Down Home Comfort Food

Over the years, MID-TOWN CAFE Reeds Spring has expanded to include 1 extra table.  That is all I am allowed.  We look small, and we are, but we have grown to be a bigger part of the community than we could have ever imagined.  The real story is of this building and town.  The building was built in 1935.  It has 3 walls and we borrow the 4th wall.  This is how things we done back in those days.  As far back as the history book tells us, this building has always been a restaurant of some kind since it was built.  Let's take a walk down memory lane...shall we? What I will provide you with is small pieces of the History of Reeds Spring from different sources and the area and not necessarily in chronological order.  It would be next to impossible to give you the whole story before your done eating.....Hope you enjoy ...You can also scroll down faster for the menu.....

 The community has the name of Fitzhugh Reed, who settled at a spring near the original town site. Reed operated a farm there called Reed's Springs before the town was officially organized in 1906. 

 Reeds Spring, located in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri, has  witnessed many significant historical events since its establishment in  the mid-1800s. Here are seven historical events that have taken place  near Reeds Spring, MO.
 

1. Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek
 

The Battle of Wilson's Creek, fought on August 10, 1861, near  Springfield, MO, was the first major battle of the Civil War fought west  of the Mississippi River. Confederate troops, led by Brigadier General  Benjamin McCulloch, defeated Union troops, led by General Nathaniel  Lyon, in a hard-fought battle. The battle resulted in over 2,500  casualties, including the death of General Lyon. This battle is  significant in the history of Reeds Spring, as it took place just 30  miles from the town.
 

2. The Trail of Tears
 

The Trail of Tears was a forced relocation of Native American tribes,  including the Cherokee, from their ancestral lands in the southeastern  United States to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1838-39. The  Trail of Tears passed through the Ozarks, including Reeds Spring, and  thousands of Native Americans died during the journey due to starvation,  exposure, and disease.
 

3. Bonnie and Clyde's 1933 Robbery
 

On October 9, 1933, notorious outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow  robbed the Bank of Reeds Spring. This was one of their many robberies,  and they were infamous for their criminal activities throughout the  1930s. The bank was not insured, so the robbery led to significant  financial losses for the town.
 

4. The Battle of Pea Ridge
 

The Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern,  took place on March 7-8, 1862, in northwest Arkansas, just 50 miles from  Reeds Spring. Union troops, led by Brigadier General Samuel Ryan  Curtis, defeated Confederate troops, led by Major General Earl Van Dorn,  in a battle that lasted two days. The battle was significant in  securing Union control of the Missouri River valley and was a turning  point in the Civil War's western theater.
 

5. The 1923 Tri-State Tornado
 

On March 18, 1925, one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history ripped  through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The Tri-State Tornado traveled  219 miles, killed 695 people, and injured over 2,000. The tornado  passed through Reeds Spring, causing significant damage in the town.
 

6. The Missouri State Penitentiary Riot
 

On September 22, 1954, a riot broke out at the Missouri State  Penitentiary in Jefferson City, MO. The riot lasted four days and was  one of the deadliest prison riots in U.S. history, resulting in the  deaths of four guards and four inmates. Many of the inmates involved in  the riot were transferred to other Missouri prisons, including the Ozark  Honor Farm near Reeds Spring.
 

7. The First Walmart Store
 

The first Walmart store opened in Rogers, AR, in 1962, just 40 miles  from Reeds Spring. Walmart's growth led to significant economic  development in the Ozarks, including the creation of jobs and  large-scale retail development. Today, Walmart is a global retailer with  over 11,000 stores and annual revenues of over $500 billion.
 

In conclusion, Reeds Spring, MO, and the surrounding Ozarks area have  witnessed many significant historical events throughout its history.  From the Trail of Tears to the Battle of Wilson's Creek, from Bonnie and  Clyde's robbery to the Missouri State Penitentiary riot, these events  have shaped the town's history and contributed to its unique character  and culture.      

https://www.tfdsupplies.com/blogs/local-historical-events/7-pieces-of-history-near-reeds-spring-mo

“The railroad is what made Reeds Spring,” Nelson Holt said. “I think my dad said the first passenger train came in 1904.”

