Winigan is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in southeastern Sullivan County

Sullivan County, Missouri

Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. In 2010, the population was 6,714. Its county seat is Milan.-History:Sullivan County, Missouri encompasses of high glaciated prairie covered by steep rolling hills and numerous creeks and streams in north central Missouri...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on Route 129 about sixteen miles southeast of Milan

Milan, Missouri

Milan is a city in Sullivan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,960 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sullivan County. It is prounouced MY-lun.-Geography:Milan is located at...

.

History

The land upon which Winigan sits was obtained from the U.S. government in February 1857 by Noah Harl and exchanged hands five times before coming into the possession of James M. Thrasher.
The town of Winigan was laid out in early February 1880, encompassing an area of six blocks on land belonging to Thrasher. A post office had been established in 1874 with Mr. Van Klelsie as the first postmaster. According to local folklore, the town was named in honor of a Mr. Winnegan, an early settler to southern Sullivan County who had been killed by a panther in the 1840s. The first store was opened in 1878 and by 1888 Winigan had a population of twenty-five families. It was then, and remained for many years, dependent on supplying the needs of farms located in southeastern Sullivan County. To that end, Winigan at one time had two dry goods stores, two blacksmith shops, a drug store and combination steam saw/grist mill.
A large turkey farm and hatchery was owned and run by the Borron family near Winigan in the mid and late 1900s. For many years Winigan had one of the longest running community street fairs in north Missouri. It was held on the first weekend in August for over six decades. The highlight was the Winnigan Centennial in 1973, which drew a crowd of over 5,000. The Winigan Strawberry Festival is held each June and the Winigan 4-H Fair has been held each year since 1938.

Winigan has twice been the scene of a bank robbery

Bank robbery

Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...

. The first happened on December 19, 1945 as three armed men stole more than $6,000 at gunpoint from the Citizen's Bank of Winigan. Quick thinking by town merchant Ivan Cable helped foil the robbery however. Cable let the air out of one of the tires on the getaway vehicle. The robbers first attempted to drive away but soon abandoned the car and escaped on foot. Later the same night they were apprehended at a nearby farm house. Two were arrested, while the third took his own life by gunshot. The second bank robbery took place on July 2, 2009, as two men held up the Winigan branch of the Bank of Brookfield-Purdin, escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash. The pair were later caught and tried for a series of similar bank thefts.

On July 26, 2011 the United States Postal Service

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

announced plans to permanently close the Winigan post office as part of a nationwide restructuring plan.