Hamilton (pop. 1,737) was platted in 1855 by a town company headed by Albert Gallatin Davis along the surveyed route of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad (which arrived in 1859). The town was named for Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. treasury secretary (1789-1795) and, according to local tradition, for Joseph Hamilton who was an attorney and soldier killed during the War of 1812 at the battle of the Thames in Canada.

The first sale of lots was in October, 1855 and was widely advertised. The town company furnished a free dinner and whiskey to the large crowd in attendance. Bidding for the lots was lively, and John Berry is recorded as the first to purchase a parcel of land. Davis built the first house, known at that time as "Lone House" because of its isolation on the prairie. He also built the first store in town.

The outbreak of the Civil War slowed the progress of the the town but soon afterward Hamlton began to grow. The first public school was built in 1865. From 1859 to 1877, four additions were made to the original town plat. Hamilton was incorporated as a city in 1868. Hamilton acquired electric lighting prior to the turn of the century with the formation of the Hamilton Electric Light Company, and just a few years later the Hamilton Telephone Company organized. Hamilton's census peaked at 2,200 in habitants during the early 1900s.

The visitors= information center in Hamilton is the boyhood home of J.C. Penney who was born at Hamilton. The world-famous retail merchant visited his hometown frequently, sharing his good fortune with it through substantial donations for building projects such as a library, high school and nursing home. James Cash Penney (1875-1971) named his first store after his lifelong axiom, The Golden Rule. The J.C. Penney Museum houses memorabilia about the man and his company.

Nearby Kidder was platted and named in 1860 for H.P. Kidder by the Kidder Land Company of Boston. It developed as a railroad shipping point. Most notable was the development of the Kidder Institute in 1871, a college which closed in five years only to reopen in 1884 and be operated by congregational churches until 1934. The impressive stone buildings on the east side of the village were used as a public school from 1934 to 1981.

Breckenridge was named for John C. Breckinridge, the U.S. vice president under James Buchanan (1857-1861), the presidential nominee of the southern Democrats against Abraham Lincoln, and a Confederate general. Although time worn, the Scanlon Hotel is at Breckenridge. It is a two-story stone building built in the 1850s by Irish immigrant and railroad section boss John Scanlon for train passengers.