As of the 2000 U. S. Census, the city had a population of 16, 651 ; a 2008 estimate showed the population to be 17, 096, an increase of 2. 67 %, and is the third largest city in Missouri's 8th Congressional District after Cape Girardeau and Sikeston.

The largest park, the Sikeston Recreation Complex, features a fishing lake, picnic shelters and playground equipment.

* Sikeston is the headquarters for Montgomery Bank which is the largest privately owned, family operated bank in Missouri.

* In July 2008, it was announced that Memphis-based company Orgill Inc., the world's largest independent distributor of home improvement products, would build a facility in Sikeston estimated to employ between 150 to 350 employees.

Likewise, at its southern end, Chicago is the control city listed for I-57 on signs on northbound I-55 south of Sikeston, Missouri, even though I-55 also goes to Chicago.

On the same day, a tornado also struck the nearby city of Sikeston.

It borders the city of Sikeston to the east.

Although popular family restaurant Lambert's Cafe is generally referred to as being located in Sikeston, the restaurant is actually located just inside the Miner city limits.

Sikeston () is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the U. S. state of Missouri.

It is the principal city of the Sikeston Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of all of Scott County, and has a total population of 41, 143.

The city is situated upon the Sikeston Ridge which runs north and south from north of Sikeston through New Madrid.

The land for the city of Sikeston was first owned by a Frenchman named Francis Paquette.

In the city of New Madrid, the street was known as Big Prairie Road and as Sikeston Road after the city of Sikeston was established.

Sikeston ’ s downtown area includes Malone Park, the city ’ s oldest park, and the historic First Methodist Church columns, six majestic pillars that remain as a reminder of the 1879 church which was destroyed by fire in 1968.

* On May 15, 1986, a tornado hit the city of Sikeston and destroyed about 100 homes, prompting former Governor John Ashcroft to visit and call on the National Guard for assistance.

* On January 26 – 27, 2009, the city of Sikeston and the surrounding area were hit with a devastating ice storm, the January 2009 Central Plains and Midwest ice storm.

* The Sikeston Depot — city museum

* Sikeston is located at the intersection of I-55 and I-57, making it the only city in Missouri other than Kansas City and St. Louis to be located on at least two interstate highways.

* The major city employers include Unilever, Missouri Delta Medical Center, the Sikeston Public Schools system, and Wal-Mart.

* In 1931, the Sikeston Board of Municipal Utilities was established to provide electrical service to the city.

* Ralph Emerson Bailey, a former Republican one-term congressman, lived in Sikeston and is buried in the city cemetery in Sikeston.

In 1814, the village of Winchester was laid out about one-half a mile south of the future site of Sikeston and even became the seat of justice for New Madrid County, but the village essentially disappeared after 1822 when the county seat was moved to New Madrid.

In 1862, Sikeston was used as a transportation connection as Union Brigadier General Pope sent his artillery across the river to Commerce to be sent by rail to Sikeston for cart transportation to New Madrid in preparation for the Battle of Island Number Ten.

Missouri Delta Medical Center was founded in Sikeston in 1948.

* The Sikeston Standard Democrat is Sikeston's daily newspaper that derives its name from two of the city's previous newspapers — The Democrat Advertiser and The Daily Standard which was founded in 1911 and became a daily newspaper in 1950.

* Previous Sikeston newspapers have included The Sikeston Star which was founded in 1884 ; The Sikeston Herald, a left-leaning Republican newspaper founded in 1903 or perhaps 1900 ; The Scott County Democrat and The Enterprise which was founded in 1883 and eventually became known as The Dexter Statesman ; and Delta Metro, a weekly news magazine, which was published from 1975 until 1977.

Parkes, who now resides in Spain, was born in Sikeston in 1944 and grew up in Canalou.

The Morehouse Elementary School was closed by the Sikeston School Board.

In February of 2012, a 4. 0-magnitude earthquake struck the area, not far from Sikeston, Missouri and Cairo, Illinois ; the impact was felt across multiple states.

In the 1920s, the Little River Drainage District was formed to drain the low land area west of the Sikeston Ridge.

Although Sikeston was only a small village during the Civil War, its position at the railroad and highway intersection gave it some importance.

On October 4, 1861, Confederate Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson reached Sikeston, planning to strike Cape Girardeau ; however, his manpower was limited, and he decided to retreat into the swamps off to the west.

* During World War I, an infantry company was organized in Sikeston on August 25, 1917 until the spring of 1919.

* In 1920, American Legion Post 114 was chartered for the community of Sikeston and named after Henry Meldrun, a Sikeston native who was killed in Europe during World War I.

* During World War II until 1944, the Sikeston Memorial Municipal Airport which was previously dedicated on July 3 – 4, 1934, was known as Harvey Parks Airport and included long, barrack-style buildings as a site of the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics, which was established after General Hap Arnold asked flight training operations to triple their enrollments.

* Also during World War II, the local National Guard unit Company K was assigned to the Western Defense Command in California, the local school students helped raise money to have a B-25 bomber named the Spirit of Sikeston, and the local International Shoe factory started work on an army shoe order.

* Sikeston Career & Technology Center-Sikeston-A technical school based out of the Sikeston R-VI School District.

The federals were attacked just south of Sikeston by a small group of rebels led by Confederate General M. Jeff Thompson called the Swamp Fox, a nickname previously belonging to Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion.

* The 1962 film The Intruder, starring William Shatner and directed by Roger Corman, features scenes shot on location in downtown Sikeston and at the old courthouse in Charleston.

Sam Walton was known for visiting the Sikeston store several times a month by flying his airplane into the Sikeston Municipal Airport.

* A horse named Sikeston, owned by Luciano Gaucci, won the Gran Criterium in 1988, the Premio Parioli in 1989, the Premio Ribot in 1990, the Queen Anne Stakes and Premio Roma in 1991, and the Premio Presidente della Repubblica in 1991 and 1992.

Governor Jay Nixon surveyed the fog-covered damage by helicopter and visited the Sikeston Field House which was being used as a shelter.

The Sikeston Depot was constructed by St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway and now home to art and history exhibits.

In 1892, a local high school known as the " Methodist College " was established by the Sikeston Methodist Episcopal Church.

* Blake DeWitt, a former Sikeston High School baseball player who was drafted in the first round of the 28th overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, was born in Sikeston.

Lambert's Cafe was opened on March 13, 1942 by Earl and Agnes Lambert in a small building on South Main Street in Sikeston Missouri.