West Plains, Missouri - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

WEST PLAINS, 173 m. (949 alt., 4,026 pop.), seat of Howell County, and the only town of size for many a hilly mile, is built on diversified agriculture. Five creameries handle the milk from surrounding dairy farms; livestock is fed, sold, and distributed to both State and out-of-State buyers; and large quantities of small grains are stored and shipped. Because of its auction sales, West Plains has two big days each week - Monday, when the sales are held, and Saturday, the usual busy time for agricultural centers. Hardly has the last grain or dairy farmer left on Saturday night before the livestock breeders begin to arrive, bringing with them cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs. Scores of trucks line the streets, and hotels and rooming houses are filled. Between Monday morning and Monday night, $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 and hundreds of animals change hands.

Among the first residents of the county was Josiah Howell, of Tennessee, who settled one mile west of the present site of West Plains in 1840. When the county was organized in 1857, it was named in his honor. The county seat, laid out a year later, was named for its level site. During the Civil War, the residents of the county suffered from the raids of the opposing armies; at the close of the war not more than 50 families remained.

In 1873, when the community was little more than a backwoods village, Cornelius Bolin announced that he had bought a piano — the first in the region — for his daughter Alice. Few believed it would survive the 100-mile wagon trip across the hills from Rolla. When it did come, the village turned out, and a one-time music teacher - the only individual in the region who could play the instrument - proudly rendered “My Old Kentucky Home.” The “excitement of the assemblage knew no bounds."

In later years, Charles T . Aid, perhaps remembering the impression made by the first instrument, placed an electric piano in his store and reserved a space for children to listen. Profiting by his location next to the church, he put a full-length mirror in the display window, “so that women folks could see themselves in Sunday array." A short time later, a national magazine included “Uncle Charlie" among the 12 "big country merchants" of the United States. He was doing a business of $250,000 a year, drawing farm trade from a radius of 85 miles.

The JOSEPH AID GUN COLLECTION, in the Aid Hardware Store, 200 Court Sq., includes several guns more than 100 years old, approximately 50 rifles and shotguns, mostly of the cap-and-ball type, a Sharps buffalo gun, and 25 pistols. The WEST PLAINS AUCTION BARNS, 16 St. Louis St., a group of large stone and frame buildings, are the center of the region's livestock industry.

- Missouri, a guide to the "Show Me" state, 1941, pgs. 471-472

My Commentary:
West Plains no longer survives on the sale of livestock. The city is the largest in the area and people come here to make major purchases. The town is also the gateway to the lakes to the south and east - it has become a place to stock up on supplies for camping weekends. As seen, the population of West Plains has tripled since the book was written.

The Building:
The new City Hall is located on the northern end of town. It is a modern glass and steel structure that covers an acre in area. It houses not only City Hall, but the Municipal Court and the Police Department. This building replaces an older building constructed in 1917 located at 401 Washington Avenue.

The building has a datestone that reads:
Mt. Zion Lodge
No. 327 (Masonry Compass & Square) A.F.& A.M
2008

The City:

West Plains is a city in Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 11,986 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Howell County.

The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell County is named) created the first settlement in the region known as Howell Valley. West Plains was so named because the settlement was on a prairie in a westerly direction from the nearest town, Thomasville.

- West Plains Wikipedia Entry

Book: Missouri Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 471-472 Year Originally Published: 1941

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