Tree Shakers Genealogical Research

"The Belles and Beaus of Coon Creek" Original owned by Wright County Historical Society, recently colorized. And yes, that is a free range hog in the background. ;)

The tale of a cantankerous neighbor in Astoria.......

Another story from Astoria, in Wright County, Missouri ,1919

In case you were thinking Astoria in north eastern Wright County was a peaceful little village, think again.

A little of the history behind the now extinct village of Astoria, Missouri :)

Updates from WCHS :)

The Young Family at the Young home west of Hartville. The small, older lady standing in the middle front was Sarah Jane Easley Young, my husband's great-great grandmother. She is buried, as most of these are (her sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren), in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

One of my favorites. These are the Postlewait boys, sons of Jeff and Lucy. They are my Dad's cousins. There were so many of them that enlisted in World War 2, that the armed forces sent some back home, saying they had too many from the same family. And that, folks, is patriotism. :)

The Sam Fuge store in Odin, which was located west of Hartville on highway 38. Recently colorized .

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave....... The old school at Astoria proudly displaying the stars and stripes. It's election day, so never forget, our freedom was not free. It was bought by the blood of our ancestors. Vote!!

Order yours today :)

Newest release from Wright County!! :)

The old Wright County courthouse in Hartville, with the county jail to the right. This courthouse was built in 1897 after the fire that destroyed the previous courthouse. It was torn down in 1964 to build the current one. The reasons were cited as being a sagging structure, and drafty, hard to heat building. My grandparents were married here in 1925.

Long extinct Ann, Missouri, which was located south of Cabool. Recently colorized.

This Saturday, October 10th, Hartville will be hosting their annual Fall Festival. Wright County Historical Society will also be open that day, 10 am to 4 pm. Weather is supposed to be perfect, so come on down. :)

New release from WCHS :D

Mountain Grove in the late 1880s, just a few years after the coming of the Gulf Railroad made it a railroad boomtown.

The depot at Mansfield, year unknown. Mansfield was a favorite of the surveyors who worked for the Gulf Railroad in the early 1880s, so much so they bought up much of the surrounding land.

THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD did much to change rural life in southern Missouri. Before 1880 the largest town in Wright County was Hartville, the county seat. In less than ten years the towns along the railroad, Mountain Grove, Norwood, Mansfield and Cedar Gap would become railroad boomtowns. Well before 1881 the work began to get underway to build a railroad across the southern Ozarks. Surveyors began their work, while savvy business men began to buy up land along the propose...d route. The gathering of rail ties began to be a business whole families engaged in. Trees were logged, debarked, and shaped into ties, all by hand, all for $1. a tie. These ties were then bound together and rafted downriver to the purchase site or in some instances brought directly to the build site. Men came from all over, but especially from western Tennessee to be part of the build crew. Those skilled with dynamite blasted through cliff and rock, while others ran steam powered engines which powered the equipment for making cuts and fills. Still others cleared the right if ways of the broken rock and piles of dirt with picks and shovels. Teams of oxen were then used to drag the hand-hewn ties into place. With the volume of workers it took to bring the railroad to Wright County, small settlements along the route began to boom, becoming larger towns almost overnight. By 1885 the Gulf Rail Line (which would merge with the Frisco after 1900) had been finished through Wright County. For many years the railroad maintained stockyards and loading docks in Mountain Grove, Norwood, Macomb, Mansfield and Cedar Gap. With the coming of the railroad also came prosperity for the area as a whole. A bigger market opened up to sell farm products, lumber and livestock. Once hard to find items became common place in the general stores. Travel became quicker, easier and less expensive. An ad from a local newspaper in 1899 offered holiday excursions from Mountain Grove to Mammoth Springs, Arkansas for $1. round trip. Wright County had hit the big time.WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY TRACI CREWSE BOHANNON :) (for more information concerning the coming of the railroad to Wright County, check out the Vearl Rowe books published by the Wright County Historical Society OR the current newsletter published by WCHS for fall 2020). See more

For those of you enjoying scenes from Houston, this one was taken circa 1918-1920, on Grand Avenue in Houston, Missouri. Wish I knew the details.

Houston, largest town in Texas County, Missouri. Circa 1930s