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The Avillians

Avilla has quiet a history, from it’s early inception through World War II. It will be much easier to give you the Wiki link if your interested in Avilla History.

My time in Avilla has always been fun, the people are open and friendly. For example, a certain older gentleman invited my friend Rick and myself into his Avilla Gentlemen’s Clubhouse for coffee and a quick chat. He is one of Avilla’s true gems. Enamel pots and pans collected and hung on the clubhouse walls, a giant concrete frog in the front yard, just about anything you can think of was somewhere around.

I was told that the clubhouse was no more, he had a son move into the building ending the informal chats, that’s too bad I looked forward to visiting again.

My second time back I was by myself and went into Bernie’s Bar & Grill to grab something to eat. Again those friendly “Avillian’s” were in top form and suggested a simple cheeseburger telling me “that’s what we’re famous for”. He was right. Stop in Bernie’s if you’re hungry! I suggest the cheeseburger.

There are lots of interesting buildings in and around Avilla, The Bank building (Post office now), I.O.O.F. just to name a couple.

Next time your out on west Route 66 take the time to see Avilla, you can’t be in that big of a hurry. Oh and grab a cheeseburger while you’re there.

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Bonnie and Clyde in the Ozarks

A vintage photo of the gas station on Glenstone Avenue where Bonnie & Clyde got gas when they captured Tom Percell. It became the Quik Spud store, and now has been totally renovated with the addition of a large metal building to the north. Queen City Oil, starting out as a flour and feed store, was built by Emral Brock and Oscar Hawkins in 1929. They soon started selling Standard gas, then Mobil, along with tires and dry goods. In 1939 a viaduct was built over them, effectively bypassing the station.

They moved six blocks north on Route 66 and built an additional station. Queen City Oil currently housing Irene’s Quik Spuds, stayed in business into the 1980s. (1801 E. Trafficway)
~Robert H. Gibbons~

Now the home of “Irene’s Quik Spuds,” this red brick building, located under the Glenstone Avenue
viaduct had once housed the gas station where Bonnie and Clyde had stopped for gas and a Coke after
taking Tom captive. Some of the original Route 66 pavement can still be seen under the viaduct.

The complete story is here from Contributor: Robert H. Gibbons

 

Today the building looks like this as of December 2017 when I took the shots.

The original stretch of 66 as it appears today, it’s just a stones throw from that station and it’s pretty narrow. Still in good shape.

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Barns of the Ozarks – Part 1

Ozark’s barns are fantastic testaments to the hardscrabble way of life, a life centered on the land, work, family, ingenuity, and perseverance. Many think of barns as integral landmarks along the byways. Others have their favorite barns like the well-kept, Meramec Caverns advertising barns dotting the interstate highways or the faded milking barn near their hometown. Others know these barns more intimately, barns are part of their family and home.

They are barns built by hand in wood, stone, brick, or metal and dating as far back as 1860. I’ll try to capture the beauty of these barns. You might see the making and breaking of a barn as it plays into the life and sustenance of several generations of a family who settled the land and now the farm is left abandoned, barns and buildings left to endure the mercy of time and mother nature. Now, who is up for a barn dance?





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Shadow Rock Hotel – Gasping for it’s Last Breathe.

Shadow Rock in Old Forsyth in the 1950’s and Shadow Rock now abandoned in 2017. The last photo shown is a postcard from 1956 which indicates the “Hotel” had The Flamingo Dining Room and the Circle Bar Tavern on premise. I look for another change in the near future. In the first shot you can see the motel being built.

Back in 2012, that’s almost six years ago, in September, representatives of Pensco Trust and Lincoln Trust stopped by to take a look at Shadow Rock Lodge located at the junction of Hwy 160 and 76 just outside of Forsyth, Mo. acquired the building and have already put a new roof on the building they plan to completely refurbish by 2012. Included in the sale was the motel/motor lodge that has been deemed structurally unsound and which in all likelihood will be razed to the ground.

According a Taney Times article published on December 28, 2011; Forsyth Mayor, Ron Potter stated that the two trust firms envision an open air restaurant on top of the lodge that would attract motorcycle and eco-travelers throughout the region.

From my point of view it’s completely pie in the sky, I think I saw a for sale sign on the property.

Photo – Springfield News-Leader


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The Old Country Store

The Old Country Store was and is the life blood of small Ozark’s communities. This applies more to this particular store than most. Most neighbors are not just a stones throw from here. Many miles of hills separate this store from most. Taney County doesn’t have a huge population now let alone when this store was active. In the 1930 census the nearest town of Bradleyville only had a population of 41.

