History
From 1869 through 1882, Howell County public business was conducted in a tiny 720-square-foot (24 x 30-foot) wooden single-story building. Built by T.E. Britton on the south side of the square, the building was divided into three rooms and cost $1,200. Alice Carey Risley wrote of attending a...
Utilizing their government through the county court system could be a challenge for the early pioneers living in what would become Howell County. In that era, the center of county government was a moving target and often a great distance away.
After the 1804 Louisiana Purchase, our...
In 1976, Random House published What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65, written by Michael Medved and David Wallechinsky, two members of the senior class at Palisades High School in an upscale section of Los Angeles. Truman Grogan and I read the book, and although it featured California...
The quest to discover oil in Howell County began in the summer of 1904, just over the Ozark County line near Bakersfield.
It appears that earlier in the year, farmer J. T. Parrish, in an attempt to drill a water well, struck liquid at 140 feet. However, when the water did not clear, it was...
A popular student, successful in three high school sports, Dick Bayless had a lot going for him despite his facing numerous adversities in life. From a home broken by divorce in Wichita, Kansas, where both parents were living, he was sent at the age of sixteen to live with his grandmother (some...
Recently, I received a text message from schoolmate Dee Collins Corn about a WSHS alum who was approaching his 90th birthday. I immediately recognized the name: Ike Lovan, a member of the Class of 1953 and its famous football team.
She sent a photograph and mentioned he was going to...
Recently, my wife and I closed all our accounts at the bank we have done business with for over fifty years. It was the bank of our parents and grandparents. I know many with roots in Willow Springs share memories like ours of the State Bank of Willow Springs during its long relationship with our...
While many are familiar with America’s experience with alcohol prohibition between 1920 and 1933, you might not be aware that Howell County citizens successfully voted a ban on drinking over a decade earlier. In 1907, a quarter-century self-induced drinking drought began and continued until the...
I often say I need to visit the Jacks Fork River to restore my country soul. Each spring on the way back from my annual Montier pilgrimage to visit the graves of the Casey side of the family, I typically detour up Highway 17 to Buck Hollow. The blessing never fails.
I get an instant...
In our world filled with automobiles, trucks, good roads, trains, and planes, it is hard to imagine a day when these conveniences were not readily available. Getting goods into rural Howell and surrounding counties was difficult, often taking days to deliver to a neighboring community. Without...