Canton, Missouri

Episode 49 / 20 December 2017 / 97 min / full

Guilt Written In Blood

"James: 'Let's head to Canton, Missouri'; in the northeast corner of the state on the Mississippi, in Lewis County, zip 63435, area code 573" about 0:03:35

The case: Murders of Brandy Kerns and Wayne Howering (5 July 1997 (about 1:48 a.m.)). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2017

Population

2,388

Median age

26.6

Median household income

$34,338

Cost of living

78

Religious

57.7%

Property crime

right on average

Violent crime

▼ one third of the normal average

History, in brief

• Canton is named after Canton, Ohio. about 0:02:53
• Canton was founded in 1830 by Edward Wright, Robert Sinclair and Isaac Bland, when the area was part of Marion County, before Lewis County was incorporated. about 0:05:11
• Edward White (as heard) built the first house, which was used immediately as a tavern. about 0:05:38
• There was a big flood in 1851; the town of Tully, a mile north, was destroyed by it and its people moved to Canton. about 0:07:21
• Canton was incorporated in 1851 and had over 2,000 people by 1860. about 0:07:37
• Canton was a river trade town with steamers landing, freight, passengers and big pork packing; in the 1870s over 1,300 hogs a month were slaughtered in winter. about 0:08:25
• After the Civil War a hand corn planter patented by Daniel Broy was manufactured in Canton; the town also made wagons, buggies, brooms and buttons from mussel shells. about 0:08:34
• The railroad came through in 1871 and the population passed 3,000, more than today. about 0:09:56
• In the 1940s and 50s Canton High School kept flooding; the gym floor was taken up and stored each week, and people travelled by boat. about 0:10:20
• A levee was built in the 1960s and there has been very little flooding since, apart from one flood a few years before the recording. about 0:10:53
• The Lewis Adams River Ferry began in 1853 and was the oldest continuously operating ferry across the Mississippi until it closed in April 2014. about 0:11:35
• There is an Amish community in the area. about 0:11:47

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