Truitt Logging

About forestry service, 63537, Edina, MO, US, Missouri

Kirksville is the county seat of and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri, United States. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to three colleges: Truman State University, Moberly Area Community College, and A.T. Still University. == History == Kirksville was laid out in 1841 on a 40-acre (0.06 sq mi; 16.19 ha) site, and was first incorporated in 1857. === Origin of name === According to tradition Jesse Kirk, Kirksville's first postmaster, shared a dinner of turkey and whiskey with surveyors working in the area on the condition that they would name the town after him. Not only the first postmaster, Kirk was also the first to own a hotel and a tavern in Kirksville. Contrary to popular belief, the name of the city has no connection to John Kirk, onetime president of Truman State University from 1899 to 1925. However, the grandson of Jesse Kirk reported that the town was named for Kirk's son John, a figure of local legend credited with killing two deer with a single bullet. "Hopkinsville" was explained as a joking reference to the peculiar gait of John Kirk's lame father-in-law, David Sloan; the jocular name was discarded when the village was selected for the seat of justice in Adair County. === Battle of Kirksville === The Battle of Kirksville was fought August 6–9, 1862, during the American Civil War.