Times Past
This 1910 photo, shared with the Ozark County Historium by the late Ken Brown several years ago, shows the Kansas City, Ozark and Southern Train at the Ava train depot, which stood on the site of the present-day Ava High School parking lot and operated the 15 miles between Ava and Mansfield from 1910 until 1935. It was the second shortest rail line in Missouri. Indications were that the line would be extended into Ozark County, but those plans failed to materialize. Known locally as the Ava Southern, the rail line’s primary cargo was hand-hewn railroad ties, and later, canned tomatoes, but it also hauled walnut logs, cattle and other freight, according to a history of the railroad by Michael Boylink published in the April 11, 2019, edition of the Douglas County Herald. In later years, self-powered passenger coaches also operated on the rail line. When the railroad went into foreclosure, it was rescued by the city of Ava and managed for a while by the town’s bank president. In 1935, the year it closed, notices in the Herald reported the county collector’s suit against the railroad for unpaid taxes.
Ozark County News
April 12, 1883
A large number of homestead applications were made the past week, and land is being taken up more rapidly now than ever before in Ozark [County].
April 11, 1895
The people of the [Lilly Ridge] district deserve much credit for the effort they have made in building...
This photo of the former ferry that operated on Lake Norfork south of Bakersfield is a postcard that was shared by Ozark County Historium genealogist Rhonda Herndon from the collection of her uncle, the late Dale Herndon (1918-2014), who worked on the construction of Norfork Dam, which impounded the lake in the late 1940s. Two ferries originally operated on this section of the lake. One connected Highway 101 south of Bakersfield and Highway 412/62 in Arkansas, and the other carried traffic east- and westbound as Highway 412/62 crossed the lake. Both were replaced with bridges that were dedicated in 1983.
Ozark County News
March 27, 1890
When Jailer Hogard and Deputy Conkin went to the jail Monday night, several prisoners were almost ready to escape. A tunnel had been cut under the wall, and in another half hour, there would have been a general jail delivery. …
It makes us all feel bad when they...
Rick Jarvis, surrounded by the devastation of last Thursday’s [in 2007] tornado, says his family’s loss can’t compare to the loss of a family whose 7-year-old daughter died when the tornado destroyed a mobile home just months after hitting the Jarvis Station at Caulfield.
By Regina Wynn [Mozingo]
Reprinted from March 7, 2007, Ozark County Times-
Surrounded by family and friends, Rick Jarvis looked in disbelief at the remains of his store.
Rubble litters where the garage used to be. Wind whips through the building, easily passing through where the roof and...
This undated photo, from the collection of Polly Allen Huddle, shows her grandfather, Homer Hambelton, crossing an Ozark County stream with his tea m and wagon.
Ozark County News
March 31, 1887
B. C. Steele, Dist. Deputy Grand Master of the 32d Masonic District, was here on a visit to the Masonic Lodge at this place the first of the week. Mr. Steele lives in Hartville and is county clerk of Wright County.
March 24, 1898
Mr. Wright, who lives 12 miles...
This photo, from the Amyx family collection, was probably taken around 1920. The details handed down by family members say that it depicts a Ford touring car and a Fordson tractor, both stuck in Lick Creek. Although we don’t know exactly what happened or who is pictured in the photograph, we can guess that the tractor came to rescue the stuck-in-the-creek touring car, only to get stuck itself. Whatever happened, the kids on the horses seemed to think it was all very interesting.
Ozark County News
March 17, 1887
W. P. Kelley has gone to Bakersfield as gauger at the still at that place, which is now in operation.
A bill has passed both houses of the legislature at Jefferson requiring executions to be conducted within an enclosure, such as to shut off public view. It seems...
Gov. Christopher S. Bond, right, surveyed the Tecumseh-Caulfield tornado damage Tuesday morning. With him are Dallas Herd, Ozark County Civil Defense director, and Richard Trump, eastern district judge (now called commissioner). Bond expressed sympathy to persons whose property was destroyed or damaged. He said he was surprised, but thankful, that there was not more loss of life or injuries than there had been, Herd said.
April 8, 1982, Ozark County Times: Cleaning up is still going on along the some 11-mile path of destruction left by the tornado that struck along Highway 160 in the Tecumseh-Caulfield communities of Ozark county Friday at 6:10 and 6:35 p.m.
One person, Herbert Junior Neas, 57, Caulfield, was killed...
This photo of Ozark County’s second jail, built in the 1870s, is from the collection of Judy Ford Lyons. A similar photo appears in the “The History of Ozark County, 1841-1991,” which says the two-story jail, about 12’ x 18’, was attached to the sheriff’s dwelling. A small window was located on each level, and removable steps led to a second-story doorway. The lower jail level could be entered from the long porch fronting the sheriff’s dwelling. The rough-hewn log jail and dwelling were “located in the field across Lick Creek, northeasterly from the town square, where the Highway 160 bridge crosses the creek,” according to the book. Times Past items below from 1890 through 1907 describe conditions in the jail, and the 1908 item shows that the new jail had been completed. It still stands on Harlin Drive near Third Street.
Ozark County News
March 6, 1890
Quoting a report published in the Kansas City Journal: “The only county property that is known is the court house, a small one-story building in the center of the “square,” and a jail. Gainesville has about 100 inhabitants, and they are all proud of that jail. It is...
NEW VETS - Dr. Robert Main and Dr. Robin Deck, the new operators of the Gainesville Veterinary Clinic stand with one of their feline friends in the clinic operating room. The doctors cover the full spectrum of veterinary medicine.
Oct. 16, 1985, Ozark County Times - Dr. Robert Main and Dr. Robin Deck, a husband-wife team of veterinarians, between them cover the full range of increasingly complicated veterinary medicine.
The doctors recently succeeded Brad and Mary DeBey at the Gainesville Veterinary Clinic on Highway 5.
Dr...
This photo, from the Ruby Robins collection, is thought to show the interior of the Ozark County Times office sometime in 1929, judging by the sale bill on the book table at right. Everyone in the photo is related to current Times correspondent Janet Ebrite Taber, who identifies, from left, editor Earle Ebrite, Helen Ebrite Blisard (standing in back), one of Earle’s sons, either Ray or Dewey Ebrite, and in the back, right, is Janet’s grandfather, Leonard Ebrite, who was very proud of the letter sweater he’s wearing in the picture.
Ozark County News
Feb. 28, 1889
Notice posted by the Ozark County Court (today’s County Commission): . . . It is to the best interest of the county to let the contract of keeping all the paupers of the county to the lowest and best bidder. It is therefore ordered by the court that the clerk of this...
June 6, 1924, Ozark County Times - Earnest Mcgee, 12-year-old son of county superintendent Sam McGee, was fatally shot with a .38-caliber revolver by Vance Blizzard, 12-year-old son of Lonnie Blizzard, a few minutes after 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon at the Blizzard home of this place. The bullet hit...