Damsite, Missouri

Published to WTTP website on 4 May 2025.

by Kelly Warman-Stallings

Observation Platform - on the east side near Damsite - looking

west along the dam site area c/1928-29, before the dam was built. The Bagnell Dam Strip would later occupy this barren land.

Damsite, Missouri was a small community of dam builders, construction workers, stone masons and merchants, just to name a few. The settlement sprang up on the east side of the Osage River in the late 1920s when the Bagnell Dam project employed thousands of men that needed shelter and amenities. Businesses soon popped up among this tent city of dam employees.

There were other Bagnell Dam project towns that sprang up in the area as well, such as, Connor's Camp, Spring Camp and Victor City. These small settlements of [mostly] tent housing also had businesses emerge during this same time period. Other Miller County towns to accommodate the dam employees, providing reasonable rent rates, were Bagnell and Kaiser.

Dam Site was located on a farm once owned by Henry and Rebecca Strange and situated one mile east of present-day Bagnell Dam. This settlement was the largest of the temporary tent cities, extending about a mile north of the Osage River. Many businesses were found in Dam Site, including a guard house and employment office. Other businesses included:

Grocery Store (W. R. Politte, proprietor)
Grocery Store (Mr. Hall, proprietor)
Restaurant (owner/builder unknown)
Drug Store & Post Office (owner/builder unknown; PO operated from 1930-31)
J & K Pool Hall (built by Leo Kirsch and Roy Johnson)
Pepper Cabin Camp (built by John Pepper)
Storm's Boarding House (operated by the Storm family)
Theater (Mae Edmonds, proprietor)
Gas station & Garage (Harry Tanner, proprietor)
Gravel Pit (leased by Missouri Hydro Electric Power Company)
Barber Shop (owner/builder unknown)
Barber Shop & Shoe Shop (operated by Mr. & Mrs. Edwards)
Newsstand (owned by John Green)
Bowling Alley (owned by Mr. & Mrs. Goodman)

It is interesting to note, there was a large amount of people scattered about the hills and valleys on both sides of the Osage River and paid $3.00 per month to place a tent. According to Joe Pryor, former MCHS president, "the objective of the dam engineers was to build a plant and deliver power to St. Louis within a 28-month period. This included the construction of a village designed to accommodate 1,200 men and 72 families". With so many workers in the area, Dam Site incorporated guards and law officers who were deputy sheriffs led by Harold J. Smith, Chief Deputy. In his book, "History and Geography of Lake of the Ozarks, Vol. II, Dwight Weaver wrote, "The sheriff of Miller County, paid by Union Electric, had to have a crew of 35 deputies on duty much of the time to patrol the labor camps and keep trouble at bay."

The railroad was extended 4.5 miles from Bagnell to Damsite in 1929 and soon after a railroad and wagon bridge, spanning the Osage River, was built near the Bagnell Dam construction site. This bridge was located about 200 yards below the dam. While some remnants of the bridge (wooden piers) can be seen during low water levels, the primary bridge is no longer there.

It has been recorded that over 4000 workers were employed at one time or another during the construction of Bagnell Dam, with the majority being located at Damsite. Between 1929-1931, Damsite was a bustling labor camp community, but sadly this historic town only lasted until the completion of the dam. By 1935, most of the business structures were taken elsewhere or completely destroyed. Today, there are no indications that Damsite ever existed.

Damsite, Missouri c/1930