Opinions
After three weeks of not being able to see her family, Gainesville Health Care Center resident Dorcas Rackley was happy to have a through-the-window visit Monday with her daughters, from left, Kay Young, Barbara Rackley, Peggy Johnson and Patty Donley. Her son Steve Rackley lives in Republic and hopes to visit later.
Imagine that you are a resident of a nursing home. Your mind is still clear, but physically you just can’t live on your own. Until the COVID-19 virus crisis, each day began by being awakened by an aide to get ready for the day. By 7:20 you are in the dining room sitting at a table with your friend...
While incarcerated in the old Ozark County Jail, Howards Ridge native Roscoe “Red” Jackson and a fellow inmate inadvertently caused the town’s hotel to burn down. Jackson later was convicted of murder and was executed by hanging in 1937.
In parts one and two of this Ozark Journey, we touched briefly on the structure of Ozark County’s old stone jail that still stands near the foot of Harlin Drive in Gainesville and a few memorable incidents that occurred there. During the 30 years this facility was in service, the crimes of...
After three weeks of not being able to see her family, Gainesville Health Care Center resident Dorcas Rackley was happy to have a through-the-window visit Monday with her daughters, from left, Kay Young, Barbara Rackley, Peggy Johnson and Patty Donley. Her son Steve Rackley lives in Republic and hopes to visit later.
Imagine that you are a resident of a nursing home. Your mind is still clear, but physically you just can’t live on your own. Until the COVID-19 virus crisis, each day began by being awakened by an aide to get ready for the day. By 7:20 you are in the dining room sitting at a table with your...
Wayne and Doris Sayles stand by the jail door they bought several years ago at a local garage sale. It is the original door from the stone jail and was used for a while in the next jail that was included on the top floor of the Ozark County Courthouse that was completed in 1939. A local resident bought the door from the county in an auction on the courthouse steps when the jail was moved into the “new” Ozark County Sheriff’s Office. It was restored to its original position in the jail. The bars to either side of the door are not original.
In part 1 of this journey back in time, we discussed some of the background and motivation for building a new county jail at Gainesville in the early days of the 20th century. The construction details are vague, but we do know that the land was acquired and an “improved” stone building was...
Thana Breeding Mahan
Gainesville’s PTO is raising money to install new playground equipment at the elementary school. (See related story, page 3.) It’s badly needed. The current play-piece, 20-plus years old, is a wooden boat-shaped thing bristling with splinters and infested with bugs and wasps in warm weather. The...
Thana Breeding Mahan
Gainesville’s PTO is raising money to install new playground equipment at the elementary school. (See related story, page 3.) It’s badly needed. The current play-piece, 20-plus years old, is a wooden boat-shaped thing bristling with splinters and infested with bugs and wasps in warm weather. The...
Wayne and Doris Sayles stand by the jail door they bought several years ago at a local garage sale. It is the original door from the stone jail and was used for a while in the next jail that was included on the top floor of the Ozark County Courthouse that was completed in 1939. A local resident bought the door from the county in an auction on the courthouse steps when the jail was moved into the “new” Ozark County Sheriff’s Office. It was restored to its original position in the jail. The bars to either side of the door are not original.
In part 1 of this journey back in time, we discussed some of the background and motivation for building a new county jail at Gainesville in the early days of the 20th century. The construction details are vague, but we do know that the land was acquired and an “improved” stone building was erected...
By 1908, Ozark County's "new" stone jail was housing prisoners on what is now Harlin Drive, just off what is now Third Street. The stone was quarried at a spot along Lick Creek south of Gainesville, and the original iron door and window bars were apparently manufactured by a local blacksmith whose shop was next door, where the old City Hall, now the 416th Bomb Wing Archive, now stands.
The Ozark County Jail made news statewide on Feb. 28, 1890, when an unidentified Kansas City Journal reporter wrote a scathing indictment of Ozark County and particularly of the County Jail. The article was picked up by several southwest Missouri newspapers, and local Gainesville residents took it...
By 1908, Ozark County's "new" stone jail was housing prisoners on what is now Harlin Drive, just off what is now Third Street. The stone was quarried at a spot along Lick Creek south of Gainesville, and the original iron door and window bars were apparently manufactured by a local blacksmith whose shop was next door, where the old City Hall, now the 416th Bomb Wing Archive, now stands.
The Ozark County Jail made news statewide on Feb. 28, 1890, when an unidentified Kansas City Journal reporter wrote a scathing indictment of Ozark County and particularly of the County Jail. The article was picked up by several southwest Missouri newspapers, and local Gainesville residents took it...
Sayles
In our earlier discussion of the Billy Buster phenomenon, we focused on William Randolph Hearst’s Billy Buster nickname and how it became a household word in America during the early 20th century. Hearst was born in 1863, and the name Billy Buster was already by then a verbal symbol of the...