcadia, Missouri. We are currently open on Thursday through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Beginning on November 1, 2025, we will return to our Winter Hours, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Miners in Front of Pilot Knob Iron Mine, 1919

New Responsive Website in the Queue

As I write this on 3/30/2026, I had hoped that our new website would be live by now. There's even an article about the new website in the Spring 2026 Newsletter that will be out later this week.

Instead were are still in the queue (the line) with other ENS websites going through the conversion process. It's a busy time at ENS right now, A few websites have already completed the conversion process. More, like ours are done and waitng for the developers to take us "live". Still others are just starting. Then, on top of all that, the folks at ENS are dealing with any bugs that may be cropping up with the new software.

So, for now. I ask for your patience. I will continue to use the blog to keep you up to date on what's happening. If I don't hear anything by April 7th, I will follow-up with the folks at ENS.

April 2026 Annual Meeting Meeting

We hope you can join us for our Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 2p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Ironton located at the corner of Reynolds and Knob streets in Ironton.

Before our Annual Meeting begins, we invite you to join local author and historian, David Dillard, for an engaging overview of the history of iron mining at Pilot Knob. He will trace the story from iron deposits formed hundreds of millions of years ago to the beginning of large‑scale mining on Pilot Knob Mountain with the incorporation of the Missouri Iron Company in December 1836. Mr. Dillard will explore the cycles of boom and bust that defined mining there from the 1830s through the 1920s. And the story doesn’t end there. Long after the early operations ceased, mining returned to Pilot Knob in 1968 when the Pilot Knob Pellet Company began underground extraction and operated an iron‑ore pelletizing plant until 1980.