Building  the railroad was just the beginning, though. It was because of the  railroad that Stone County residents were able to make a living cutting  timber and growing tomatoes for the next half-century.

“There  was once a lot of white oak timber in the area,” Nelson Holt said.  “People from all over the area would make the railroad ties. Tie buyers  would be lined up and then the rail cars would ship them out.”

LaRue  said everyone who had timber cut ties. During the early 1900s, until  about 1920, selling ties was how many residents made a living.

After the timber was cut off the land, people began  growing tomatoes in the 1920s. Several tomato canneries in and around  the town brought work to many Stone County residents.

“A  lot of people worked at the tomato canneries,” Nelson Holt said. “Young  girls would peel tomatoes all summer to buy new clothes for school.”

During  the depression, Nelson Holt said many people began selling cedar posts.  Flat bed trucks would haul cedar posts north. The trucks would return  full of corn so farmers could feed their livestock. 

In the early 1950s, construction of the Table Rock Dam drew more workers to Stone County, LaRue said. 

“The town itself was really prospering,” she said.

Imogene Holt said, at that time, there wasn’t a Branson West or Kimberling City for Reeds Spring to compete with.

“We  had quite an area to draw from,” she said. “The population really  hasn’t changed that much, but then it was quite a drawing card. At one  time, we had six grocery stores. Now there are none.”

Besides several grocery stores, LaRue said there was a  doctor’s office, Chevrolet dealership, clothing store, auto parts store,  feed store and several filling stations. Imogene Holt (my Aunt) moved to the area  in 1947 to teach.

“We had 200 students from first to 12th grades,” Imogene Holt said.

She  said grocery shoppers filled the streets on Saturdays and then stayed  for the afternoon when stores would draw out shoppers’ names and give  away prizes.

“In 1927, Guy Hardaway had a mercantile  place,” Nelson Holt said. “He’d give you a ticket for a give-a-way. In  1927, he gave away a new two-door Chevrolet. There were more people in  Reeds Spring than I’d ever seen. George Horn, who lived near Ance Creek,  won the car. He couldn’t even drive. When I got out of the service in  1946, they were still driving that car.”

He said after that drawing, people flocked to the town on Saturday afternoons regularly hoping to hear their names called. 

As  time passed, the drawings, canneries and crowds came to an end. Imogene  Holt said in 1965, a flood washed away part of the town. 

LaRue said the last factory was shut down in 1968. 

“Most  every store sustained some damage,” Imogene Holt said. “Then, a lot of  the town burned in the 1980’s. There was a whole block that burned.”

Nelson Holt said the grocery store, and all that drew people to the small town, are a thing of the past. 

(The above material was taken from a post in the Branson Tri-Lakes News). Content Contributor Chris Carlson.  Reverence to "Looking Back: Reeds Spring, The good old days"

The Next article is from the "Stone County Skillet" by Tara Wolf

Reeds Spring was a lumber town, a center for railroad commerce, a connection to the world beyond our rocky hills, and a place to be on Saturday night.
Before the new roads were built back in the early 2000's most first-time visitors would enter Reeds Spring from the north. They would pass under the railroad viaduct, turn left off of highway 248 onto highway 13, and travel south. The small stream stream of water flowing beside the highway emerged directly from Reeds Spring and becomes Railey Creek as it flows northward and enters the James River near Galena. 

Reeds Spring came to life around the turn of the century when the White River Iron Mountain Railroad announced in 1902 that the building of a railroad, which would pass from Carthage,Missouri through Reeds Spring to Cotter, Arkansas.The railroad would connect Memphis with Topeka.

