Ilasco was created in 1903 near the Atlas Portland Cement Plant, drawing large numbers of Romanian, Slovak, Italian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Polish, Croatian, and other immigrants, along with native-born residents seeking work. Through blood, sweat, and hard work, its people helped build industrial America, produced great commercial wealth, and claimed the dignity of human labor. Out of shared struggles, they learned from one another and formed a spirited community that mourned losses, celebrated achievements, and left a rich working-class cultural heritage expressed through churches, schools, folklore, languages, fraternal societies, cuisines, and daily life that made Ilasco unique in Missouri. Its name was formed as an acronym from cement manufacturing ingredients: Iron, Lime, Alumina, Silica, Calcium, and Oxygen. Ilasco became a company town in 1921 and was dissolved in 1963.