Location & History

To get to Stockton lake from Hermitage (the closest large town to the lake) head south on HWY 83 which roughly traces the route of the butterfield stage south to Bolivar. The interesting thing about traveling in the area of Stockton Lake is that you never know what kind of view is going to greet you around the next curve or over the next hill. It may be an arm of one of the lakes or a typical prairie vista or the encroaching Ozarks Hills.

At the junction of HWY 83 and 32, turn west on HWY 32 through Fair Play, and continue on to Stockton Lake. The lake itself is famous through Missouri (and much of the US) for its excellent sailing, thanks to the prevailing southwest winds sweeping across the lake. Stockton is a “new” lake on the Sac River, first filled to normal operating pool level in December 1971. Considerably larger than the close by Lake Pomme De Terre, Stockton boasts 198 miles of sho0reline and almost twenty-five thousand acres of water. Stockton is another one of the many Army Corps of Engineer lakes in Missouri.

Stockton, Missouri was formed in 1846 and is the county seat of Cedar County Missouri. Stockton is governed by a mayor/council form or government with a mayor and 4 alder persons. The original county seat was called Lancaster. In 1847 the names was changed to Fremont, in honor of the “Pathfinder”, but in 1856 Gen. Fremont became the Republican candidate for President, and the following winter the Democratic Legislature changed the name to Stockton, in honor of Commodore Richard Stockton, of the navy, who had arrested Fremont during the Mexican War, and sought to have him disgraced.