Tag: ozarks

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The Ozarks: Abandoned

Living in The Ozarks has been key to my development as an artist. The color, seasons, textures and characters of The Ozark Mountains makes it all come together.

It’s history and it’s people are what inspire me. Photo journalism is my focus, if you are looking for senior, wedding or baby pictures you might as well continue searching for another photographer.

Simple pleasures and the mysterious power that lures people to the land. Nothing is more satisfying than a newly turned field in early spring, fresh cut hay on a summer day or the smell of apple butter cooking in the fall.

In this post I’ll introduce you to “My Ozarks” they are small, out-of-the-way places, back road villages or one horse towns . The people who live here have opted to live differently. Small town residents worry about everything from school closings and their children’s futures to the slipping of the local economy.

The fragility of our communities in small towns is evident as you can see in these images. Some are blighted, while in other areas nearby the economy is booming. Making us question “what happened here”?

There are factory workers, barbers, small business owners, retirees, teachers, farmers, clergy, and mayors all who depend on the smallest things to hold these communities together all the while dealing with things such as the opioid epidemic.

Down at The Corner Cafe they are having their coffee about now, discussing the daily special or who fed the cats.

The End to the Means.

I first found myself staring at the ruins of an old home in an uninhabited town, I thought post-apocalyptic! It’s a vision of a horror story. However in certain cases they make me curious as to the backstory. But that’s not what keeps me searching for modern ruins, and it’s not the sole reason I devote so much time to finding and documenting these vanishing forgotten buildings.

Heck, they are so compelling! Of course, there’s an aesthetic to decaying buildings, an opportunity to enjoy these buildings when I stumble upon them. After all those who came before me enjoyed them in their day, why not me, why not now.

These ruins still contain promises of the unexpected. They have served their original purpose but now, for me, it’s the possibility of some weird encounter. The seemingly impossible find of a forgotten treasure or a captured moment.

It all allows for my imagination to go wild and the images allow for your own interpretation. In some strange way it’s all unencumbered repurposing.

Just a note to my fellow photographers who like to shoot cemeteries…Avoiding stepping on a grave. Ozarks Legend has it if a hillman happens to tread upon a grave, he is supposed to jump backward across it immediately, as otherwise a member of his family will die, according to the old-timers.

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Galena, James River and Charlie Barnes

Galena was platted in 1852, and named for deposits of the ore galena near the original town site. A post office has been in operation at Galena since 1853 and the last public execution in Missouri took place in Galena in 1937.

The James River flows past the east side of the town and enters the northernmost arm of Table Rock Lake to the south.The historic Y-Bridge over the James River is located just east of the town. Float trips, for which the Ozarks are famous, reputedly originated at Galena on the James. John boats 18-24 feet long and 4 feet wide were used long before canoes and kayaks became popular and are amazingly maneuverable craft for their size.

Some anglers still prefer the stability they provide for casting while standing and the comfort of folding arm chairs which they can carry. Before the days of Table Rock Dam a five-day float of about 125 miles was available from Galena to Branson. However one of the fine fishing floats always has been the 22-mile section from “Hootentown” to Galena and this may still be floated even with john boats.

From Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks –   It is rumored that the skilled boatman, Charlie Barnes of Galena may have invented the jonboat; whether that is true or not, Barnes definitely defined the role of the jonboat in the White River. He built over five hundred boats in his lifetime, and he guided many people through the James River and the White River on float trips. Many of his clients, in fact, were industrialists and movie stars. Unfortunately, with the creation of Table Rock and Bull Shoals dams, his business died and the wooden jonboats simply lost their significance on the rivers.

Galena Chamber of Commerce

 

Roscoe “Red” Jackson was hanged at dawn on May 21, 1937, for murdering a traveling salesman for his car and $18. Several hundred witnesses were jammed inside the temporary stockade, built around the gallows, and many more people milled about the courthouse square. It was the last public hanging in Missouri.

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Bralley Civil War Cemetery

Just outside Seymour, MO sits the Bralley Civil War Cemetery. According to a small plaque at the entrance, The Jonothan Smythe Bralley family moved from Virginia to The James River near Galloway, MO in Greene County around 1835. In about 1845 they again moved to the Finley River Falls area near Seymour. At the site there are supposedly 22 grave sites. The only gravestones are provided to the Civil War soldiers buried there by the government. Therefore it is officially a Civil War Cemetery. Some 12-15 graves are marked by nothing more than field stones.

