His interest was solely for the trees that grew here because he needed the finest of wood for his harvesting machines and agricultural implements. He wanted to set up a large lumber mill in southeast Missouri to cut and process the timber in the swamps. Right around the turn of the century, as his workers were transporting the large boiler for his lumber mill along the trail to where he wanted his mill built, the boiler became stuck in the mud and would not budge. William Deering decided to build the lumber mill in this location instead of his original plans of building it five miles southwest. The lumber mill, which became known as the Wisconsin Lumber Company, sprung up quickly, and the small town soon followed. When the small settlement applied for a post office, they wanted their name to be “Deering Sawmill”, but the post office department simply named it Deering. Thus was the beginning of our town of Deering, Missouri, a lumber mill town built in the middle of swampy forest land, named after its founder William Deering. (read more about William Deering and his family here)
Beginning in 1907, the Little River Drainage District began the construction of an elaborate network of ditches, levees and canals to drain the swampy land in Southeast Missouri to make the land more habitable and available for farming. This undertaking became the largest drainage project in the United States. It is impossible to speak of the development of the Bootheel and Deering Missouri without mentioning this great feat. The drainage was accomplished from 1914 to 1928 through the construction of 957 miles of ditches and 304 miles of levees. The district now keeps 1.2 million acres of land drained of unwanted water.
About 1903 the first railroad came to Deering. It connected Deering to Rives, Missouri, just south of Gobler. In 1912, Deering was connected eastward to Caruthersville and westward to Hornersville by the Deering Southwestern Railroad or the DSW. The “old timers” called it the “Dern Slow Wiggling railroad company”. Back then, the railroads were the only means of transportation as you could only travel by land by following the ridges or high spots in dry weather. Roads were almost unknown except for log drivers. Dense forest covered the entire community.
The lumber mill operation in Deering was successful during its infancy and up to around 1925 when the timber ran out. The Wisconsin Lumber Company then became interested in agriculture. The little town of Deering then ceased being a lumber mill town and turned into an agricultural town. The land was not ready to farm, as it still had the "stumpies" on it, which were the tree trunks that were below the water when the tree was cut. Most of the stumpies were at least six feet tall. They had to be blasted out of the ground and then pulled out and hauled off by a team of horses. The soil was some of the most fertile in the nation, due to it once being swamp land.
The International Harvester Company (the parent company of the Wisconsin Lumber Company) knew nothing about farming and were not successful at all, so they put the land up for sale. In 1925, they issued a newsletter "Come to the Heel of Missouri Where Diversified Farming Pays Big," trying to sell the land with no down payment and payments so low that almost anyone could afford to buy. The Depression came in 1929 and the land did not readily sell.
The town was finally purchased by Charles B. Baker, a businessman born and raised in the Bootheel, on December 13th, 1935 for $110,000. He was a man of great foresight and he had plans for the future of agriculture in the Bootheel. Ultimately, it was Mr. Baker who was responsible for making the town of Deering a thriving agricultural center. He was one of the pioneers of cotton farming in this region, helping organize both the regional and national development groups for this crop. He ran his farming on the plantation system, calling it the upper and lower plantation, and some land he rented to individual farmers. He sold his tenants their mules and equipment, helped them get their seed, and financed them in their farming operations. He called this farming enterprise Deering Farms, Inc. He became an International Harvester implement dealer in 1939, and this operation proved to be a very successful venture. Tractors replaced mules in farming and Mr. Baker filled the Bootheel with his mechanized farming equipment. He later expanded his implement business, Baker Implement, and moved it from Deering to Kennett. In 1996, Baker Implement became the seller of the largest volume of International Harvester agriculture equipment in the United States – and it all started in Deering!
Because the farmers in Deering could not travel to Kennett or Caruthersville for all their needs, Mr. Baker established different kinds of businesses and services in Deering for their convenience. This, according to Mr. Baker, was how Deering really became a plantation. He purchased a fire truck and built a firehouse for it. In 1946, he established a service station and bulk oil plant for the town. A large lumber shed was also built in the late 30s, along with a beauty shop, a small restaurant and a bank. There was also a general store in Deering while Mr. Baker owned the town.