When I entered the store it was walking back in time. I could see the shelves lined with canned goods, supplies, I imagine it had a wood stove near the right side. I’ll bet the old boys showed on Saturday with their chewing tobacco in pocket ready to chew the fat with the regular “spit & whittle” club. One thing I did not show was the old glass counter cabinet. It was in really sad shape, glass had been knocked out and it was falling apart. I feel it’s important to leave it alone. Let it go with this building when it decides to give way to time.


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The Weather Is Fine.

I had wanted to go into the Bull Shoals Lake area for some time now, it’s full of unexpected places, things or I should say eye candies. I left Springfield, MO and headed south on Hwy 125 and winged it from there. Visiting Chadwick, Bradleyville and Protem on further south. I detoured to go see Davidson’s Store and motel but got back onto the highway pronto.

I remembered why I love the Ozarks so much once I reached the glades then further up into the hills. Those vistas are breathtaking. I also knew Bull Shoals would, early in the morning, give me some fog. It always does this time of year. I ran onto an abandoned home place that I only could see the very peak of the roof in the timbers. I had to go take a peek. As I approached the house there was a lonely chair sitting on the porch like someone was sitting and waiting for company. Around the house was the normal, out buildings, outhouse, barn and a spring house. The spring house had to be one of the nicest I have ever ran across, it had two separate rooms and as the spring left the structure they had built a retaining wall around it for a pool area, I’m sure they used it during the warm months. A very good trip overall with the exception of my camera shooting craps. Oh well time for a new one.








Founding members of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils Randle Chowning and Larry Lee formed Beyond Reach in 2005 as a recording entity. Multi-instrumentalists Ned Wilkinson and David Wilson joined them and the new group started performing live in concert settings.

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Break Time is over, now get back to work!

Every adventure starts with planning, this time it’s localized. No big road trip just close to home, down and dirty foot work. Over a number of years I’ve been visiting as many locations as possible digging up images from the Ozarks past. Whether it’s an old mill site, abandoned home, deserted road or well traveled touristy spot I’m shooting it.

I’m in the process of updating my website to reveal this project and all the while planning the next project. No I’m not in it for the money I’m doing it to preserve the image of these places while they still exist. Already a few of these places have been removed, bulldozed, fallen into oblivion, or burned. It won’t be too many more years before the structures of my grandfathers era are nothing but a memory. When I get the site functional I’ll put you out a notice and hope you’ll visit.

If you have information on any historical, abandoned or sentimental site you would like to share and see permanently captured leave me comment below. I’ll do my best to visit it.

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Phillipsburg General Store

The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation (Missouri Preservation) announced its 2017 list of historic Places in Peril on Friday evening, August 25, 2017 at a special “Unhappy Hour” event at the National Building Arts Center in St. Louis. Listed at #9 is…the Old Phillipsburg General Store in Phillipsburg,MO


Few small town buildings are as iconic as the old general store. The Phillipsburg General Store was constructed in the last years of the 1800s. It survived for many years as one of Phillipsburg’s largest buildings and now has the distinction of being the only historic building remaining in the village. The building also sat next to the railroad tracks, and trains supplied the store with the many provisions needed for the villagers and local farmers. Sugar and flour, crackers and other needed items were bought in bulk and put in sacks to take come. Dolls and garden supplies, tools, as well as rabbits and chickens were purchased in the store and taken home in wagons pulled by horses. In later years the adjacent Route 66 brought many tourists to this tiny town. The upstairs served a variety of the community’s social needs, containing a small theater, an office where a lodge was located and where the Woodsmen of America met, as well as other groups like the American Legion. After the lodges were gone, ladies set up quilt blocks where they constructed quilts for many families in the community. During the 1990s some rehabilitation work was completed on the old store and part of the building was used again for quilting and antique sales. But in the meantime, a building that has been cut off from the railroad and its iconic roadway is in danger. A roof leak in the rear of the building has caused extensive They hope to attract a buyer that is interested in renovation of this small town icon. Contact the owner: bcbender3@yahoo.com or 417.664.6520

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The Cane Hill Store

This is the Cane Hill Store, which sold numerous items for many years including butter churns. Back when a fellow named Jack Roy was a boy, Cane Hill had two stores, a barbershop, a mill, a school and a post office. Cane Hill also was home to the Buttercup Churn and Mixer, a patented product manufactured by the Pyle-Roy Mixer Company, which advertised a new deal for the housewife. The churn, which sat on the lid of a standard glass mason jar, offered a convenient alternative to other methods of churning butter.
I can give the churn my thumbs up, we were lucky enough to find one.

Roy’s father, Guy, worked with his two brothers, Lonnie and Clarence; his father, W.H. Roy; and his brother-in-law, Virgil Pyle, who invented the churn. Guy Roy lived in a white house just up the road from where Roy lives today, near Cane Hill. That’s where Roy’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all lived.