First known as Lenoir, the town was renamed to Powderly in honor of Terence V. Powderly, a labor leader and a commissioner of immigration in the McKinley administration. The community settled in the area in the late 1850s or early 1860s after the Civil War. In the 1880s, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was built through the area. The post office was established in 1888. The town had two cotton gins, a gristmill and a sawmill by 1890. According to the 2010 census, the total population was estimated to be 185 residents which are the same as the population in 1990.
Are you a customer or the owner/manager of the business you'd like to add?
