County of display: Crawford County
Location of display: Mill Pond path, Dillard Mill, original site of Dillard School, Dillard
Marker erected by" Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Marker is actually meant as a history marker for the school, but they have saves a piece of the old school and it is a display of Ozark Giraffe Rock
Marker Text:
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Dillard Schoolhouse
The first public school in Dillard was located in this vicinity. Pictured here as it appeared in 1898, this one-room, frame school aws washed away in a flood. Its replacement, completed in 1908, was relocated north of this area and was later destroyed by fire.
A third stone school burned in 1938 and was replaced by another built under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. The building was made of stone, sometimes called Ozark giraffe rock. It served the children of Dillard until consolidation with the Cherryville School, ten mile away. Though empty, this building still stands today and is visible from the road leading to Dillard Mill State Historic Site.
Wisdom's Mill
About 75 paces on this path toward Dillard Mill, Francis Wisdom built a water-powered gristmill in the 1850s. Very little is known about the appearance of this mill or its operation except that its dam was frequently the backdrop for photographers.
In 1881, the mill was purchased by Joseph Dillard Cottrell. The hamlet of Dillard was named after "Dill Cottrell," as he was known locally, and the village developed around the mill -- its chief commercial enterprise.
In 1895 the mill burned. By the time the businesses in Dillard had already begun shifting a mile north to relocate near the Sligo and Eastern Railroad line. Shortly after 1900, Emil Mischke, using timbers salvaged from Wisdom's Mill, built the mill that stand today at Dillard Mill State Historic Site (often called Mischke's mill by local residents). Lester Klemme was the last to operate the mill commercially. When it closed in 1956, the mill was producing cattle feed.
Explanation of Ozark Giraffe Rock, and a couple of site to fill it out:
"Ozark Giraffe Rock architectural exteriors are a common sight along Route 66 in the Ozarks region of the United States, as they were a popular building choice between 1910 - 1940. The construction materials for giraffe rock exteriors were inexpensive and produced locally from materials found in plentiful supply in the Ozark Mountains, and the style was most predominant on small houses, usually bungalows.
"Ozark giraffe rock gets its name from the stone pattern of the exterior. Local stone, usually limestone or sandstone, would be split into thin slabs. The resulting pieces would be of inconsistent size and shape, and were pieced together (like a crazy quilt) with thick mortar joints. The mortar could be concave or convex, and was often painted. The contrast between the painted mortar and the gray/brown stone slabs would look like the pattern on a giraffe's coat.
"This exterior pattern meant that all of the procured slab rock could be used in the construction process, and little would go to waste. It was a practical and thrifty choice for a region mostly populated by farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers, and others in the working class.
"In the Ozark region, which includes parts of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma (as well as a tiny bit of Kansas), Ozark giraffe is a common exterior on older homes built in the first half of the twentieth century. The exteriors were found on community and commercial buildings in addition to residential homes. On some homes, a combination of giraffe rock and stucco (or other building materials) was used. Generally, it was a practical, low-cost exterior made with locally-available materials. Ozark giraffe houses are usually small and modest, often bungalows.
"The origin of Ozark giraffe has its roots in the Arts and Crafts movement, which encouraged the visibility of handicraft and local, natural materials. The style fell out of favor in the latter half of the twentieth century. In the US, larger homes and structures with a clean, modern look were favored. Many of the original Ozark Giraffe homes and buildings have since been torn down.
"For more pictures of Ozark giraffe rock exteriors, take a look at this series by James Radke, a photographer based in Springfield, Missouri." ~ Meta Filte
Ozark Giraffe California Route 66 Association