Nogo, Missouri

The past couple of weeks I've written about places in Jasper County that were once thriving little villages but that no longer exist or barely survive. I'm sticking with the general theme, but I'm shifting to Greene County this week. Nogo, which was located about three miles west of Strafford or seven miles east of Springfield along the railroad between the two larger towns, is another such place. 

Today, Nogo is completely within the bounds of Strafford, but at one time it was a separate place and was even something of a rival of Strafford. Strafford came into existence about 1869 or 1870 when the railroad was being laid between Rolla and Springfield, whereas Nogo didn't come along until much later, sometime around 1890. The people living in the area that became Nogo got together and decided they wanted a school of their own. They proposed to build the school themselves and petitioned to have a separate school district created for the school. The petition, however, was rejected; so, the schoolhouse became a "No Go" as well, and the entire community took on that name. 

In 1898, the people of Nogo stirred the ire of some Strafford folks when they petitioned the county to create a new township with Nogo as the seat of the township. The Nogoites didn't want to have to travel to Strafford to vote or conduct other legal business. Officials from Jackson Township, in which Strafford was located, opposed lopping off part of their township to create a new one because Jackson was already a fairly small township. Strafford, the officials said, was the center of the township and was already convenient for voting. According to a Springfield newspaper, some Strafford residents suggested that there would be more reason than ever for their little neighbor to the west to be known as Nogo by the time the township issue was settled. 

Alas, they were right. The township petition failed, and Nogo gradually faded into oblivion. At the time (1898), Nogo had a store or two, a blacksmith shop, and a post office. However, it lost its post office in 1905, and by the mid 1900s, all that remained of Nogo were a few foundation stones. Probably even those are gone now.