24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Sullivan, MO

Sullivan was founded in 1856, when Stephen and Dorcas Sullivan purchased the land that became the original town site, and the city was incorporated in 1883.

Sullivan's first post office, established on July 25, 1856, was named Mount Helicon after a mountain in Greece; the town took the Sullivan name after Stephen Sullivan donated railroad right-of-way and built the depot himself in 1859, and the railroad named its station Sullivan.

Between 1920 and 1960, Sullivan grew from about 900 to more than 4,000 residents, making it the second fastest-growing city in Missouri during that forty-year span.

Lead, iron, zinc, and copper mining formed Sullivan's economic base through much of the 1800s, until an industrial lull hit the local mines in 1877.

Sullivan had 6,906 residents at the 2020 census, slightly down from 7,081 in 2010.

At the 2010 census, Sullivan's 7,081 residents lived in 2,829 households, at a density of about 896 people per square mile.

Sullivan straddles the Franklin–Crawford county line along Interstate 44, about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, and historic Route 66 was paved through the town in 1926.

Just east of Sullivan, Meramec State Park on the Meramec River opened in 1928 and preserves more than 40 caves, New Deal-era structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the remains of an old ironworks.

Meramec Caverns, one of Missouri's best-known show caves, also lies just outside Sullivan, making the city a gateway for Meramec River float trips and Ozark tourism.

The Major General William S. Harney Summer Home in Sullivan was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.