The La Plata Square Historic District includes parts of South Gex Street, West Sanders Street, and East Moore Street, where properties bordering and including the City Park were long associated with services, recreation, and trades serving La Plata’s local citizens. Since the town was platted in 1855, businesses around the square included movie theatres, taverns, doctors, trade-stores, societies, and government bodies that met everyday needs, and although the square’s commercial viability has diminished, the surrounding buildings remain reminders of more than 100 years of local commerce and service. Drury Davis, an early pioneer, is credited with settling the La Plata area in 1827 by establishing a trading post one-half mile west of the present town. On March 17, 1855, surveyor Henry O. Clark met with Louis Gex, Theodore Saunders, and Dr. W. W. Moore; after accepting Clark’s plat, they chose street names from their own names, and Gex, Saunders, and Moore Streets came to surround the City Park, while Clark chose a street one block south of the square along his father’s land. The town’s name was selected by chance from names placed in a hat, and the drawn choice, suggested by Dr. Moore, was La Plata. Dr. Moore mistakenly believed it was French for “the city of the silver river,” but in fact La Plata is Spanish for “the silver,” a name early settlers associated with the appearance of native grasses like a silver river. La Plata grew and prospered as a farming hub, with businesses such as a grist mill, blacksmith shop, and creamery, and later developed major chicken and turkey hatcheries as well as a fur business of international reach. The North Missouri Railroad, later called the Wabash Railroad, came through La Plata in 1867 and lasted until 1993, with removal beginning in 1994. In 1887, the Santa Fe Railroad made La Plata a stop, making the town a crossroads in Macon County for two major railroads. In 1912, the Prairie Pipeline became the first major oil pipeline built through La Plata, and the later Sinclair Pipeline also passed through town and remains under the name BP Pipelines, North America. La Plata is also the home of Lester Dent, author of the 1930s pulp fiction books "Doc Savage"; the Dent Home, the Gilbreath-McLorn House, and the Doneghy House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Olive Gilbreath McLorn was a world traveler and war correspondent during the Russian Revolution, John T. Doneghy was a local businessman and banker, and La Plata celebrated its sesquicentennial in July 2005 with a week-long celebration.