Our History
Since 1891
Our town, the Village of Hoffman has been
on the Courthouse records and maps since 1891. It is located in Lake
Township on the Eastern side of Clinton
County. The community
originally was known as Osnabruck due to the fact that most of its
early settlers came from Osnabruck, Germany. In 1873 the Village was
founded, in 1874 fourteen families came together to discuss the
formation and constitution of a church. The church was formulated as part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The following year,
1875, the congregation built its first parochial school. The school
and church have been serving area families and students for over 135
years. Students in the village may also attend the public schools
located in Carlyle.
Circa 1886 a family by the last name of Hoffman moved to Osnabruck
and built a home and adjoining shop at what is now the intersection
of State Highway 161 and North Broadway. Mr. Hoffman would take a
team of horses to Huey, 5 miles North of the Village, to meet a
train and pick up the mail. In 1890 the Air Line Railroad was built
through Osnabruck with Mail, Passenger, and Freight Service. A
depot was built in 1891 and the town's name was changed to Hoffman
because the mail would not be delivered to the village with the name
of Osnabruck.
In the late 1940's the village had one of the most extensive fur
buying centers in middle America. Other businesses included a lumber
yard, an asphalt plant, large general store, post office, seed
cleaning facility, implement sales, bank, a lawn mower factory, two
taverns, auto sales, a doctor's office and other farm related
enterprises.
Our village became incorporated in 1951
with Gus Kleiboeker being elected as the first Village President.
The Village celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1998 with the annual
Osnabruck fest, a German festival with German food and drink. There
was a large parade honoring our past and looking towards the future.
A natural gas pumping station was constructed just south of our
village where employees and families lived onsite. At that time the
property included homes, a small park and a recreation hall. The
homes, park, and recreation hall have since been torn down or
relocated within the village property and the gas pumping station is
now a modern computer orientated facility.
Beginning in the late 1960's and completed in the mid 1970's a
modern sewer and water system was built to improve the lives of our
citizens. The water and sewer system are again being improved and
is an ongoing process with emergency generators, new lift stations
and new meter services.
The village maintains a good road system and has an excellent park
for the size of our community. Hussmann Park is located on a five
acre property with a modern Village Hall/Community Center that was
constructed in 1991. The park maintains a recreational area for
children, a lighted park pavilion, and a well maintained
lighted ball diamond. The park also has an asphalt bike path that
joins the park and school/church property to the north. In 1992 the
Hoffman Youth Sports Association was formed to support area youth
sports. The main interest of the area youth appears to be Baseball
and Softball although Soccer has been offered in the past and will
be offered as interest increases.
The Village residents, with the support of the Village Board, began
in 1992 which is now a tradition, a village wide rummage sale. This
annual event is held on the first Saturday in August. The village
triples in population during this event and has served as a model
for communities surrounding Hoffman.
The Village of Hoffman also serves as the base of operations for the
Hoffman Fire Protections District. The HFPD celebrated its 50 year
anniversary in February 2013. The department covers 35 square miles
and is part of the enhanced 911 emergency response system. The
department maintains a well trained and efficient staff with over
900 hours of training a year. The firefighters are trained in fire
suppression, rescue, and medical disciplines . All of this is done
on a volunteer basis. Notification to the firefighters is made
through 911 dispatch from Clinton County Sheriff Office by both
pager and a new Smartphone alert system where firefighters can text
back to the station with one key stroke. Responding -delayed -not
available, allowing command personnel to immediately know the
amount of firefighters responding and plan accordingly.
The residents and village board are proud of the small community of
Hoffman and welcome all who visit or chose to live in the
village.
