History
In my quest to find out what happened to the population of Howell County during the Civil War, we take a look at a family who tried to avoid involvement but were destroyed by the conflict. From my reading of the war here, I’ve found the worst thing to do was to not declare a side and be under the...
In Mrs. Munford’s WSHS English class in the 1960s, I vaguely recall reading an abridged version of “The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allen Poe. My memory is either faulty, or Poe’s efforts did not make much of an impression on several schoolmates, whose recollections are vaguer than mine....
For this story, we go to opposite ends of Howell County. Around the turn of the century, as our earliest pioneers were at an age to reminiscence, local newspapers began carrying their stories. The West Plains Journal did a series in 1904 and 1905 recounting those times in the participants' own...
Sometime in early 2001, I began my adventure in writing. It was not something I planned or had thought much about. Sitting in the waiting room of a medical office, I perused a copy of Missouri Life magazine to pass the time. A story, written by owner/publisher Greg Wood, about a country barn of...
I live between two of the oldest communities in Howell County, and less than two miles from the location of events and people in this story. The north end of our county developed later than the areas where land was better for farming. It took a hardy set of people who came and farmed the dry...
Earlier this year, alongside 20 other inductees including notables such as Bret Saberhagen (Kansas City Royals pitcher), Tyler Hansbrough (Poplar Bluff High School/University of North Carolina basketball star), and Sean Weatherspoon (University of Missouri, all-American linebacker), the Mizzou...
Some people, especially in small communities, are so proficient, and in this case, so persistent in their line of work they are recognized or identified by their profession. Francis Randolph Anson was the name that came to mind in Willow Springs when a blacksmith was spoken of. For almost seventy...
Of the numerous curiosities and phenomena coming out of the Ozarks, the Spook Light of Hornet, Missouri, located in Newton County, may have the longest shelf life. Numerous eyewitnesses, from the early twentieth century to recent times, have described it as a bobbing jack-o'-lantern, a shimmering...
I have written a number of articles that mention music from the 1950s and 60s, and I am hesitant to revisit the topic, but break out your 45-rpm records and dust off your penny loafers, because I’m about to do it again. Why? Because I recently went to a musical play, Million Dollar Quartet, that...
In two meetings, the Mountain Board of Alderman set the tax rate and approved leasing the baseball fields to the Mountain View-Birch Tree School District.
In a special meeting held Tuesday, Aug. 29, the Mountain View Board of Alderman voted to accept Bill 1376 Resolution 23-08-29 authorizing...