Tradition has it that two bachelors settled approximately nine miles east of Auxvasse along a creek that eventually became known as "Bachelor Creek". It is unknown whether the two single pioneers realized that they were giving birth to the town of Bachelor.

The actual date of Bachelor's birth is unknown, but postal records show that on July 1, 1871, a request was made to establish a post office along the Auxvasse to Shamrock route in the town of Bachelor. The records defines the town as being platted along 21 acres of land owned by T.H. Calvert, who became Bachelor's first postmaster.

The original site of Bachelor was situated on a north - south route called the "Benton City Road", located about five miles east of Shamrock and two and one-half miles northwest of its present site.

Bachelor's long line of post masters maintained a link with the outside world for the area inhabitants. Names like Calvert, Barton, English, Bernard, Burt, and Hamilton were recognizable in the old community.

Records show that on December 20, 1886, postal operations were moved two miles south to the home of John Will English, who assumed the role of postmaster. The move increased the bi-weekly mail route by three-quarters of a mile.

E.M. Dudley, who lived in Auxvasse, was quick to assess the potential income awaiting in the newly formed Bachelor. In 1886, he built a store just two miles southeast of the post office. E.M. was banking on his customer's cherishing his saving them the long ride to either Auxvasse or Williamburg, and thereby coming to his store to shop. The entrepreneurial Mr. Dudley then hired Tyler Bernard to manage his store.

In 1888, G.T. Dudley, along with his son-in-law, Tyler Bernard, purchased the Bachelor store. Perhaps E.M. had grown weary of keeping tabs on his remote establishment. Nevertheless, old Tyler faithfully managed the store and performed the duties of postmaster until his death in 1925. After Tyler's passing, William Bernard assumed the duties of postmaster. But when John Y. Burt later bought the store, his wife took over the role of ensuring the mail's delivery.

In 1934, George and Mary Eliza Hamilton purchased the Bachelor Store and Post Office. While George minded the store, Mary became the 'post mistress". She ran the office from 1934 until her death in 1945. At that time, her son, Clifford Hamilton, became the acting postmaster until the office was closed in 1959.

Some of the other facilities in early Bachelor were its churches and schools.

In 1881, the Harmony Baptist Church was established in Bachelor, and built a santuary about one mile west of town. An intense storm severely damaged the original church structure in 1942. But following the construction of a new building in 1950, Harmony Baptist continued to worship, and does so today.

The other church associated in Bachelor is the Friendship Baptist Church. Built in 1884 just a few hundred yards from the Dudley store, the church has served the needs of both Christian and Community Church congregations.

Four schools saw various periods of operations in Bachelor's history. Oak Grove District 21, Elm Spring, Hickory Grove and Scott School all became a one-room home away from home for the many farming community students pursuing an education in the northern plains of Callaway. By the end of the 1950's, they had all shut their doors, replaced by the newer, larger school of the present.

Without the impact of the railroad, river or interstate traffic, Bachelor was doomed to suffer a quiet demise. Today, only a vacant store and two churches remain to testify that there truly once was a home for wayward bachelors. [Fulton, abstracted from an article by Lee Godley]

Ancestral Names in the Bachelor area: Armstrong, Bell, Bernard, Bradley, Brewer, Callicote, Carg, Chandler, Dawson, Deardorff, Debo, Dotson, Dudley, English, Eskridge, Ferguson, Fisher, Ford, Franklin, French, Gibson, Gray, Ham, Hamilton, Harper, Harrison, Hatcher, Hazlett, Hendrix, Hudnall, Hunt, Jeffries, Keith, Kemp, Kincade, King, Knipp, Laws, Leason, Lederle, Love, McCubbin/McCubben, McGregory, McMurtry, Meadows, Meder/Meador, Morris, Moss, Mumford, Noe, Oliver, Olsen, Pasley, Peters, Plaster, Plybon, Potts, Price, Robinson, Shay, Shelton, Thomas, Wilkerson, Wilson, Wood, Woodson, Wotwood.