The community of Stoddard was located west of Dexter off of Three Mile Road near the railroad tracks. After the tornado of 1916, the town never recovered and nothing remains of the original town there today. It has at least one store in 1916 (Fields store). Not much is known about the town except that it had a post office in 1892 and the main industry was lumber.
Tornado of 1916
On June 2, 1916 around 8PM residents west of Dexter noted that dark blue clouds moved in with a lower level of white clouds. Thunder rumbled so loud it vibrated the ground and seemed to shake a heavy rain from the sky. Sometime abt 9:30-9:45 a loud sound like a freight train began to roar west of Dexter. The twister, whom weather historians believe was an F4, touched down somewhere in the vicinity of 3 Mile Road and Grant. It hit the small town of Stoddard head-on destroying Fields’ store which the family also lived in. It killed Mrs. Fields outright and tossed her husband and baby several yards into the darkness. Nearly every home in Stoddard was demolished and several were killed and injured.
What was particularly unusual abt this twister was that it didn’t cut a straight path, but instead zigzagged north, then southeast, then northwest. After hitting Stoddard it briefly went southeast, then northwest and zigzagged it’s way northeast. It hit Greenwood School west of present day Sadlers Chapel completely destroying the school. It hit Rueben Hill’s house next rolling the house like a hay bale, injuring Reuben, his wife, and son. Silos were tossed like sticks, and structures buckled under the intense pressure. A young man with the last name of Jones crawled from his home and ran to get the nearest doctor. He managed to get a half mile from home when to his shock and horror, the tornado had turned and seemed to be “chasing him like the devil.” Animals passed him trying to escape the twister, first they were on foot and then they were flung passed him in the air. He dove for a ditch just before one of his neighbors cows nearly smashed him. When the twister was safely by, he made it to the doctor and got help. The tornado zigzagged east and hit Morehouse and Sikeston before finally picking up momentarily on its trek. The storm killed 9 in Stoddard County that night and seriously injured more than two dozen. The town of Stoddard never rebuilt and no traces remain of it today.
What was particularly unusual abt this twister was that it didn’t cut a straight path, but instead zigzagged north, then southeast, then northwest. After hitting Stoddard it briefly went southeast, then northwest and zigzagged it’s way northeast. It hit Greenwood School west of present day Sadlers Chapel completely destroying the school. It hit Rueben Hill’s house next rolling the house like a hay bale, injuring Reuben, his wife, and son. Silos were tossed like sticks, and structures buckled under the intense pressure. A young man with the last name of Jones crawled from his home and ran to get the nearest doctor. He managed to get a half mile from home when to his shock and horror, the tornado had turned and seemed to be “chasing him like the devil.” Animals passed him trying to escape the twister, first they were on foot and then they were flung passed him in the air. He dove for a ditch just before one of his neighbors cows nearly smashed him. When the twister was safely by, he made it to the doctor and got help. The tornado zigzagged east and hit Morehouse and Sikeston before finally picking up momentarily on its trek. The storm killed 9 in Stoddard County that night and seriously injured more than two dozen. The town of Stoddard never rebuilt and no traces remain of it today.