Missouri Ghost Towns (sort of)

One of my Facebook friends posted a link recently that identified 5 ghost towns in Missouri (http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/missouri/ghost-towns-mo/).  Chris and I departed at 10:00 this morning on a car trip with a goal of visiting three of them.

In Carthage, MO we stopped at the Pancake Hut Family Dining restaurant for lunch.  I had an excellent Texan Burger while Chris enjoyed her chicken strips.  We also rode around the beautiful Jasper County Courthouse on the square in Carthage.  I should have taken a picture.

Our first “ghost town” was Avilla, which the article described as a “living ghost town.”  The sign said there are 125 residents so it really is living.  I’m not sure how this qualifies as a ghost town.  There were some old buildings so I took a few pictures.  This bank turned post office was built in 1915.IMG_1002

The next ghost town was Jollification, MO.  It is now the site of Jolly Mill Park.  The mill, which was once part of the town, is located on Capps Creek.  It also used to be a distillery, which made for happy residents, which resulted in the name of Jollification.IMG_1009

We enjoyed walking around the park and Chris was amazed that there were some flowers still in bloom and a couple pretty trees with leaves still attached.IMG_1006

Aside from the mill there were no buildings left from the glory days of Jollification.  There was the Chapman School but it was relocated here from one and a half miles away.

Our next ghost town was to be Garber, MO located north and slightly west of Branson.  I could not find it, however, and it was starting to get dark.  I had checked Google maps for directions before leaving home.  At one point I was to turn onto Ralstin Road.  I found Ralstin Road and it had a legitimate looking road signIMG_1017 but immediately after turning here I encountered a gate with a no trespassing sign attached.IMG_1018Oh well, we tried.  It was getting too dark to attack it from another direction.

After driving 303 miles, we landed at a Comfort Inn motel in Ozark, MO.  It was sunny all day, which was great after the last five rainy misty days at home.  The high temperature was 48 and we saw a lot of high water and standing water from recent rains.  It was a fun day exploring two sort-of ghost towns.

For more pictures taken today click on the following link: https://goo.gl/photos/JoASaug5ft8QyNjQA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 15

Image
At 7:30AM we drove away from Russellville, AR on a cold 25 degree morning. At least the sun was coming up. Our route was 7 north to Harrison; 65 north to Springfield, MO; I-44 west; 13 north to Clinton; 7 north to Harrisonville; I-49 north; I-435 west to Kansas in the KC area and home. Hwy 7 in Arkansas is a scenic route with hills and curves galore. We stopped several times for photos. On the south side of Bolivar, MO we enjoyed lunch at Smith's Restaurant. It was 39 degrees when we arrived home at 2:20 but we saw a high of 44. It was a good day for our final of the trip. We drove 330 miles today and the total trip mileage was 3,109. I only have 6 photos today but you can click here to see them -  Final Day Pics
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more