History's Forgotten Treasures

Carthage, Missouri

2010-07-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Carthage is a historic town in southwest Missouri and is a prime example of crumbling history. Only when a community comes together to restore, retain and remember its history will it thrive. This once Victorian village is now a warehouse for decay, rubble and the forgotten. The town square would be lovely if the buildings were not in disrepair and needing some TLC. Of the few buildings occupied only a few were restored or retained their former glory. Many housed modern service type businesses and just didn’t fit the aura of the building itself. Towering over the square is Jasper county courthouse. All other buildings on the square fall short in comparison.

     Many of the town’s historic Victorian homes have been restored to their former glory and make for an enlightening driving tour. Also the many churches in the area retain the historic look and feel of when built originally.

     Further on down the road was the historic marker retained by the department of natural resources. This place of bloodshed and of lives given to a cause greater than they is simply marked by a sign at the road, a simple covered signage with information on the battle and its significance to the town and surrounding area. The parking lot takes up approximately a fourth of the total area allocated to the memorial. What would the men who fought and died here think of such a memorial?

     There are two other war memorials in Carthage, a Vietnam memorial park and the Memorial Hall built as a tribute to World War I soldiers. There is also a Civil War Museum just off the town square. A small tribute to the War among the States and the information within is not withstanding.

     The first interstate highway route 66 passes right through Carthage, a museum to the highway is located in the Jasper County Courthouse. There is a Rt. 66 Drive In still in operation during the summer weekends.

     Just outside the city is the world famous Precious Moments Chapel and museum. A loving tribute to the Almighty by artist Samuel J. Butcher where one can receive a guided tour of the chapel and view the massive fountains.

     During my visit to Carthage I happened on Cedar Hill Cemetery, a historic cemetery just outside of town. One in three grave markers was damaged in some way. Many were off the ground stones or had sections missing or simply lying on the ground. All of the family plots were overrun by weeds and flowers in need of dividing. Although the cemetery had been mowed it desperately needed a weed whacker taken to it. Showing how little remembrance the descendants of pioneer families actually have. The cemetery is maintained by a nonprofit organization and there is a charge to be buried here. Many military personnel have been laid to rest within its grounds.

     What Carthage shows historians, preservationists and the community within is that a society needs to remember the past in order to move forward into the future. The city would greatly benefit from a little more love and care on behalf of its citizens both present and past. In terms of economic revival and survival taking a little initiative would result in more tourism, more families relocating to the area and a boost to history itself.

Eads Bridge

2010-07-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Eads Bridge

State Fair

2010-06-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

     When someone says "I'm going to the state fair" what kind of images come to mind? Visions of cotton candy and funnel cakes (elephant ears) or twirling, spinning rides. How about excessively long lines and concerts of favorite performers. Or is it the animal exhibits, 4-H projects or the fine arts exhibits? What about business vendors harking their wares?

     Personally all of the above occur in my mind's eye. But also are the fond memories of childhood - my own and my children. Of prizes and ribbons won. Getting heat sickness or ill from too much junk food. Camping out at the fair grounds and loads of good times with friends and family.

     The state fair has a long and endearing history. In the days before automobiles families would make the journey by horse and buggy, stagecoach and wagons. These families would bring homemade goods for judging in the hopes of becoming "Best of Show" and being known across the county or countryside as the one to beat. Men would bring livestock; women sewing, cooking, canning and needlework. The children would sometimes show a favorite pet but more than likely would simple look forward to candy, treats, meeting friends and of course fireworks.

     Even though the fair has evolved the roots are the same. Good food, good friends, good events and a good time had for all.

Do you Remember?

2010-06-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

What is it you remember most from your childhood? A favorite toy, a favorite relative, a favorite story or a favorite animal? Isn't it amazing how different things from one's childhood and youth will eventually come back during one's lifetime?

Such as sling dog that was a favorite toy of thousands of children during the 60's and 70's is now popular thanks to the Toy Story movies. Only now the dog's body is made of plastic and not wood like the original. How about the mini skirt that was all the rage in late 60's and through out the 70's came back in the late 90's and is still a favorite for fashion designers. The popular television series Hawaii 5-0 is even being reformatted to today's audience.

What does all this say about society? That one's past or history will always return to haunt oneself. So if the individual can learn from the past then why can't a society? How can a society move forward when it does not address the issues, crimes and political turmoil of it's past. This teaches that as a whole society needs to reflect and honor its past. In so doing it will not commit the same old mistakes. The sins of the one afflicts the many and vise verse.

So remember, reflect and honor the past. Study it and retain its lessons. For karma can be a real big pain in the rear.

