History

The turbulent 1930s in Howell County and the Ozarks were in step with the rest of the nation. There was a pronounced rise in criminality nationwide as the Great Depression ground on. The Prohibition social experiment fostered organized crime at the local and national level. The FBI was created to...
Photo submitted by Buddy Stuart.
Recently, I heard of a local conversation about popular restaurants in Willow Springs from days-gone-by that no longer exist. From personal dining experiences in the 1950s and ‘60s, a half-dozen come to mind, and Shorty’s B-B Café is one at the top of the list. Shorty’s occupied a prime...
It is my observation that small-town newspaper publishers and editors are a resilient and tenacious lot. They have to be. Facing an unforgiving weekly deadline and trying to have a life can be difficult and fatiguing. The readers expect their paper regardless of your circumstances. The reward is...
In our last two articles, we looked at one of the most influential couples in our county history, Samuel “Sam” A. and Alice Carey Risley. They were responsible for much of the preservation of that history, recorded in Sam’s Centennial History of Howell County, written in 1876 and revised by Alice...
I have previously written about venerable teacher, Jessie Munford, who taught at WSHS for over forty-years, from 1928-1968. While researching the article about teacher John Finley a few weeks ago, I discovered aspects I had not known about this remarkable woman. Her dedication to teaching...
In my last issue, we explored the first written history of Howell County, written by Samuel A. Risley on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of our nation and read by him in a celebration in West Plains on July 4, 1876. We explored Sam's history, covering the first...
Last week, I was interviewed on a St. Louis radio program, “Authors’ Edge,” about The Way We Were, my book with the first fifty articles from this column. I was asked where I got my ideas for the newspaper stories.  After mentioning previous subjects, I explained new topics could be elusive and...
Among the earliest historical sources of Howell County is a speech written and publicly read in West Plains by the pioneer newspaper editor Samuel A. Risley for the one-hundredth anniversary of our nation's founding on July 4, 1876. Over the years, myself, and other local historians have quoted...
One of the things I find interesting in writing these articles, and I hope interesting for readers, is learning history I didn’t know. Invariably, even the smallest amount of research reveals new information. Venerable WSHS teacher John Finley is yet another example of how little I really did...
Photo courtesy of Alice West Brook.
Can it already be that time of the year again? Well, it should not come as a surprise because the yuletide TV advertisements have been hawking the latest “must-have” toys since Halloween.   The Chicago Tribune published a list of the best toys for 2023. The second one in the “best of the best”...

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Willow Springs, MO 65793
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