Sentinel, Missouri facts for kids
Sentinel is a small, quiet place in northern Polk County, Missouri. It is known as an unincorporated community. This means it's a group of homes and buildings that don't have their own local government, like a mayor or city council. Instead, the county government helps manage the area.
This community is located just east of Missouri Route 64. It sits between two other places: Mohawk Corner to the south and Pittsburg to the north. Pittsburg is actually in a different county, Hickory County. A beautiful body of water called Pomme de Terre Lake is also nearby, lying to the west and north of Sentinel.
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History of Sentinel
The area we now call Sentinel has a history that goes back more than a hundred years. People started living and working here a long time ago.
When the Post Office Opened
A special building called a post office was opened in Sentinel in the year 1899. A post office is where people could send and receive letters and packages. It was a very important place for communication before phones and the internet were common. The Sentinel post office helped connect the community to the rest of the world for many years.
The Post Office Closes
The post office in Sentinel stayed open for a long time, serving the people who lived there. However, it eventually closed its doors in 1955. This often happens in small communities as towns grow and change, and new ways of sending mail become available.
Why the Name "Sentinel"?
The name "Sentinel" is quite interesting! A sentinel is like a guard or a lookout. It's someone or something that watches over an area. People believe the community was named Sentinel because its location was a very noticeable landmark in the area. It might have been a place that people used to guide themselves or a spot that stood out, like a natural lookout point.
