Thomasville, Missouri

File:MOMap-doton-Thomasville.png

Thomasville is an unincorporated community in northern Oregon County, Missouri. It is nine miles northwest of Alton on Route 99.

History

Thomasville was platted in 1846. It was named for George Thomas, a pioneer settler.

Thomasville is served by a Birch Tree, Missouri postal route and a volunteer fire department based in Rover, Missouri.

Thomasville has an impressive community center in a remodeled, native rock school building. A rodeo arena is active hosting rodeos, truck pulls, and community events. An active fraternal lodge and church are present.

Businesses currently operating in Thomasville include a fishhouse style cafe, old-fashioned general store with gas pumps and an equine veterinary clinic.

Hunting is great in the Thomasville area, it is an annual destination for many deer and turkey hunters who hunt in neighboring national forest areas and leased private lands. Horseback riding is popular and can be found nearby on the Blue Ridge Horse Trail, one trailhead is a few miles north of town. The long distance backpacking and horseriding Ozark Trail has its southern end located at the same trailhead. Tupelo Gum Pond is nearby, a Missouri State Natural Area, and is one of only two sites in the Ozark highlands region where tupelo gum trees grow. The Thomasville Access, at the junction of the Eleven Point and Middle Fork Rivers, is operated by the US Forest Service and is the uppermost public stream access for canoeing and kayaking recreation on the famous Eleven Point National Wild and Scenic River, which begins its 44-mile scenically-protected run at the Highway 99 bridge.

Thomasville boasts fertile bottomlands along the Eleven Point River and its tributaries in the midst of rugged hills. Hay cropping and beef cattle farming are prevalent on several farms and ranches that are relatively large for the state of Missouri. In the hills, above the river bottoms, timbering and logging operations manage the area's quality pine-oak-hickory forests.