Some activity existed in Reeds Spring prior to 1900. The focal point for the town was undoubtedly the spring itself. Indians, trappers and early settlers visited the spring as they trapped and hunted on Railey Creek. Settlement in the valley near the spring began immediately after the Civil War when railroads extended no further then Rolla, Springfield and Sedalia. Cattle drovers from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and as far away as Texas herded their cattle to these rail-heads north and east of Reeds Spring by traveling the Wilderness Road. 

Early references in the 1870's are made to two brothers by the name of Reed who arrived at the flowing spring in the late winter and grazed their cattle on the open range until early summer when they moved their herd on to market. The following year the Reed brothers settled permanently by the spring, which was flowing from a hazelnut grove.
With the announcement in 1902 that a railroad would be built through Stone and Taney Counties, Reeds Spring became a boom town.   Residents of the small town of Ruth, situated on the Wilderness Road just a couple of miles southeast of Reeds Spring, moved to Reeds Spring when their general store and post office was closed and reopened in the growing town. Two other general stores were opened and, in anticipation of even more growth, a new town plat was recorded with county officials in Galena in 1903. 

One of the major engineering feats on the new railroad line was the boring of a quarter-mile tunnel through the Ozarks mountain a few hundred yards east of Reeds Spring. The workmen, using dynamite and steam drills, started on each end of the tunnel and drilled a 2,904 foot long tunnel, 18 feet high and 24 feet wide through the solid rock. Four years later, when the tunnel ends met, the centers were only a fraction off center.During the height of construction, the 250 men working at the site could remove 10 feet of rock daily;the payroll escalated to $700 per day, and the total project was estimated by the railroad to cost $500,000. Most of the town's life centered around the building of the tunnel.
When the railroad was completed in 1906, the town changed noticeably. A stockyard was built next to the tracks. Buck Webster built a hotel, later known as Bush Hotel, across the street from the passenger station to serves visitors, traveling salesmen, and one itinerant dentist. Other businesses included a livery stable, Mr. Brinson's blacksmith shop, and a Swift Bank. 

The business of supplying ties to the railroads became the first industry in Reeds Spring. Even before the railroads, ties from Stone County were being floated down the James River to markets in Arkansas and along the Mississippi. 

In the early 1900's, Reeds Spring proclaimed itself the railroad tie center of the United States.Railroad cross-ties became the most valued product of the hardwood forests. Quality white oak, cut six inches by eight inches by eight inches, brought twenty-five cents at the market. Most ties were cut by farmers from timber on their own land. Stone County also shipped cord wood, cedar posts, rough-cut lumber for flooring bridges, and walnut saw logs by rail.Farmers brought in their hand cut ties from miles around on their buggies, covered wagons, and saddle horses and filled the streets of downtown Reeds Spring.
But by 1915 most of the virgin timber had been cut, prices plummeted, and the industry faded quickly. 

But fortunately for Reeds Spring, the tomato industry was developing in time to take the place of the tie business. Hundreds of acres of tomatoes were grown on farms around Reeds Spring and several processing plants dotted the hills and hollers of the countryside. Two canneries existed in the vicinity of Reeds Spring. One was Frank Mease's one of  seven canneries, located just north of town while Bob Emerson's cannery was downtown in a quonset hut near the railroad station. These canneries provided the hub of commercial activities in the summer and early fall when townsfolk, in need of spending money for the winter, worked in the fields and canneries. (I will go into more detail on canneries and how they worked in my Part II post of Reeds Spring) 

As we fast-forward, after the World War II the apparel industry emerged as a major employer of the Ozarks, just in time to supplant the dying tomato canning industry. Reeds Spring was fortunate enough to be the recipient of one of the new factories. In 1945, Reeds Spring Mayor, Frank Judah, and John Workman enticed Tony Hagale to construct the garment factory. The building, which was erected on a site near the railroad where much of the original downtown area had been located, opened with 36 employees. The Hagale factory employed women to operate the clattering sewing machines and whirring cutters on the assembly line. The factory, which has employed as many as 250 workers and remains the largest employer in town, began by making overalls and then, depending on the existing contract, coveralls, sleeping bags, khaki pants, and dress slacks. The garment factory closed in the late 1990's. The building still remains there to this day and a portion of the building is now a flea market on the curve of the road as you go through downtown Reeds Spring. 

