KNOORP HOUSE – DESOTO, MO

Located off of Vineland And Knorpp Roads, near the railroad tracks. You must walk about a quarter mile down the driveway, past two old barns and an old silo to reach the house. This house was once owned by a slave owner. Voices and strange lights have been reported Orbs have also been reported here. There is an urban legend about the columns at the beginning of the driveway. When you pull up to them, you are not to go between or through them or you will not get out. The house is in very bad condition. The plantation was originally settled in 1806, by a very well known and prosperous family of slave holders. The family at its height owned in excess of 100 slaves, and from all accounts, they were not treated in the best of manners. Even the most minor infractions would result in severe beatings, and more often than not, being hanged, and the body allowed to remain as a warning to others who may be contemplating an insubordinate act. This went on until the Yankees occupied DeSoto, which was a pro Confederate town. (I was raised in a home built on the actual foundation of the Yank encampment on the south end of Wilsons Hollow Road). Hearing that a Union garrison was heading to the plantation, the owner decided that, rather than allow his property to fall into Yankee hands, he had each slave hung along the border of the property to protest the incursion. This would have been in early March of 1862. The Yank officer in charge, taken aback by such a display, ordered the owner taken into Federal custody, a summary court convened, and a conviction ensued. The owner was bound, hanged from the same tree used to "dispatch" his slaves, and his body sat ablaze. Sometimes you can still see the bodies hang from the branches and you can even hear the sounds of the screams. There are times, early in spring on moonless nights when the silhouettes of the hanging slaves still swing from the trees lining the road leading to the “big house”.

Driving Distance: 316 mi , Duration: 5 hours 8 mins, Route: US-36 E

The old Knorpp Plantation. DeSoto, MO