Times Past
This undated photo was taken by M. C. Stephens looking west at the “steel bridge” that was completed over the North Fork of the White River (now Lake Norfork) in Tecumseh in 1924 at a cost of $50,063, according to A History of Ozark County 1841-1991. An item shared below from the April 18, 1924, Ozark County Times reports that “several hundred people” had come on a Sunday to watch workmen install the bridge’s concrete floor. The people in this photo are unknown, but they had apparently gathered to be photographed at the newly completed bridge that was considered a modern marvel at the time. The bridge, 18 feet wide, continued in service until it was replaced in 1988 by the current 38-foot-wide bridge, which was built at a cost of $2.1 million (including removal of the old bridge). This photo is one of many historical images shared on the Dora School Library’s Facebook page.
Ozark County TimesApril 17, 1903J. T. Luna Sr., who lives 10 miles north of Gaines-ville, happened to the misfortune of losing his residence by fire last Monday night. The house caught from the smoke house, and as to how the smoke house caught fire is a mystery to Mr. Luna.He saved some few of his...
This photo, reprinted from the World War I book Called to the Colors, published last year by the Historium, is believed to show the second contingent of 64 military draftees who gathered in Gainesville in February 1918 to be taken to the train station in West Plains in a caravan of 15 cars. The Times reported, “It took a half hour for all the cars to cross the North Fork on the Hodo ferry. Crowds thronged the ferry and the waysides to wave cheer and blessings.” The book lists the names of the men separately from the photo, so we don’t know who’s who in the picture. But one of them is believed to be Lawrence Cates, who shipped out with the second contingent, and whose death at Camp Funston was reported in the April 12, 1918, Times item shown below.
Ozark County TimesApril 12, 1918 Lawrence Cates, one of the 64 boys who left here on Feb. 25 for the training camp at Camp Funston, died of pneumonia on Wednesday of last week.The body arrived at the home of his parents near Noble on Saturday and was interred with impressive ceremonies in the...
This photo of “Elbert Amyx and His Project” is taken from a 1930-31 booklet in the Historium’s collection that was published by Bakersfield School to promote its innovative programs. The text with the photo says, “Vocational Agriculture is the only course offered in high school in which the boy earns while learning. Each boy taking Vocational Agriculture is required to carry on a home project related to the school work and supervised by the instructor, carried to completion on the farm. ... [T]he boys are given practical training in farm shop in which they learn the fundamentals of woodwork, sheet metal, hot metal, concrete, leather and rope. Students are also given practical training in the field in almost every line of farm management such as soil improvement, erosion, pruning, and judging.” Interestingly, while the 1930s text refers only to boys, state numbers show that the number of vo ag students today is split about evenly between male and female students. And two of Ozark County’s four high school vo ag teachers are women.
Ozark County TimesApril 3, 1908 The news of the death of Edward Upton last Sunday came as a shock to his many friends of this vicinity. He was taken dangerously sick with pneumonia on Sunday, just a week before he died, and grew rapidly worse until his death.Mr. Upton was a member of the Masonic...
These photos of the Dora Roller Rink, reprinted with permission from the Dora School Library’s Facebook page, are from the Thornton family collection and are dated June 1958. Former Dora student Martin Capages, in his book “Recollections of a Dora Farm,” said the skating rink was the town’s “social center” in the 1950s. “The eighth graders would race and slide around the corners, but the high school girls would skate with their boyfriends to the Everly Brothers’ ‘All I Have to Do Is Dream’ and Pat Boone’s latest,” he wrote. It cost a quarter to skate, he said, and “There were never any fights or negative events.”
Ozark County NewsMarch 31, 1898Little Everett, the 9-year- old son of W. W. Luna, has a pretty fair idea how printing ink smells. He painted himself up in great shape last week while helping us. While he was painted, he went on the “war path” to be a printer. Well, give the boy a chance.Mr. Frank...
This photo, showing an Ozark County dinner on the grounds enjoyed by the Mahan and Friend families at Theodosia, is from the collection of Linda Holmes Lamphear and her daughter, Kim Ledbetter. The date is unknown, but it’s thought to have been taken in the late 1940s at the home of Silas and Emma Mahan Weston. Silas built the house in the background, Linda said. Emma is the white-haired woman standing at left. Linda believes the occasion may have been the birthday of one of her great-grandmother Mary Friend Mahan’s brothers.
Ozark County NewsMarch 22, 1894Albert Thompson Post No. 275, G. A. R. [Grand Army of the Republic] met last Saturday and elected the following officers for the year: W. A. Love Com-mander; R. S. Small S. V.; B. F. Sweckard J. V.; Wm. Comer Quartermaster; J. A. Bingaman Adjutant; J. E. Wood Officer...
This photo of Gainesville Livestock Auction is taken from an ad in a mid-1960s Bulldogger yearbook published by Gainesville High School. The advertisement said the sale barn, owned by T. D. Crawford, held sales every Wednesday. The building was located next to Lick Creek on the east side of Highway 160 in Gainesville, roughly across from what is now the MFA Oil building on Third Street. It closed in March 1971 after the state bought the land for right of way to build the current Highway 160. A Times article reported, as the building was being demolished, that its arena had seating for 250 buyers and its stock pens could hold 1,500 head of cattle or other livestock. The sale barn’s annual total sales averaged 30,000 head, the article reported.
Ozark County TimesMarch 1, 1905 Tecumseh – Ruben Dean passed by Monday with a new wagon which he purchased in Gainesville. March 15, 1918 Wm. Warren has rented the Central Hotel to S. F. Amyx, who took possession Monday. Mr. Warren moved back to his farm near Lawndale. Sharp – Quite a few of our...
This photo of the view coming into Bakersfield in the 1960s was shared by Micheal Mahan on the Bakersfield Missouri Historical Society page on Facebook.
Ozark County NewsMarch 8, 1900Ella, the 7-year old daughter of Amanda Patrick, living 6 miles east of town, met with a serious accident last Sunday. While swinging by a rope under a patent wagon bed lifter, she pulled the loop out of the rope and the wagon bed fell, striking her on the head,...
This photo, which originally accompanied a story about Ozarks theaters in the West Plains Gazette, showed the “Famous Talkie Tent Show” that Forrest and Oneta Glass took to a Bakersfield Fourth of July celebration in 1939. In the early 1940s, World War II created shortages of gasoline and tires, limiting the circuit the Glasses could travel with their “Talkie Tent.” As a result, they reportedly set up permanent theaters in both Bakersfield and Dora. The Bakersfield theatre, which they called the Glass Theatre, was sold when Forrest died in 1958. This photo was reprinted in the February 2008 edition of the Old Mill Run, accompanying a story by Kenneth Brown titled “History of Movie Theatres in Ozark County.”
Ozark County Times
Feb. 22, 1918
Bakersfield school notes – The final 8th grade examination was given last week. The applicants were Defsey Baker, Anna Powell, Bettie Wheeler and Othie Davis.
The stars and stripes is now floating over our school building.
The Red Cross chapter gave a box supper...
This photo of team ropers – Joe Strong, the “header,” and Jim Henderson, the “heeler” – was taken during a 1982 rodeo at the Gainesville Saddle Club grounds. The team had a time of 7.9 seconds, which earned them second place. The photo was shared with the Times by Shawna Herd.
Ozark County Times
Feb. 22, 1918
A movement was started a short time ago to organize a branch chapter of the Red Cross at this place as the Ozark County Chapter at Bakersfield has been organized for some time. Accordingly, people responded with their usual loyalty, patriotism and generosity so now...