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.
