The Founding of Advance

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Advance was established in 1910 when the Houck Railroad was built in this section. Houck had built the road to Lakeville and wanted to extend (advance) the road to the county line and thence to Cape Girardeau, but the excessive price of land deterred him for some time. He finally advanced the road one mile to the settlement which he called New Lakeville, because it was near the old settlement known as Lakeville.  Mr. Flynn, the first postmaster, suggested the name Advance, indicative of the advance made in the railroad.