Fort Curtis (Missouri)
fort in Missouri, United States
Fort Hovey was a small Civil War era earth-and-wood fort built on a hill overlooking the junction of the road running south out of Ironton, Missouri and the road running east to Fredericktown, Missouri. Fort Hovey was intended to help protect the Arcadia Valley and the iron mines located on Pilot Knob. The fort was located on Fort Hill near the town of Arcadia, Missouri on the (then) property of the Fort Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the present day Arcadia Valley United Presbyterian Church. This fortification was named Fort Hovey in honor of the commander of the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Union), Colonel Charles E. Hovey. The 33rd. Illinois was stationed there during the Autumn and Winter of 1861-62, at which time they built the fort.
After the Union victory led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas on March 8, 1862, Fort Hovey was renamed Fort Curtis in his honor. Fort Curtis was occupied until the Confederate troops advanced into Missouri in 1864.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Fort Curtis (Missouri)” as fort in Missouri, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as fort in Missouri, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 25, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q5471355. Authority coordinates are 37.590, -90.626. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1862 and 1864.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fort Curtis (Missouri)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fort Curtis (Missouri) primary sources, Fort Curtis (Missouri) archive and Fort research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fort Curtis (Missouri)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fort Curtis (Missouri)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.