In May 1955, Mr. Baker sold the entire Deering Plantation to A.T. Earls, the largest real estate broker in Southeast Missouri, for one million dollars. Mr. Earl’s motto was “The best security on earth, is earth itself.” The Deering Plantation, compromising 3,358 acres of land, included the town of Deering with the exception of the school property. Also included in the sale was the Deering Gin and Mercantile Company, composed of a cotton gin, general store, oil business, lumber shed and machine shop. Later Mr. Earls sold some of the farm land to individuals, retaining about 1,800 acres. By selling the farm land to individuals, Mr. Earls changed the plantation system that had been prevalent since the little town was established.
In 1956, along with Paul Hutchens and Earl Vick, Mr. Earls started the Deering Seed and Fertilizer Company. The same year, Mr. Earls made a deal for Standard Oil to come to Deering to handle the bulk plant and oil and gas station. Shortly after, in 1958, Mr. Earls died. The Deering Plantation was then divided among Mr. Earls' heirs. The heirs later donated the Deering United Methodist Church property to the church.
In 1964, Jimmy Ward and J.F. "Bud" Calhoun, Mr. Earls' gin manager, bought Deering Seed and Fertilizer and added chemicals, farm equipment, parts, and tires to their stock so they could better serve the farmers. In 1973, they sold the fertilizer, seed and chemical part of the business to a group of local business men, among them Harold Jackson, Jerry Wright and Dean Cole. This new fertilizer company was named Kennett Liquid Fertilizer and another warehouse was built in Kennett. Jimmy Ward then sold his remaining share of Deering Seed and Fertilizer to Bud Calhoun, who became the sole owner. Bud Calhoun moved the farm equipment and parts business across Highway J into the old warehouse building. Then in 1981, Deering Seed and Fertilizer moved to its present location, in the brick building which once housed Deering’s grocery store.
In 1968, the Standard Oil station became Green Oil Company when Dennis Green was hired as commissioned Agent for Standard Oil and he and his wife Sandra purchased delivery trucks and farm equipment furnished by Standard Oil. Green Oil Company, Incorporated is still in operation today as is the Kennett Fertilizer Company, which is now operated as ADI. In 1984, Bud Calhoun and his family bought the town of Deering from Mr. Earls heirs. The land that encompasses Deering, which was a part of Mr. Earls' original Deering Plantation purchase, was not included in this sale and is still owned by A.T. Earls' heirs, namely the Atwill family, today. The Calhoun family still own of the town of Deering.
DeeringSeed and Fertilizer / Marie's
Green Oil Company
Deering United Methodist Church
Deering Post Office
The old entertainment building. It was a movie theater, ice cream parlor and bowling alley.
The old Deering Fire Station.
The small white building was a barber shop, a post office, and then a beauty shop. The small brick structure is the vault for the Wisconsin Lumber Company business office, which burned down.
*** Information for this page was taken from the book Deering Plantation, by Ophelia Wade
For more information on the History of Deering, please see Ophelia Richardson Wade's book Deering Plantation.
You may order copies of Deering Plantation through Xlibris Corporation 1-888-7-XLIBRIS www.Xlibris.com Orders@Xlibris.com
His interest was solely for the trees that grew here because he needed the finest of wood for his harvesting machines and agricultural implements. He wanted to set up a large lumber mill in southeast Missouri to cut and process the timber in the swamps. Right around the turn of the century, as his workers were transporting the large boiler for his lumber mill along the trail to where he wanted his mill built, the boiler became stuck in the mud and would not budge. William Deering decided to build the lumber mill in this location instead of his original plans of building it five miles southwest. The lumber mill, which became known as the Wisconsin Lumber Company, sprung up quickly, and the small town soon followed. When the small settlement applied for a post office, they wanted their name to be “Deering Sawmill”, but the post office department simply named it Deering. Thus was the beginning of our town of Deering, Missouri, a lumber mill town built in the middle of swampy forest land, named after its founder William Deering. (read more about William Deering and his family 
*** Information for this page was taken from the book Deering Plantation, by Ophelia Wade