Silex is a 4th-class city in Lincoln County, Missouri, United States.

Silex had its start in the 1880s when the railroad known as the Northern Hannibal Railway was extended to the town for the purpose of transportation.

[5] The community was named after the main cash crop production of silicon sand.

The Silex original township was located approximately a quarter mile north of the current old town portion now.

As many settlers and farmers moved to the area for work and settling, the town started to grow.

The town became a center point for shopping, trade, social events and festivals that brought many from afar.

Some accomplished this by agreeing to build a new home at a special rate and were given grant funds to do so, and some residents took a portion of the grant funding and simply picked their house up and moved it up on the hill in the city's new Stephens Bluff addition.

One is removing the old households, many of which had contaminated pipes because of the age of the homes, and re-engineering city utility services.

The town had applied for infrastructure grants and received one in late 2008 for a sewer project.

That came at a price of issuing bonds to pay for the project which was another out of pocket expense for residents.

Many residents were stunned that they had lost water in the new town portion, but during the storm that had dropped seven inches of rain on the city and points north, the new water tower was struck by lightning and disabled the pump.

Several people who lived just outside of town had to be rescued by boat from the second story windows of their home.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.19 square miles (0.49 km2), all land.

About 11.3% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those sixty-five or over.