Union Township, Perry County, Missouri

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Union Township is one of eight townships in Perry County, Missouri, United States. It covers 45.6 square miles and includes the incorporated village of Longtown and the unincorporated communities of Apple Creek, Schalls, and Uniontown. The township’s population was 1,067 in 2000 and 1,062 in 2010, with about 23 people per square mile in 2010.

Etymology
Union Township is named after Uniontown, Missouri. Its original name, Paitzdorf, was changed during the Civil War because Union soldiers were encamped nearby.

History
In colonial times, the area was part of the New Bourbon District in the French territory of Upper Louisiana. Control later passed to Spain in 1762. To reduce Osage raids, Spanish authorities invited Shawnee and Delaware Indians from Indiana and Ohio to settle around Apple Creek as a buffer. The Shawnee and Lenape formed several villages, including a large one known as Le Grand Village Sauvage. Tensions and encroachment led to their removal.

English and Scots-Irish Methodists from North Carolina began settling in the Longtown area around 1821, including families like the Abernathys, Farrars, and Rutledgers. In 1840, the German Saxon Lutheran immigration founded Uniontown. The King’s Road, linking Perryville to Jackson, passes through the area. Union Township was organized sometime between 1870 and 1890.

Geography
The township covers 45.6 square miles and includes Longtown, Apple Creek, Schalls, and Uniontown. There is essentially no water area within the township.

Demographics
In 2000, 1,067 people lived in Union Township. The population was about 98.5% White, with 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native and 0.8% from other races.

In 2010, 1,062 people lived there, with a density of about 23 per square mile. The racial makeup was about 98.5% White, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% Black, 0.7% Asian, and 0.5% from other races.

Other
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) lists 33 townships named Union in Missouri.