Times Past

Dawt mill and cotton gin This photo of the old Dawt mill and cotton gin is from the collection of Greg Moss, great-grandson of Sam Moss, who operated a blacksmith shop at Dawt in the early 1900s. Greg, who directed the restoration of the old mill several years ago, said his great-grandfather Sam was well known for his gigs that maintained their sharpness and seldom broke on the river bottoms. He said the cotton gin, which no longer stands, was powered by the mill's turbines that spun in the current created by a mill dam and mill race in the North Fork of the White River, producing about 90 horsepower. Moss said a shaft connected to the mill's turbines extended across the road to power the cotton gin, as well as a sawmill and the general store / post office. In a history of Dawt published by Times owner Ruby Robins in the Jan. 2, 1992, edition said a homesteader, Ruhama J. Isom, had operated a mill on the site "as early as 1866." Several others owned the property before Alva L. Hodgson (builder/owner of Hodgson Mill) bought the Dawt property in 1901 and built the three-story mill and cotton gin shown here, as well as the blacksmith shop, store, sawmill and family dwelling. The site is now a popular tourist attraction; since 1995, it has been owned by Dr. Ed Henegar, who commissioned the mill's restoration and expanded the resort facilities.

House Grocery in Tecumseh in 1967 This 1967 photo of the House family's store in Tecumseh was shared with the Times by family member C House Adams. Pictured, from left, are James Eaves, Don House and wife Diane, and Don's mother (James' daughter) Avis Lyndell Eaves House. The first known store at Tecumseh, where today's Highway 160 crosses the headwaters of Norfork Lake, was built by Ocie Upton in 1928. He sold it to A. A. and Nova Pleasant in 1943, and the Pleasants sold it to Avis House and her husband, Arley, in 1965. A story about the history of Tecumseh in the June 12, 1985, Times said the fried pies Avis made and sold (up to 500 a day, the Times reported) "make Tecumseh famous." After Arley's death in 1969, Avis and their son Don owned and operated the businesses until they sold it in 1974 to Californians Betty Nelson and her husband, Clovis. In 1979, Jerry and Virginia Merglewski bought the store, and in 1984, Malcolm and Reida Clark bought it. Four years later, Malcolm "died instantly" when the store was destroyed by an explosion at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, 1988. The tragedy occurred soon after a fuel truck had delivered 5,000 gallons of gasoline. Jack and Connie Daugherty rebuilt the store and operated it as Daugherty's One-Stop from 1989 until selling it to Vernon and Angela Coy in 1997. The store changed hands several times during the next 20 years until 2017, when it was bought by current owner Brad Evans, who renamed it Kwik Stop #3.

While Ozark County is well known for its water-powered grist mills, this mill that operated near Dora was powered by steam. The 1913 photo was published in the July 29, 1970, edition of the West Plains Daily Quill and was credited to Mrs. Clyde Wade of Dora. Owners Willie Mayfield, left, and Mort Reary are shown standing on the porch. Searching the Ozark County Times archives shows that as many as three mills operated in the Dora area around the turn of the 20th century. We don't know when this mill opened, but newspaper reports hint at its year of operation. In the Oct. 5, 1893, the Times' Dora correspondent wrote, "Mr. [Lando] Pleas is the proprietor of the Dora flouring mill, one of the most important enterprises of the county." A 1909 item reported, "The Dora Flouring mill is now grinding new wheat. Wheat is starting at $105 per bushel. This means $3 flour." In 1918, a Dora item said, "The Dora mill has stopped again. Mart [owner] says they are waiting for their license. We didn't know they had to have a license to run shorts and bran into flour." In its Feb. 19, 1964, edition, a headline in the Quill announced, "Old Dora Mill Destroyed by Fire." The news brief continued, "The roller mill, an old landmark built about 100 years ago where farmers had wheat milled until the last few years, was destroyed by fire recently."

This photo was published in the Jan. 24, 1996, edition of the Times, accompanying the story, shared below, about the ongoing construction of Ozark County's new jail. The caption said, "G&G Construction worked in the sleet and snow as the six new jail cells were moved into place by a 100-ton crane last Thursday. . . . The new cells weighed 46,000 pounds each.