Have you ever been to Blue Eye, Mo.?

On our August trip, Sweetums and I were just driving through the countryside when we passed a sign for a town named Blue Eye. Turns out, there are two Blue Eyes, one on the Missouri side of the line and one on the Arkansas side. Both are incorporated; Arkansas’ Blue Eye is the state’s least-populated city.

There is nothing, really to see, but I figured the place name was unusual enough for a quick post.

Blue Eye, Mo., is part of the Branson Micropolitan Area. The Blue Eye area was settled in the 1860s. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says the community was named for the bright blue eyes of Elbert Butler, a founder and postmaster. Apparently, it could have been called Jet Black if anyone had been so inclined, because that was the color of the postmaster’s hair, according to the book “The Origins of Unusual Place Names.”

Blue Eye, Ark., has 30 residents and the town on the Missouri side has 167, according to the Encyclopedia article. A 2019 Census estimate puts Blue Eye, Ark., at 37 residents.

The Encyclopedia article said, “By 1998, the Arkansas side of Blue Eye had one grocery store and a park. Residents worked at Tyson poultry plants in Green Forest and Berryville The town’s annual budget was estimated at about $1,000, although it rose to $3,000 in 1997 when the community bought a lawn mower. As of 2015, all the businesses of Blue Eye are in the Missouri portion of the community, including a liquor store just over the state line.”