Polo History

POLO came to be in 1871 when J. M. Stone sold to Oliver Farabee an acre of land on which Farabee built the first store. Polo was built as a station for the railroad and as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. changed their plans for routing, Polo was forced to re-plat their community. Polo was plated six times before it was finally built. When the Hannibal and St. Joseph and Rock Island railroads had been built through this country earlier, they had both asked for financial assistance for their construction. In fact the U.S. Government gave the Hannibal and St. Joseph thousands of acres of land on both sides of their right-of-way. When the local people learned that the St. Paul Road asked nothing, they were overjoyed and anxious for the railroad to be built.

Polo was named for a small town in Illinois. Today, Polo is one of the most active communities in the county. They have just constructed a beautiful park into which was helicoptered a 100-year-old bridge, and a new community center is also under construction.