Bonne Terre, Missouri

Common card · No. 441461

Bonne Terre ( bon-TAIR) is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bonne Terre had a population of 6,903. Situated in the Southeast Missouri Lead District, lead mining shaped the history and character of the area from the earliest French settlers in the 1720s until today, even though Bonne Terre Mine (established by St. Joseph lead mining company in 1864) closed in 1962. Mine tailing piles eroded, and contaminated the area as dust, posing residential hazards or were washed into the Big River. Not until 1992 was the Bonne Terre Mine Tailings Site listed as a Superfund site; as of 2022 remediation is still ongoing. The Bonne Terre Depot from 1909, the St. Joe Lead Company Administration Building and the Bonne Terre Mine, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The latter is spring water filled and has become a scuba diving attraction. Bonne Terre is also home to the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, a 3000 bed prison...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Paul Sableman from St. Louis, MO, CC BY 2.0