Peculiar, Missouri

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Peculiar is a city located in Cass County, Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,604.

Peculiar received its name in 1868 when first postmaster Edgar Thomson had his first choice, Excelsior, was rejected because it already existed in Atchison County, Missouri. Several other choices were also rejected. The story goes that an annoyed Thomson wrote to the Postmater General himself to complain saying, among other things, "We don't care what name you give us so long as it is sort of 'peculiar'", with "peculiar" in quotation marks. Washington approved that name.

An historical plaque in the town is noteworthy. It reads, "In 1861-1864 while bloody battles raged throughout the southern states nothing happened here."