Novelty Map
Novelty is a village in Knox County, Missouri, United States. The population was 139 at the 2010 census.
The land that would eventually become the town of Novelty was first claimed and homesteaded in October, 1838 by Cleng Pierson. The town wasn't laid out until nearly twenty years later however, as founder Nars W. Hunter did so in June 1857. Two further additions were made in 1860 and 1877 by Nars Hunter and Mary Hunter respectively. Novelty played a small part in the American Civil War, but did indeed see armed conflict. On March 25, 1862 a group of Confederate partisan "bushwhackers" attacked a Union patrol near Novelty. Later, in September 1864, a group of Confederate guerillas under Jim Jackson attacked the town and made off with supplies and money from the villages businesses and citizens. Following the Civil War, Novelty and Knox County as a whole saw a substantial increase in population. In 1884 a group of forty Novelty area farmers formed an association and constructed the Novelty Creamery.
One of the biggest changes came in 1876 when Oaklawn College was founded by Dr. W. N. Doyle. Oaklawn had humble beginnings, occupying the second floor of the Novelty schoolhouse, but rapidly outgrew that facility. A new campus on ten acres on the east side of Novelty was established in 1877 and finished by 1881. Several courses of study were offered, but most classes focused on business and teaching. An average of 105 students attended each school term, split almost evenly between women and men. For a variety of reasons -- bad economic times, a fire that destroyed the mens dormotory in 1896, and most of all the growth of the First District Normal School in Kirksville (now Truman State University) led Oaklawn to close in 1899.
Nearby cities include Hurdland, Edina, Newark, Brashear, Bethel.