Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion [Paperback]

Bill Earngey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

For tourists and vacationers in Missouri, this essential travel guide will help with planning trips anywhere in the state, revealing sites of interest at every point along the way. For armchair travelers and history enthusiasts, it will provide extraordinary adventures through the state's rich past. With detailed information on hundreds of towns, Missouri Roadsides describes why each one was built where it was, who built it and when, and how it got its name. Museums, parks, outdoor recreational areas, special events, geographical features, architectural treasures, and local oddities are just some of the topics covered in this comprehensive and easy-to-use volume. No compilation of information about the state of Missouri has ever been so complete.

One road leads to another; along the way there are wonders and curiosities and places to picnic or nap. Bring a cooler, some gas money, and this incredible traveling companion, and you will be ready to see Missouri as you've never seen it before!

 

• Features dozens of historical photographs and maps, as well as contemporary maps

• Showcases the histories of Missouri's 114 counties

• Lists the origins of over 1,200 Missouri place-names

• Includes architectural descriptions of courthouses, antebellum homes, and other fascinating structures

• Supplies detailed charts on hiking, fishing, camping, and other recreational opportunities available at the state's parks, lakes, forests, and wilderness areas

• Furnishes information on nearly 1,000 towns and cities with directions to specific sites

• Contains short essays on the state's natural beauty and its colorful past, including Indians, railroads, caves, cemeteries, post offices, and the Civil War

• Provides detailed indexes

Editorial Reviews

Review

 

Sample Entries

Downing Depot Museum. Railroad, 1872; National Historic Register. Board-and-batten with pressed metal shingles, bracketed eaves, and tall narrow windows, the building was moved here from its original location. Interior features include plaster walls, beaded paneling, and a ticket window. Displays: local items, quilts, tools, military memorabilia. The former one-room stucco city jail (1930s) is adjacent. SR A, S end of town at city park.

Novelty, Mo. Two stories try to explain this name: (1) Dr. Tom Pendry, an eccentric who built the first store, placed a flagpole on it as a guide. He named the place for the store's assortment of merchandise. (2) Pendry built a store, house, and office. To make the office easier to find, he raised a flag over it. His wife said the flag was a novel idea. Usually applied to villages as an unusual name, the name is not novel. Post office: 1854\-now. SR 15, S 11 m.; SR 156, W 1 m.

Spring Park (El Dorado Springs). This inviting park is situated in a natural bowl landscaped in three tiers and lined with benches. At the bottom is a springhouse flanked by a presettlement stone washbasin. A nearby fishpond grotto and a bandstand (the site of weekend concerts) are accented by folk-art rockwork. A community building, picnic area, playground, and pool are adjacent. The original spring (50 feet SW of present bandstand) was channeled in 1890 to the springhouse, around which today's park grew. Bring a jug. SR 82, Downtown.

Hall of Waters (Excelsior Springs). Art Deco, 1938; National Historic Register. This three-story stone and concrete building with an 85-foot tower of structural glass has a recessed entrance accented by elaborate bronze grilles and Mayan-motif bas-reliefs. The interior has inlaid variegated tiles on the walls. Set in Siloam Park near Siloam Spring and Fishing River, this million- dollar structure, built by WPA funds, features the world's longest water bar (47 ft. 4 in.), where four varieties of mineral water can be sampled. CALCIUM BICARBONATE: Reportedly appetizing as table water and helpful in kidney and bladder disorders. IRON MANGANESE: Supposedly "a potent blood builder by adding iron to the bloodstream." Reportedly this is America's only natural supply of this water and one of only five sources for it in the world. SODIUM BICARBONATE: "A stabilizing agent . . . used extensively in anti- acid therapy." SULPHO-SALINE: A mild laxative also used for bathing. The Hall of Waters also features a 25-meter indoor pool, mineral-water steam baths and showers, and massages. Grounds: walking trail and two pagodas. City-owned (also houses city offices). Downtown; SR 10, N 2 blocks on Marietta.

Ferry Boats. Besides saving driving time, ferries offer a scenic side trip. The ones listed below are privately owned and inspected by the Coast Guard. Fares vary according to crossing time. Schedules vary according to the season (generally the boats run during daylight hours). The listings are by the nearest Missouri town. Note: like any small business, ferries can close temporarily or permanently; call before planing a route.

 

About the Author

With a love of backroads and what's beside them, Bill Earngey has spent the last eight years, and logged thousands of miles, doing research and exploring the roads and roadsides of the Show-Me State. He is also the author of Arkansas Roadsides: A Guidebook for the State.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: University of Missouri; 1 edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082621021X
• ISBN-13: 978-0826210210
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for travel, history, or trivia, May 14, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion (Paperback)

Missouri Roadsides is a thorough compilation of almost every town in the state, from the small (Halltown, pop. 161) to the large (St. Louis, pop. 396,685). Based on courthouse records and eyeball observation, you'll find the history of each town, along with recreational areas, attractions, and fascinating tidbits. Armchair historians will like the emphasis on town origins. A special appendix on recreational areas is ideal for travellers, and includes wildlife areas, state parks, even navigable waterways. While the book would have been more complete with more maps and illustrations, Missouri Roadsides is a wealth of information -- and well worth the price!

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book that explores the big and small communities of MO, October 28, 1999

By 

Jerry B. Garrett "BookLover" (St. Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion (Paperback)

It took me a couple of years to read the book because I spread out the reading to enjoy my armchair travels. My compliments on the work. I can't imagine how all the information was gathered and checked. The author had to travel to each town. I looked up a couple of facts I consider to be little-known facts. They were included in the book, and were correct. I enjoyed reading about places near my weekend cabin. I checked out several of the features. The one I found most amazing was the grave of Comfort Ruggles -- a member of the Boston Tea Party buried in a Missouri country cemetery.

The book is great for the native Missourian and for those travelers who dream of discovering the Show Me State.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Roadside Missouri, June 17, 2010

By 

T. K. Reeves "Rock Cousin" (Green Country, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion (Paperback)

A rather dry read, but interesting to have in hand as one explores the backroads of Missouri or races across the state via Interstate.

The Mountain Press "Roadside Geology of ..." and "Roadside History of ..." series are exclusively geared to major highways. This book is refreshing in that it gets off the main highways and tells you a bit about many of the larger more rural towns. The small hamlets are omitted, even though one might want to know where some of the more interesting town names come from.

Since so many towns and roads are included, the book is organized alphabetically instead of the geographic appraoch of the "Roadside ..." series. This means that one is constantly flipping back and forth, instead of following a route down one road, but the extra effort is probably worth it.

Somewhat annoyingly, topics like the Civil War in Missouri are mixed in alphabetically with the town names. It might have been better to alphabetize the towns and list the non-geographic topics in a separate section or multiple sections.

All in all, a very comprehensive volume that i would recommend to introduce some of the complexity of the history and geography og Missouri to yourself or the younger members of the family if they have an interest in history and geography.