Where
in the World Was Peers?
by Bob Brail
Pick up any old map, and you're bound
to find places shown on it that no longer exist. For example, a map
of eastern Warren County from a hundred years ago will show the
village of Peers. It was located a few miles west of Marthasville.
Peers was one of several small towns
that owed their existence to the Katy Railroad. The area was first
settled by Henry and Louisa Massmann, who started a general store
after the Civil War. Originally known as Eckelkamp, the town was
named for Judge Charles Peers in the 1870’s. It was finally
platted in 1893 by Louis Eckelkamp about the time the MKT railroad
came through the area. It was then that the town of Peers began its
boom time.
During the heyday of Peers, several
important families resided there. John (Elizabeth) Hanneken invented
the Hanneken Garden Plow, which was manufactured in Peers. Joseph
(Elizabeth) Eckelkamp was Peer’s first postmaster and president of
the Hanneken Plow Company. Albert (Mollie) Zillgitt ran a lumber
business in town and “erected some very pretty buildings in [Peers]
. . . and add[ed] greatly to the appearance of the town.” The MKT
station master at Peers was Casper (Fannie) Nieder.
What remains of Peers today is only
a cluster of houses and a few barns, along with the Peers Store. The
Glosemeyer family operated this store for most of the 1900's. Connie
Burkhardt states that “many locals remember the store as the Post
Office and later as the best place around for breakfast or a
braunschweiger sandwich.” The Peers Store is now just a stop along
the Katy Trail. On weekends the store hosts old time music sessions
on its front porch and opportunities to learn about local history and
conservation efforts.
Although it was an active community
for many years, today Peers is just a quiet spot along the road in
the western reaches of Boone-Duden country. In fact, most people
wouldn't even know the village had ever existed, unless they were
very familiar with the area. “Where in the world was Peers?”
would be a tough question for most of us.
Sources: Burkhardt, Connie, email;
Cracker Barrel Country (Bill Schiermeier); “Early History of
Other Warren County Towns” (Mildred Simon) in Warren County
Sesquicentennial Program 1987; History of Warren County
(Dorris Keeven): Warren County Plat Book of 1901.