Learn More About Employment Law in Kingdom City, Missouri

Kingdom City is a village in Callaway County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 121 at the 2000 census. It is at the intersection of Interstate 70 (overlaid on and concurrent with U.S. Route 40) and U.S. Route 54. A more elaborate version tells that the "Kingdom of Callaway" phrase was coined by Col. Jefferson F. Jones in October, 1861. According to one version of the legend, as 600 Union troops were gathering at Wellsville in nearby Montgomery County, Jones, who had organized an ill-equipped rebel force, constructed "Quaker cannon" (logs painted black and fitted with wagon wheels) and aimed them at the advancing federals. Under flag of truce, he notified US Colonel T.J.C. Fagg and General John B. Henderson that he would not permit an invasion of Callaway County; that necessary passage would be granted, but that fair value would be given for all supplies; moreover, that the constitutional protections of persons and property would be observed. The Union leaders accepted the terms, and the confrontation ended without violence. According to another story, the phrase came from southern-leaning legislator John Sampson. The Callawegian sat in the state legislature at Jefferson City in 1862, after the abortive Missouri Secession. He was accused of disloyalty on the basis of having once chaired a meeting where secession was discussed. He is said to have shouted "I am from the Kingdom of Callaway--6 feet, 4 1/2 inches tall, and all South, by God!" He was dismissed from the legislature. Because Missouri did not legitimately secede from the Union, neither did Callaway County. At the end of the war, [Callaway County], like the rest of [Little Dixie], had lost most of its Southern sympathizers. However, each July, the county celebrates the legend and its history with its "Kingdom Days" festival. More recently, because of controversy, the festival name has been changed to "Hit the Bricks" for the original brick streets that pave the downtown roads. From 1871, the village was also known as "McCredie" (railroad/postal name).