Notable Events:

• Founded (1838)
• Burning of Platte City (December 16, 1861)
• Burning of Platte City (July 13, 1864)

Following the 1861 Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy (a deadly bridge collapse on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad on the Platte River that was instigated by pro-Southern bushwhackers), Union soldiers entered Platte City and attempted to capture Silas M. Gordon, the lead suspect in the tragedy. Two of the federals were killed, and Union Colonel W. James Morgan led a retaliation against the town itself, which was home to a fervently-secessionist population. Morgan summarily executed two prisoners, and Platte City became one of the many border towns to be burned to the ground by one side or the other. In July 1864, bushwhackers once again took refuge in the town and raised a Confederate flag, which led Union forces to burn it again and kill or summarily execute several dozen suspected bushwhackers.