Napier, Missouri

Napier was established as a station on January 1, 1882,^[3] and named for a railroad promoter.^[4] In 1887, the St. Joseph and Nebraska Railroad was built from Napier west to the Missouri River across from Rulo, Nebraska.^[3] A post office called Banks was established in 1884; it was later called Napier in 1889.^[5][6] and remained in operation until 1943.^[6] In the early 20th Century, Napier boasted a hotel, an opera house, and a prominent train station in Holt County. On September 2, 1974, the train station was abandoned.^[3] The BNSF railroad still runs trains daily through Napier on the Napier Subdivision.^[7]

Napier is located in the easternmost sections of Minton Township.^[8] It was the junction of two Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railways: the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, which traveled west beginning at Napier, and the Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Council Bluffs Railroad, which traveled northwesterly/southeasterly through the town.^[9] The Davis Creek Ditch passes by east of the town. It is at the southwest corner of Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge.