Birch Tree is a city in Shannon County, Missouri. Birch Tree was named from a small grove of birch trees that stood as a landmark near the first post office. Shannon County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. Its county seat is Eminence. The county was officially organized on January 29, 1841, and was named in honor of George F. "Peg-Leg" Shannon, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is the second-largest county by area in Missouri.
Missouri's first copper mine was opened in Shannon County in 1846 and Missouri's only manganese mine was opened here during World War II.