Solomon Lodge No. 293, F - & A. M., at St. Paul, is one of the oldest in the county. Among the charter members were W.N. Welton, William Tucker, R. Stanford, A.L.Thompson, H.G. Brashears, W.R.Brashears, D. M.Cluck and others. The hall, a substantial frame, two-story building t in 1885, was rebuilt in 1885, having burned October 6,.of that year, mainly through the efforts of A. L. Thompson, H. G. Brashears, William Tucker and W.R. Brashears. The membership is about forty.

The New St. Paul is situated upon Sections 4 and 5, Township 13 north, Range 26 west, originally entered by Fielding Salyer and William Ake. The former came from Floyd County, Ky.,, in 1849. Ake subsequently removed to Texas, and at the time when the town was first thought of J. P. Salyer was sole owner of the site. In the spring of 1887, when it was decided to extend the Fayetteville branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, this farm was noticed with favor by the projectors of the road as its terminus. The river at this point pursues its course at the base of the hills on the south, thus leaving a wide and sloping area, well situated for the purpose. In March, 1887, the; town was surveyed by George W. Chase. The streets are uniformly sixty feet wide, numbered from First to Eleventh in order, from the river north, and from A. to G, east and west, Madison Avenue being between B and C. H.F. McDanield and the railway company each received a one-third interest in the town in consideration of their services in laying it out, and in May 1887, at St. Louis, a division of the property under this arrangement was effected. The railroad was opened to the town from Powell(now known as patrick), eight miles distant, July 15, 1887. At that time the house of Mr. Salyer was the only dwelling in the place. A.B. Lewis built a box shanty in June 1887, and opened the first store. The first house was built by Charles Pierce, In the same month, and was also occupied as a store building. July 20, 1887, J P. Salyer began business(The present building know as "The Showcase of the Ozarks" was built by Clint Kendrick sometime in the 1920’s. The old J.P. Salyer’s building was torn down), and G. H. Davis a little earlier. The first year of its history finds St. Paul provided with more than a dozen places of business, as follows: J. P. Salyer, groceries and hardware; Price & Barrow, Coleman, Ogden Bros., general merchandise; William R. Brashears, groceries and dry goods; Lowry & Knight, drugs and dry goods; W.N. Russell & Co., N. F. Gilliland, P.. S. Cardin, Guter & Tweedy, J. H. Davis, groceries; D. C. Pritchard, Charlesworth & Harrigan, feed; P,. A. Hazlett, livery; Sweltzer & Samuel wagon manufacturers; P. P. Sunday, W. L.. Gilmore, blacksmiths; George Rivercomb, Glendale Hotel; M.E. Geater, Riverside Hotel; William Dixon, City Hotel; Miller & Shanklin, lumber and grist-mill. The population is about 300. The prospect of steady improvement is most encouraging.