[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.51 square miles (1.32 km2), all land.

In its heyday, Stotts City was home to several banks, a large hardware store, The Farmers Exchange Co-op, a cooperative enterprise of the local grain and dairy farmers, a school and numerous churches, and even had a volunteer brass band and a newspaper, The Stotts City Sunbeam,[9] published from 1901 until the end of 1907.

With a depressed agricultural industry in the 1920s, the 1929 stock market crash and Great Depression, Stotts City suffered a further reduction in population, a loss of retail businesses and closure of its one remaining bank.

[citation needed] The construction of U.S. Route 66 north of Stotts City and later, Interstate 44 south of town, provided an opportunity for increased commerce.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Farmers Exchange Co-op provided feed grain and seed for most of western Lawrence County.

Until the mid-1970s, Stotts City bore a remarkable resemblance to the classic movie 'western town', with its wide main street and rows of buildings with false fronts.

Vernon and Center streets, still stands; a relic of the late 19th century, as does the old native-stone schoolhouse and First Baptist Church, both built in 1898.

Stotts City is surrounded by cattle and dairy farms, and the area is known for world-class thoroughbred horses.

In 1981, Jim and Sallie Stearns established the Stearnsy Bears, with manufacturing in Stotts City.

These heirloom-quality teddy bears have been featured on Hallmark and American Greetings cards, and are shipped worldwide.

Greene Casey Stotts USA, 1821-1876—American military officer and Missouri state legislator PFC Charles Denver Barger, USA, 1892-1936—American soldier and hero of World War I, Medal of Honor recipient Rev.