April 29, 2026: TIMES PAST compiled by Sue Ann Jones
These photos of downtown Bakersfield were taken more than 100 years apart. The old photo (above) is believed to have been taken around 1908; it’s from the collection of Micheal Mahan, curator of the Bakersfield Missouri Historical Society Facebook page. The view is looking north from what is called South Main Street toward the town’s center crossroads, where the town’s water pump once stood. Paige Robinson’s artistic photo (below) was taken from roughly the same location in 2020. Micheal believes the old wood building on the left in Paige’s photo is the only one of the store buildings in the old photo that is still standing; he thinks it was the drug store building. It later became a movie theater where the Glass family showed movies every Sunday night during the 1940s, 50s and early 60s. Micheal’s grandparents, Kenny and Flossie Blake, owned the building and also the nearby cafe, during the 1960s. The building, thought to have been built in the 1880s, is owned today by Brian Cotter.
Ozark County News
April 30, 1891
It’s wonderful to think that a few years ago Ozark county was almost as sparsely settled as any county in the State, but now Ozark county is coming to the front. It is no more that we can hear the rifles popping on Sunday morning but, instead, the church and Sunday school bells have taken their places.
Ozark County Times
April 25, 1901
A young man by the name of Griggs, and a woman by the same name were married in the road a quarter of a mile of town last Friday. They came from Searcy County, Ark., and presumably came all the way to Ozark County on foot to marry. The man was 25 years old, and the woman was 30 years old. They both bore the same name, but the young man stated in his application that they were no kin. Justice B. W. Hogard of this place accompanied the young man to a place just west of town, where the lady was waiting, and solemnized the marriage.
April 30, 1926
This week marks the close of another successful term of the Gainesville school. . . . The high school graduation . . . will take place on Friday night. An elaborate program will be rendered, at the close of which the fourteen students who have completed the four years high school work will be presented with diplomas. They are: A. Bernice Gilliland, William Carl Johnson, Samuel Paul Boone, Bert W. Hogard, Corbett Elmo Sims, Ralph M. Amyx, Thelma Juanita Luna, S. Genelle Luna, Maggie Belle Gault, Lora E. Carroll, Ikie R. Parker, Edith L. Gaulding, Onard O. Upton, Margarett Jane Patterson.
Bakersfield News
April 17, 1941
The highway men are working on the highway here; getting it ready to be black-topped, which will be a mile through town. We are glad to say that this will be the first black-top that has ever been in Ozark County.
Ozark County Times
April 26, 1956
Navy divers are continuing their search in the waters of Bull Shoals Lake near the Pontiac Boat Dock for the body of Jeff Sanders, 34, who was drowned early Sunday morning when the boat in which he and two companions were riding capsized. Sanders was fishing with Hershel Thomas of Springfield and A. D. Cockrum of near Gainesville. The trio were returning to the Pontiac Boat Dock about 1:30 Sunday morning when their boat capsized, throwing them into icy waters 85 feet deep. All three were near the boat when they decided to swim to shore. Thomas and Cockrum reached the shore thinking Sanders was behind them. After discovering he was missing they summoned help, but due to extreme high winds the search was stopped Sunday afternoon.
Tuesday afternoon Sheriff Geo. A. Rose, Jr., met five Navy divers from Corpus Christi, Texas, at the Airport in Springfield. The divers were taken to the lake and set up operation for the search, which started Wednesday morning. . . . Sanders was a native of Ozark county, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sanders of Zanoni. He and his family have made their home in Wichita, Kansas, for the past four years, following his return from service.