Located in the Ozark Mountains, Shell Knob was established in 1835 on the banks of the White River when Henry and Elizabeth Yoachum Schell built a trading post. The c was somehow left off the name when the post office was established in 1872. The Schells left in 1846 and went on to establish the community of Jacket, Missouri. Most families were self-supporting and the modern world was slow to penetrate the area. In 1959, Table Rock Dam was completed and Table Rock Lake filled, changing the Shell Knob area and community forever.