Moniteau County Historical Society--California, Missouri
N 38° 38.041 W 092° 33.923
15S E 537827 N 4276253
The Moniteau County Historical Society's headquarters is in the Cultural Heritage Center Building in California, Missouri. The Center is located a few blocks from the historic county courthouse square. The town was founded in 1845.
Waymark Code: WM9QNV
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 09/20/2010
Views: 6
The Cultural Heritage Center houses the headquarters of the Moniteau Historical Society in California. The historic building in which it is housed was the old post office for the community. One of its strengths is the help it provides to people searching genealogical records for the county.
California is railroad town, and an agricultural center for the county.It is referred to as the "Country Ham Capital of the World." Moniteau County derives its name from pictographs that the Lewis & Clark Expedition noted on their journey up the Missouri River in 1804.
William Clark noted in his journal the Native American pictographs that were painted on the limestone bluffs that tower above either side of the Missouri River.
The historical society was founded in the 1960's to help preserve the county's rich history and historic buildings. I visited it recently during their annual Ham and Turkey Fest Day(3rd weekend in September)in California.
Their museum is very nicely done and houses exhibits starting with the Native Americans. Then comes the Lewis & Clark expedition display.
In September 2010 I particularly enjoyed learning that a survivor of the Seventh Calvary's Battle of the Little Bighorn is buried in California. Michael Madden was a saddler and worked in that trade for two California saddle shops after being wounded at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A portion of his leg was amputated in the field during the battle that continued after Custer and his troops were annihilated. Madden's previously unmarked grave will receive a tombstone later this year. He was in Captain Benteen's Company K.
It was also interesting to note the career of an Army Colonel John A. Paegelow, who headed the Army's dirigible operations at Scott Field in Illinois from 1923 until he retired. He was a highly decorated veteran WWI observation wing pilot. The dirigible hanger at Scott Field was second in size only to the hanger at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
He was married to Elia Wood from California whose family was quite prominent. The Colonel's lighter-than-air aircraft were thus flying low over central Missouri or tethered in California on numerous days when the family returned to his wife's parent's home.
The society's leaders helped save the opera house just down the street. The Finke Opera House's restoration is complete and the 2010 concert season has begun. It is really an outstanding bit of restoration work for this small town of 4115 people.
The town's biggest industries today are its Cargill Honeysuckle turkey processing facility and Burger's Country Ham headquarters, and the Union Pacific Railroad, whose mainline connects St. Louis to Kansas City and the American West.
Address:
Moniteau County Historical Society Cultural Heritage Center
201 North High Street
California, MO United States of America
65018
Web Address: [Web Link]
Hours of Operation: Thursday- Saturday 1 PM-5PM
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture.