Eldon is a quiet gateway into the Ozarks
Eldon is a small suburb of around 4,500 people about 15 miles northeast of the Lake of the Ozarks. Originally a railroad town in the late 1800s, Eldon grew into a robust residential area with two manufacturing plants, Quacker Windows & Doors and the Adient auto seating company. “We’ve got the historic downtown area, where we still have a lot of the original buildings there with shops still running in them,” resident and city clerk David McKenney says. “It has a nice, old-timey, small-town feel to it.” With plenty of parks, a well-rated school district and a straightforward drive to the lake, Eldon is a quiet, easygoing bedroom community between Jefferson City and the Ozarks.
Supermarkets, sandwiches and drive-in delights
The Eldon and Cree Mee Drive-Ins are two family-owned restaurants that have served the area since the 1980s. “They’re like a block away from each other,” McKenney says. “They’re big stops on the way to the lake because of their marshmallow sodas.” Whittle’s Pub & Grub has giant pork tenderloin sandwiches and 2-pound burritos, and the Si Senor Mexican Bar & Grill is popular for its molcajete bowls and chimichangas. There are a handful of boutique stores, antique markets and smoke shops around town, and grocery store options include Walmart, Woods Supermarket, Gerbes Super Market, Nature’s Source and Nolt’s Country Market.
Ranch-style homes with acreage near Lake of the Ozarks
Most single-family homes are on grid-like streets north and south of the main highway intersection. “It’s just outside the lake area,” says Jessica Bruce, a local broker with RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks. “You can live more affordably in Eldon versus the Lake Ozark area.” Small fixer-uppers were built around the 1940s and have less than 2,000 square feet of space, costing $85,000 to $100,000. Ranch-style homes are most common with porches, sidewalks and up to quarter-acre lots, ranging from $100,000 to $300,000. Larger homes with two-to-three-car garages, walk-in closets and showers and 1-to-8-acre lots are more prominent on the outskirts, ranging from $300,000 to $600,000.
Local parks, caves and recreational centers
There are many parks, playgrounds and recreational options around Eldon. Rock Island Park has a merry-go-round and a jungle gym, while Apperson Park has two baseball fields where youth teams play over the summer. The Airpark has a skate park, horseshoe pits and an 18-hole disc golf course right next to the aquatic center, which is open from May to September. The Eldon Community Center has a gymnasium with a basketball and volleyball court, plus athletic programs such as gymnastics, yoga and taekwondo. Stark Caverns is 5 miles south and has black light tours, fossil and gemstone mining and an outdoor fire pit.
From South Elementary to Eldon High
The city is zoned for the Eldon R-I School District, which earns a B-plus on Niche. Kindergarten through second-grade students start their education at South Elementary before moving on to Eldon Upper Elementary, both of which have B ratings on Niche. Eldon Middle School has a 13-to-1 student-teacher ratio, while Eldon High School has 14 different sports teams through its athletic program. Both schools earn a B-plus.
Gobbling up the annual Turkey Festival
The Eldon Turkey Festival takes place every September, welcoming thousands of guests from across the state. The annual celebration features live music, carnival rides, bounce houses, food trucks and a downtown parade.
Many highways between Jefferson City and Lake Ozark
Eldon is in the middle of a major highway intersection with roads running throughout Miller, Morgan and Cole County. Missouri Route 52 leads over 18 miles northwest to Versailles, while Missouri Route 87 connects to the city of California 21 miles north. U.S. Route 54 runs from Jefferson City over 30 miles northwest and into Lake Ozark 16 miles south. The Lake Regional Hospital is the closest 24-hour emergency room, 20 miles south in Osage Beach. OATS Transit provides public transportation throughout Miller County from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