Facebook | History's Forgotten Treasures Links

2010-06-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Facebook History's Forgotten Treasures Links

St. Louis' Bloody Island

2010-06-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

St. Louis' Bloody Island

Little known facts of St Louis World's Fair 1904

2010-04-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Common notes:

Nearly everyone has heard of the 1904 World’s Fair but there are many little known facts. Many common American icons debuted at the World’s Fair of 1904. Some common information on the World’s Fair: open Monday through Saturday, hours were 8 am to 11:30 pm and admission was 50 cents. That “19,694,855 people attended, 62 foreign nations and colonies participated” (Stevens, 1909). And it covered 1240 acres where Forest Park and Washington University are today.

Food on the grounds:

There were 125 eating establishments on fairgrounds, 45 restaurants and lunch stands (Birk, 1979). Restaurants were enormous in size with the average seating being over 1,000 persons per, which means 36,650 people ate at any given time, not including lunch stands, (Birk, 1979). One could see a statue of then president Teddy Roosevelt made entirely of butter and a bear of prunes (Birk, 1979). It was here that ice cream was first served via waffle cones when a vendor ran out of serving dishes and a waffle vendor came to the rescue. Here was the “first mass introduction of the hamburger on a bun” and hot dog on the bun (Route 66 Adventure Handbook, 2006). Because summer was so hot, Richard Blechyden decided to ice down his tea, a first (Route 66 Adventure Handbook, 2006). Another first introduced to the public was Dr. Pepper.

Entertainment at the fair:

Many now famous performers and entertainers were at the 1904 fair. John McCormack, an Irish tenor performed along the pike (Years, 1964). Will Rogers did comedic routine along the pike (Years, 1964). And Scott Joplin introduced ragtime to visitors of the fair (Louis, 2007). Mr. John Philip Sousa and his band played (Years, 1964). Geronimo was on display at the pike. The pike is how the phrase coming down the pike was created.

Buildings/exhibits within the grounds:

The observation wheel was 264 foot high, weighed 4200 tons, had 36 cars that held 60 people each (Birk, 1979). The Bird cage, built by the Smithsonian Institution was the basis for the St. Louis zoo. The Missouri building was first building with a cooling system, what is now known as air conditioning (Birk, 1979). Even an emergency hospital complete with doctors and nurses was erected on site. The Inside Inn, one of many hotels covered 10 acres, had nearly 3000 rooms and employed 1,000 people

Buster Brown shoes made their first appearance. This Exposition was first to attract school children and first “to elevate the educational above the commercial” (Stevens, 1909). And St. Louis newspapers ran average of 28 columns daily for three years (Birk, 1979). A total of 52,706 writers came and reported on the fair to daily, weekly and monthly publications.

For more information on the World's Fair of 1904 check the following:

http://www.1904worldsfairsociety.org/
http://www.mohistory.org/

Books:

The World came to St. Louis by Dorothy Daniels Birk

St. Louis the First 200 years by Martin Quigley, Peter Geist & Ruth K. Jacobson
St. Louis History of the Fourth City by Walter B. Stevens
Route 66 Adventure Handbook by Drew Knowles
Insiders guide St. Louis by Dawne Massey

Cemeteries of St. Louis

2010-04-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Not many people realize that cemeteries have great appeal. Originally these places of internment for the dearly departed were designed for more than just a place to bury the dead. Ever wonder why a society buries it dead on a hill, in the most beautiful position around, or why the architecture is so wonder?

Cemeteries were intended to be park like places where families could picnic, have reunions or parties. Many even had wedding ceremonies within its gates. Churches and communities would have socials on the grounds. The flora and fauna are always glorious to behold, fun for children to play in, and a absolute must for amateur photographers.

St. Louis, Missouri has some of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country and a fantastic place to have lunch and learn more about the city's history. Bellefontaine cemetery was founded in 1849 and is considered to be an outdoor museum for within its 314 acres rest some of the most notable persons not only of St. Louis but of the state of Missouri. A must see are the mausoleums and headstones of such persons as Adophus Busch 1913, William Clark 1838, the Cupples mausoleum 1912, James Eads 1887, the notable Lemp family tomb 1870, John O'Fallon 1865 and the Civil War hero Sterling Price 1867. Calvary cemetery, established in 1854 is adjacent to Bellefontaine and is the second oldest Catholic cemetery in the city. One can find many notable persons here also. Persons like Tennessee Williams 1983, Kate Chopin 1904, Dred Scott 1858, William Tecumseh Sherman1891 not to mention many former Browns and Cardinal players.

