[5] Steelville is the hometown of Congressman Albert Reeves and Missouri State Representative Jason Chipman.

Before the 1800s, the first people to live in the Steelville area were groups likely tied to the Osage nation.

In the 1830s, the Trail of Tears, a government-sponsored forced march of the largest groups of the southeastern United States, passed through Steelville, with people primarily from the Choctaw and Cherokee tribes.

They came mostly from Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee and were forced to relocate to Oklahoma and the West.

It is believed that they stopped in Steelville around the spring to rest, bury their dead and get supplies.

[citation needed] The first settlers in Steelville were William Britton, who built a small grist mill along the Yadkin Creek, and James Steel, who operated a trading post and was appointed by the government as commissioner to lay out the city in 1835 – the year in which Steelville was founded.

Steel purchased 40 acres of land from the government, which he later sold to the "County Court" on December 16, 1835, for $50.

The Snelson-Brinker House was built outside Steelville by Levi Lane Snelson in 1834 and sold to John B. Brinker in 1837.

It was moved to Steelville with the help of John T. Woodruff of Springfield and Professor Hayes and opened during the latter part of 1890.

The Steelville Bank began operations in October 1884 under the direction of its president, G. W. Matlock.

Albert Walters, age 20, from Granite City, Illinois, was the driver of the getaway car and was shot.

There was only one citizen wounded – A. D. Schwieder – who was walking out of the adjoining store and was shot in the leg after a shoot out with one of the robbers, whom he killed.

[citation needed] While this was not how the town got its name, Steelville was located in an active iron mining area.

[8] The Cherry Valley Iron Mines just east of Steelville opened in 1878, and had produced 736,800 tons of ore between 1878 and 1910.

[11] The Big Bend Rural School and Snelson-Brinker House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[12] Steelville is located in west central Crawford County at the intersection of routes 8 and 19.

[13] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.42 square miles (6.27 km2), all land.