 

The site is only about 50′ square. There is at least one child buried there named Alberta Cornelison. There are four steel posts around the grave. One of the Civil War stones has a misspelling with a “W”. As the story goes the family received word of the boys deaths in the Battle Of Rolla, MO and sent a wagon to pick them up. Unbeknown to them the soldiers had already loaded the boys bodies up in a wagon were in route to bring the boys home, passing the family wagon along the route.

 

For more information visit:

Webster County Historical Society

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Amish of Webster County

From the Greater Seymour Chamber Of Commerce:
The Amish of Webster County

The Amish in Webster County, Missouri, are resisting the progress of the 21st century. They are “Old Order Amish,” which means plain ways—buggies with no tops, no enclosed cabs, no rubber tires and plain black paint. Most of the Amish here are of Swiss-German descent. They settled in Webster County in 1968, acquiring many old rundown farms and restoring them to successful, diversified farming operations. Friendly people, they are interesting and make good friends and neighbors.

While a young man’s ambition is to own his own farm and raise his large family without having to leave the farm to work, prices for necessities have forced him to seek work away from home, usually as a carpenter. From father to son, the skills of all phases of the construction trade are handed down.

The Amish women, not unlike their husbands, hand down their skills to their daughters. They are highly skilled in maintaining a comfortable well-ordered home. They grow huge gardens and preserve what they grow. They sew all clothing for their large families, do all the laundry without the convenience of electricity, quilt beautifully, help with the outside chores and do all of the things a housewife is required to do in any household. They are busy from before sunup to after sundown.


The Amish are very frugal people and are highly respected for their honesty. A few things they do not allow themselves to possess are television sets, radios, automobiles or any motor-driven vehicles, telephones, electricity, indoor plumbing (except for pitcher pumps at the kitchen sink), insurance, government pensions or Social Security income.

However, it is not all work and no play for the Amish. They enjoy “frolics” (where they all get together and build a house or barn for a neighbor or relative), quilting bees and singing (they sing without the accompaniment of musical instruments and they yodel just like they do in the Swiss Alps). They travel a lot from community to community and out of state for weddings and visits to family and friends. They hire drivers with vans or buses to carry them, and there is always a van full of eager travelers. Weddings are large—often with as many as 400 people in attendance, traveling from other Amish communities in other sates. This is a time of fellowship and is certainly an exciting time for the whole community.

Church is observed every other Sunday, being held in individual homes. Lunch is served to as many as 200 people by the host family. Young people play softball, basketball and other active games, and the young men are strong wrestlers.

The Webster County Amish once sent their children to public schools through the eighth grade. However, with the public schools adding computers and modern technology, they felt they must establish their own schools. They didn’t want their children contaminated by outside influences.

City Of Seymour

Please note: I tried to link to the Chamber and found nothing to link to. The Chamber may have disbanded, not known.

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Potholes in the Mother Road Vol. 1

The Birthplace of Route 66

Cyrus Avery of Tulsa is known worldwide as the “Father of Route 66.” Springfield, Missouri, is known as the “Birthplace of Route 66.”

By 1923, there were 148 miles of street in the city, 60 of which were paved. So, when John T. Woodruff, of Springfield Missouri, along with Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma began to suggest a transcontinental highway, Springfield was a logical choice along the path of what would soon become Route 66. Woodruff remains mostly known as being among a group of highway advocates (including Avery) and engineers near the Colonial Hotel in Springfield when they sent a telegram on April 30, 1926, to Washington accepting the number 66 assigned to a federal highway from Chicago to Los Angeles — hence the reason Springfield boasts the “birthplace” tag.

Both Woodruff and Avery worked tirelessly for a highway that would carry America’s new “traveler” from Chicago, Illinois all the way to Los Angeles, California. Persistence prevailed and Route 66 finally became a reality in 1926.

Over the years I’ve taken and accumulated a pretty fair amount of images from the road. I’ve been doing my best to get the images of buildings that may be short lived due to decay. The loss of Reds simply blew my mind, the city has since built a replica sign to celebrate Red Chaney’s iconic diner.

Why the hell didn’t they step up when the original was still here and make it an historical site? Better yet, wouldn’t it have made a great Visitors Center? “No, it’s on the west side”. They would say “it would cost too much”, I have to think they have spent far more in the buildings they have now, with much less historical value. Springfield has always wanted to tear those building and landmarks down only to remove what city officials deem eyesores. Wake up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kindall’s General Store

Kindall’s old General Store is one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in the Ozarks. The Old Store has been serving generations for well over 60 years. The business, situated in front of the majestic and scenic Ozark Mountains, continues to be operated to this day.

