County of building: Gasconade County
Location of building: Kansas City St. & Sycamore St.. Bland
Built: 1934
Engineer was George E. Wells, Inc, St. Louis, MO
Contractor was Joseph F. McMahon Construction Company, St. Louis, MO
The Person:
John L. Baxter
"To the memory of John L. Baxter for his many years of service to the City of Bland" ~ Sign at the building
This is all I could find on this gentleman. I could not even run down his gravesite.
The Place:
Explanation of the dates. Bland was founded in 1877, also first post office. BUT, in 1902 the railroad came through on the ridge, one mile south of the town. SO, the town up and moved to this location in 1902. The original site is referred to today as "Old Bland".
“Bland, so named after Congressman R.P. Bland, is situated near the northwest corner of Township 41, Range 6 West. The first settler in the vicinity was William Haynes in 1850. The first frame house built in the place was by John Homfeldt, in 1862. It was 20 x 50 feet in size. The first merchant was Henry Koenig, and the first blacksmith, Fred Crider, in 1860. The first shoemaker was Charles Bunge, Sr., and the first grocery keeper, Henry Koenig. The first post master was H.J. Aufderheide, and the first mail arrived at this place August 17, 1877. A gristmill was started here in 1864. Alfred Rickring was the first school teacher, in 1858, and had about 30 scholars. The German Evangelical Church originated here in 1857, the German Methodist Episcopal Church in 1866. The present business men are HJ Aufderheide, store, and Joseph Alberson, store and mill; W.F. Czeschin, blacksmith and D. Werfelmann, wagon and carriage builder. The population of the place is now about 50.” ~ History of Gasconade County, Goodspeed, 1888, page 686
"The greatest adversity came in 1864, when General Price’s army robbed the stores, took livestock and destroyed what they could not take along.
“In 1900, Edwin H. Aufderheide, who had taken over Henry Aufderheide’s store in 1889, and John Boettcher bought land on the hill around the new railroad being built through the area from Isaac Smith, to start a new town. The land was originally patented by William Shea in 1854. Edwin Aufderheide built the first home and first store in the new town. Henry Neese was the first child born here in 1901." ~ Gasconade County Family History Book, Volume I, 1979, page 10