Reeds Spring is one of the centers of education in the county. Truman Powell, a newspaper editor who traveled extensively in Stone County before the turn of the century, reported that in 1883 Reeds Spring consisted of only a log cabin, which was used for a school. The next school, started shortly after the building of the railroads, was a subscription school held in Buck Webster's hotel. But the citizens of Reeds Spring soon built, north of downtown area, a public school which held eight grades of students. Two successive schools, both eventually razed by fire, were then built on the hill, west of the downtown area. The first school to offer 12 years of education to Reeds Spring youths graduated 8 high school seniors in 1927.
In 1936 WPA workers completed another new school building near the underpass north of town, a building which at one time or another has housed all grades. Reeds Spring evolved into the dominant school in the central part of the county when school consolidation began taking place in the 1930's, requiring additional classrooms to be added to the schools.
In the 1960's the population growth of the area, which began after the building of Table Rock lake, was reflected in the schools. Over the years more schools have been built, even after I finished school from Reeds Spring. I will include those in a future post of Stone County. 

https://www.facebook.com/100044347753253/posts/1357313647635249/

https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C2366/stone-county

A quick snippet of the interview with Joe Gunn about his experience with Bonnie and Clyde.  Also a link to the full article.

   Joe Gunn was interviewed when he was 77, so that should tell the date of this original material.    Much of it was published when Joe Gunn died. Here is the complete interview:

They were being chased by Stone County officer" Gunn recalls. "Raymond Hamilton and another man were with them.

They turned off on a country road west of Reeds Springs. I was living on lower James River, and was walking to town

that day for my weekly groceries. They stopped me near Fred Tolbert's farm. They said they were lost and ordered

me to get in the green Chevrolet four-door with them and show them how to get into Arkansas.

 

The car was full of guns. I got in the back seat between Hamilton and the other man they called 'Gibbons'.

Clyde was driving. Bonnie was by him with an automatic rifle in her lap. They were all pretty calm. They didn't

seem nervous or scared. I had them drive to the Cape Fair Road and turn toward Highway 13, south of Reeds Spring.

Just before we got to the junction in a low gap by Yocum Pond, we saw a load of armed officers blocking the road

ahead. They were Galena men".

 

Bonnie cursed and said "There they are! We had just as well stop and have it out with them!." They piled out of

the car and starting shooting the automatic rifles at Deputy Sheriffs Ernest Hayes and Sam Thompson, who dived for

cover under their car after emptying their pistols. One of their bullets came through the windshield and plunked

into the car by my head. Pellets from a shotgun rattled all over the car. There was an awful noise from the guns.

 

About that time Deputy Willard Kissee and Reeds Spring's Marshall Dale Davis drove the car over a hill behind us.

Hamilton turned his rifle on them. They backed the car out of sight. I never saw them anymore. The outlaws then

piled back into the car and gave it the gas.  We ran out into the ditch going around the officer's car. Hamilton

and Bonnie showed the car with bullets as we drove by.  Bonnie cursed a lot. I thought they might think I had led

them into the trap, and would shoot me. I was scared stiff. They all looked mean and hard now."

 

I told Clyde to turn south on 13.  We went about two miles when we saw another carload of officers parked at the

side of the highway. Clyde didn't even slow down. Hamilton and Bonnie opened up with the rifles as we passed.

The officers ran.

 

When we got to Berryville, Ark., they stopped, gave me $10 and told me to get out. They didn't harm me at all. 

https://texashideout.tripod.com/reeds.html