The interior of the store is much the same as it was when constructed with many old features and antiques. The original board floor, the antiques, metal, stamped tin ceiling, the original shelving and counters, and numerous antiques give the visitor the feeling of stepping back in time. The architecture of the building along with the big front porch represents the vintage of middle and late 1800s.

The current operator plans to keep the store as is, even though it’s not as profitable as it needs to be. There’s more to this labor of love than money.

The original ceiling tin is intact, more than one person has tried to pry it out of the store, there’s not enough money to make that happen. The oak tongue and groove floor is soft in spots, heck I would be too if I were that old. It just adds to the ambiance of the place. The wood stove still sits in the back but due to insurance it’s disconnected.

The Store is an antique and be truly an educational experience.

Across the street is where the Kindall’s lived, underneath the giant oak sits the homestead.

The house appears to be the same time period as the store, the chairs out front were a perfect place to watch traffic on the highway.

Living on top of the hill meant a storm cellar was a must, tornado’s are common place in this part of the Ozarks. This place was old but I was directed to the original home site which was much older and still standing.

Like taking a step back in time, walking into the general store in the community of Olga, Missouri takes you to a place in Ozark history. In the 1980’s, Corda Kindall kept her store alive even though supermarkets in nearby towns got most of the business. At that time, her store was like a museum, full of items once commonly sold in country general stores. She stocked modern necessities as well, but mostly just enjoyed the people dropping by for a chat, a loaf of bread and way of thanking her for keeping the store open and welcoming to local people. Corda Kindall passed away in 1995. Video Produced by Ed Fillmer.

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Saying Goodbye To Old Friends in Halltown

At the height of Route 66 Halltown had roughly 20 businesses which included three grocery stores, a drugstore, a blacksmith shop, service station, garage, and a variety store.

Today, Halltown has a few surviving businesses. It’s boarded up store fronts are sitting empty. One long standing store closed recently The Whitehall Mercantile, known for it’s antiques which filled the store from floor to ceiling. Built in 1900 as a grocery/general store, the false front mercantile, with it’s stone foundation and wooden porch, provided a view of Route 66 from the past. Historic buildings like the 1930’s Las Vegas Hotel and Barber Shop, Brown Shoe Company, and a few older buildings are of interest.

With progress and the construction of Interstate 44 Halltown is losing a battle with time and being by-passed, parts of the town are decaying and abandoned.

Whitehall Mercantile – Thelma White – Halltown, MO – Route 66 – September 2, 1993

The Mercantile is now closed, it’s a shame but there was no interest by anyone in the family to keep it going. Lost to progress and time, like Thelma who has passed it’s now just a memory.

 

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2018 Abandoned Calendar On Sale

Just finished up the Abandoned in the Ozarks Calendar for 2018 just follow this link to get yours! Photos from across the Ozarks places like Galena, Protem, Cane Hill, Brighton, Greenfield and Bona to name a few. It’s a collection of photos I’ve taken featuring abandoned and endangered buildings that due to Mother Nature, lack of funds or care and soon will be lost to time forever.

It’s choked full of 12 months of abandoned goodness.

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Tractors Gone Wild

Within the first few decades, tractor use was slow to catch on. Yet once farmers realized the benefits that could be had in tractor-driven farming, popularity soared. There was no need for cumbersome manual labor when a simple machine like a tractor could do the job for you. From 1910-1970, tractor production drastically increased from 1000 tractors to nearly 5 million.
Falling prices contributed to tractor to tractor growth. Early tractors cost as much as $785 in 1920. Just two years later in 1922, a tractor could be purchased for only $395. The price dropped by nearly half in just two years, making tractors an affordable piece of agricultural machinery for almost every farmer.

 

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Bennett Spring State Park

Bennett Spring and its valley have attracted visitors since the mid-19th century. Settlers found the spring-fed streams to be ideal locations for their grist and flour mills and the wilderness around the stream was perfect for hunting. James Brice was one of the first settlers in the area and he built his first mill in 1846. Although several other mills were built at different times, the most successful mill was operated by Peter Bennett, Brice’s son-in-law. Bennett became the namesake for the spring and the spring valley became a popular hunting and camping ground for farmers waiting for their grain to be ground at the mill.

Already a favorite among fishermen, the area became even more popular in 1900 when the Missouri Fish Commissioner introduced 40,000 mountain trout into the spring-fed stream. In 1924-1925, the state purchased the spring and part of the surrounding area to create one of the first state parks. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps contributed much of the present-day character of the park, building cabins, a shelter house, roads, trails, the arched bridge across the spring branch and the rustic dining lodge.