Pierce City was founded in Lawrence County in 1870 as a division point for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. Named for railroad executive Andrew Peirce, the town used both spellings before settling on “Pierce” in 1934. An early leading city in southwest Missouri, it became a hub for railroad traffic and commerce, with industries that included lime manufacturing, a pottery factory, a brewery, a feed and flour mill, strawberry shipping, buggies, and support for local agriculture. Newman's, one of the oldest department stores in southern Missouri, began there in 1870. By 1900, Pierce City had two banks, ten churches, eleven community and fraternal organizations, three hotels, two newspapers, veterans groups for both the North and South, a well-known community band, an opera house, a National Guard company, and the Baptist Bible College from 1878 to 1904. German, Irish, Polish, and African Americans made their homes there. After the black population left in 1901 and the land rush moved west with the railroads, the city's business focus turned more local. Twentieth century industries included canning, casket, garment, fishing motor, and wood processing factories. Pierce City also produced gifted artists and prominent state leaders, from political representatives to the adjutant general of the National Guard. Its population peaked at 3,500 in the mid-1890s. The town was experiencing an economic revival when a tornado destroyed the historic downtown and seventy-one homes on May 4, 2003. The community became a model for disaster recovery by moving and rebuilding the business district, embraced its heritage through the Harold Bell Wright Museum, and looked forward to an active and progressive future.