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2015-2016 Odessa City Guide
Page 34
The city of Odessa, platted on September 17, 1878, by Judge
John Kirkpatrick, Sara Kirkpatrick and Alexander R. Patter-
son, was built on the north side of the Chicago & Alton railroad
tracks, 39 miles east of Kansas City. The city was incorporated
on February 3, 1880.
Residents of Odessa preferred naming the town Kirkpatrick,
after Judge Kirkpatrick, the largest landowner in the community
but Kirkpatrick, according to historical accounts, did not want the
town named after him. T.B. Blackstone, president of Chicago &
Alton Railroad, while visiting, told residents the land reminded
him of the wheat belt in the great exporting community of Odessa,
Ukraine. Originally a village of 100 people, Odessa approved
fourth class city status during an 1884 election.
In 1878, the first locomotive came through Odessa, followed
by many new settlers. Families were moving to the area on a
daily basis.
Many of the early structures, originally built at Mt. Hope
southeast of Odessa, were moved to Odessa. During the Civil
War, the Bowlan Hotel, relocated at a cost of $500, was occupied
by a group of federal soldiers in Co. 1, 1st Cavalry, Missouri State
Militia, under the leadership of Captain Milton Burris.
Another historical building, the original Presbyterian church,
was razed in 2003 and the property in downtown Odessa is now
the site of B&L Bank.
Other well-known structures in Odessa included the Myrtle
Hotel, built in 1883, where William Jennings Bryan sometimes
stayed.
The Phoenix Opera House, built in the 1880s by Alexander
Patterson, sat on the northwest corner of Second and Mason.
The hotel burned in 1884 in the first big fire in Odessa and was
rebuilt on an even grander scale. The Phoenix Opera House
eventually burned on July 22, 1913.
By June of 1879, communities on the north and south side
of the railroad tracks were competing for the business district.
The competition continued until the construction of a post office
at the corner of Second and Mason Streets.
“The old public well,” in the middle of the street at Second and
Mason, provided water, since a water system was not in place
until September, 1922.
A water plant, approved and built in 1922, and electricity
made available in 1899, all contributed to Odessa’s continued
growth.
Another point of historical interest was the Ozark Short Line, a
scenic route from Leon, Ia., to Pea Ridge Battlefield in Arkansas.
Traveled frequently in the 1920s and 1930s, travelers crossed
the Missouri River in Lexington and followed markers through
Wellington to Odessa.
During that time, Lake Venita in Odessa was a spot not only for
travelers but locals as well. The 23-acre lake contained 61,000,000
gallons of water, and was known in 1908 as Mulvill Park. The
facility provided entertainment, boating, bathhouses, sand beach,
tourist cottages, dining and dancing.
In 1997 the dam broke and the lake was drained.
Lake Venita was restored with the assistance of a $144,000
grant from the Landmark Local Parks Program, through the
Department of Natural Resources, and assistance from the city
of Odessa. The restoration of the lake was commemorated at a
dedication ceremony on July 4th, 2004. Dam broke again July
18, 2009. The dam has been repaired and the lake bed has been
filled with water.
Odessa, according to the 2010 census, is the largest city in
Lafayette County with 5300 residents.
Odessa also boasts the largest population increase of any city
in Lafayette County. In 1970, the official census recorded 2839
residents. The 1980 census figures reported 3088. In 1990 popu-
lation had grown to 3685 and in 2000 the population was 4818.
That percentage of growth surpassed all the cities in the
county.
Mulvill Park, now Lake Venita, was dedicated April 3, 1903. Reservoir was owned by the Chicago & Alton
Railroad Co. and constructed by Mulvill Bros., Contractors, Alton, Ill.
Community
History