Welcome to the Iron County Historical Society

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. We also invite you to visit us at our museum located in the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center in Arcadia. Our current hours are: Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 pm. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Miners in Front of Pilot Knob Iron Mine, 1919

History of Early Mining at Pilot Knob

Please consider joining us for our next quarterly meeting on Sunday, July 16.2023 at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Ironton, Missouri (located in Ironton at the corner of Reynolds and Knob streets). Economic geologist and historical society member, Dr. Russell Myers will present his program on the early history of iron mining at Pilot Knob.

Myers has travelled the world in pursuit of geology. He’s worked in South Africa where he earned his PhD in Geology, taught at the James Cook University in Australia, and has been a prospector in East Africa, South America, Alaska and Nevada. He has now returned to southeast Missouri where he grew up and now makes his home.

Since returning, Myers has done extensive research on the early mining on Pilot Knob Mountain. He has also used advances in modern technology such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) as well as topographical maps to advance our knowledge of early mining activities on the mountain. Myers has combined historical photographs, maps, and LiDAR topography in his past presentations on this this subject and will now share that presentation with us. As always, the public is encouraged to attend.