OLD’N NEWS From Around the County
I try to think of ways that I can make history come to life. Usually it takes help and I got it last week from the Horseback Ride for Toys group. They made their annual ride through Moberly collecting toys and having fun with a group-riding event. They collect hundreds toys for kids each year in this manner. Some of you may have noticed a fair amount of horse manure on our streets the next day. For young folks, they are those sort of round things on the road – brown and greenish in color – and smaller than a baseball.
Seeing a few of these ‘Road Apples’ on the street can help us to know, in part, what road conditions were like 135 years ago in Moberly. All street transportation at that time was by horseback or on wagons and buggies pulled by horses or mules. And they weren’t there just one Sunday afternoon, but day and night, 365 days per year. It is hard to imagine the amount of horse manure that was on our streets in those days. Manure was common in the backyards of houses as well. There were no sewers, thus no indoor bathrooms. Toilets were all in the backyards in a little building called an outhouse or privy. Nearly everyone had a chicken yard and many people had a cow and/or their horse in the backyard. There were several livery stables full of horses in the downtown area, too. So, the smell of the town was certainly not of car exhaust and diesel fumes.
The 1871 Moberly Board of Trustees (city council) was more interested in the physical condition of the streets than in what was being put there by horses. Streets were only dirt. After rains there would be ruts a foot deep. In April 1871 the Board took action. They established a street department, bought a grading machine for $550 and ordered that Reed Street from the depot at Sturgeon St to Williams St be graded and ditched. Another order was for the street department to enlarge the culvert under the railroad tracks on Rollins Street (now the underpass) so that a horse drawn wagon could go through. Get out and enjoy watching the horses next year, give them a toy or two and think about the ‘good old days.’
MADAMS, PAINTED LADIES AND JOHNS, A History of Prostitution in Moberly
The book is out and it will be ready to be picked up on Thursday from 1 – 8 PM at the Historical Center. Author Ralph Gerhard will be signing the books on Saturday, Dec 11 at the Center, which is at 223 N Clark in Moberly.
DECEMBER MEETING
Earnie Jones will demonstrate the art of flintknapping December 13 at 7 PM at the Historical Center. Flintknapping was the method of making arrow heads and other tools by the early Indians of this continent. Everyone is welcome, so come on by.
GIFT SHOP
The Gift Shop is brimming over with other items that you might pick up for last minute gifts. We have Wabash and Norfolk Southern shirts and caps, books, 4th Street Theater wine glasses and coffee mugs and many other nice things. Come on by. We’ll be open every weekday afternoon until December 19 and Saturdays December 11 and 18 from 9 AM – 3 PM.
BUSINESS NEWS – from the MOBERLY MONITOR INDEX, November, 1904
“Frank Dougherty has resigned his position as cigar maker at Ichenberger’s cigar factory and accepted a similar position at Cooper’s cigar factory.” Well, businesses come and go. Randolph County hasn’t had a cigar factory since the early 1900’s.
And the hemp industry, which provided employment to so many in past years, has fallen on hard times in Randolph County. Hemp was a major farm crop in Randolph County in the early days. It was used for making rope and many other things. A more modern name for hemp is marijuana.
FOURTH STREET THEATER
It’s starting to get a little chilly, so Fourth Street Project Manager Carolee Hazlet and her husband Red are making their annual winter move to Florida. Red concentrates on golf while they are there. Carolee has projects in her winter home to see about, such as, directing plays for the local theater association and teaching art classes. J. W. Ballinger, another busy person, will fill in for her during her absence and will be the person to contact about the theater rehabbing project.
This next tax season is your last chance to donate 70% of your state taxes to the theater project instead of to the general revenue fund of the state. Local businesses have donated $109,730 in this manner. The money stays in the local economy instead of going to the state treasury, so please consider participating.