A settler to the area, for whom the town was named, laid out the town site of Bates City in the fall of 1878 on a plot of his land which he donated. Soon afterward the Chicago & Alton railroad tracks ran through the site. This led to a building and business boom. Ferguson-Herold Conservation area, located a short ditance Southwest of Bates City, is comprised mainly of re-established prairie, woodlands, riparian forest, cropland and old fields. The area prior to the Civil War was the Walton farm with a large southern style mansion and slave quarters. The area covers approximately 175 acres and has small tracts of timber, small, fishless ponds and a tributary, Little Horeshoe Creek, which passes through the center of the area.
With the re-establishment of the historic prairie and the restoration of the historic woodlands there are many hunting opportunities here.

Judges

Hon. Garry Helm