These places are a great place to visit during the spring bloom and also on a hot summer day. So take some time and the family to visit the cemeteries of St. Louis for it will be an enlightening experience for all.

Military History Museum

2009-08-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago I visited the military museum at Fort Leonard wood. I was like a child in a candy shop. Didn't know where to start, what to look at first, for there were three separate sections to the museum. The engineering department, the military police, the chemical department, so again it was like deciding vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream. I was so engrossed in the displays that I lost track of time and one of the curators had to come up and politely ask us to leave at closing time. I had never been kicked out of anywhere and here we were being kicked out of a museum, let alone a military museum. Now there's a story to tell. I took over 700 pics for my records and met many interesting people on this day at the museum. We even got pics of some of the types of equipment my husband the former marine used during his service even though this was a army instillation. All in all I learned quite a bit about military equipment and army life. I have to admire all the men and women who live this life both for their country and for their spouses, it really takes a certain type of personality/trait to endure the infringement on privacy unyielding to no end. Praise to you all and Thank you and Blessings to you all.

45 Records

2009-05-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

The other day I was out enjoying a passion of mine, yard saling. I happened across one estate sale where the person had an enormous collection of 33 & 45 records. WOW, had to be hundreds of country, gospel and pop from the 50's through the early 80's, what a treasure! And what was better was the low prices. So here I found myself digging through this gigantic tub of records along with another gentleman skipping along memory lane having one laugh after another. For there were big name groups along side unheard of groups along side one hit wonders.
Have you ever thought about what history is stored on vinyl? Think about it, songs such as the streak that talked about the fad of streaking or the duck which was the current dance craze?
Do you remember Dick Clark's Hit parade? How about the top 40 hits with Casey Kasem? And Who can possibly forget the all time favorite DJ, Wolfman Jack? Where would certain generations of Americans be without these things? How would these generations of Americans be had there not been recordings of this type and these 45's not lasted? Not to mention listening booths, Friday night gigs and spending one's whole allowance on ONE album. Talk about a time capsule.
Just reading the titles of the songs and/groups brought back a flood of memories from childhood and my teens. Some good, some bad. Amazing how something so simple can spark something so huge. The gentleman next to me thought the same. When I mentioned to my now 20 something daughter that I found some 45's to play on the phonograph that my husband bought me for Christmas, she said "what are 45's". Atypical for her generation, as they have been brought up on CD's and DVD's and VHS. Thus launched a impromptu history lesson. How quick the Bobby Darren's are replaced by Beyonce. But history will never forget Buddy Holly, Deon, The Big Bopper, Big Brother, or the King Elvis. Then again there is always side b.

Missouri Cave/Caverns

2009-04-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

Not many people think about caves or caverns when thinking of history. But one should really consider caves as part of human history not just natural history, and not only in terms of shelter. Think of caves in another light. How many outlaws have used caves as hiding places? Hiding not only guns, ammunition, gold, silver, cash and themselves from Pinkerton's. Pirates hiding booty and treasures of unknown wealth. Gangsters hiding bootlegged liquor and gambling establishments from the revenuers. Civil War refugees seeking safety from opposing forces, fearing personal iniquities or death itself. The stories these caves could and should tell us about the past. What wondrous, enchanting stories that would enlighten one and all. Then maybe, just maybe one wouldn't be so anxious to use a bulldozer to fill in these majestic marvels of the past, present and future to create a super highway or shopping mall.

What is treasure

2009-04-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

What is a treasure in context with history?
A treasure can be a truth, a bit of information, a fragment of time, a person or even a time capsule of pieces put together to complete the WHOLE story.
To a researcher of history nothing is insignificant, every little piece is important to the whole and plays a vital part.
A huge scavenger hunt, Geo cache if you would. Nothing better than the hunt as the cliche says. Checking, double checking, even triple check the facts, verifying the sources and pursuing the artifacts, documents, memorabilia to the end result -----
TREASURE rescued, restored, saved, salvaged & memorialized for all humankind.

Eldridge,MO

2009-04-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

Am searching for descents of original residents of Eldridge, Laclede county Missouri. Am researching the town and the town founder Eldridge. Anyone with information please contact me @ this blog.
This town was founded by a free black man with the surname of Eldridge. The free blacks migrated out of the area during the great depression.
There are several free black cemeteries in the area which I have started to explore and still searching for land owners to contact for permission to go in and document.
I am requesting any documents, photographs etc... anyone can help me with would be great.
thank you.
preserve & protect History

Saving the Past

2009-04-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Saving the Past
One Building
One Cemetery
One Treasure

AT A TIME