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 Douglas County - Ava, Mo. Posted by:  iconions
N 36° 57.101 W 092° 39.600
15S E 530271 N 4089566
This marker is in the City Square - Washington And Jefferson in Ava, Mo.
Waymark Code: WMVF5Q
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 04/10/2017
Views: 5
This marker is in the City Square - Washington And Jefferson in Ava, Mo. The marker is just south of the gazebo in the center of the plaza. This standard State Highway marker text reads:
DOUGLAS COUNTY
-----(state map of Missouri)-----
Here in the heartland of the Missouri
Ozarks, Douglas County was organized in
1857, and named for statesman Stephen A.
Douglas. Southern pioneers, attracted by
forested hills, abundant game, spring-fed
streams, fertile valleys, were first settlers
in mid-1830’s. Some 692 prehistoric mounds
have been found in the county which is in
territory long utilized by various Indian
tribes and claimed by the Osage until 1808.
Ava, the county seat, was laid out 1870,
and named for a Biblical city by James
Hailey who with Judge Martin and Lock
Alsup selected the site. Ave was founded
to succeed Arno which replaced Vera Cruz,
first county seat, when it lost its central
location by county boundary change. A
later change left Ava 12 miles off center.
Ava’s first post office moved there, 1872,
from nearby Militia Springs where a body
of Union troops wintered in the Civil War.
During the war, Douglas County, largely
pro-Union, suffered a number of skirmishes.
several occurring in and around Vera Cruz,
headquarters of Home Guard unit. Through
the war, guerilla bands roamed the area
(see other side)
Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri
and State Highway Commission, 1961
DOUGLAS COUNTY
(Continued from other side)
Douglas County’s cultivated hillsides and
valleys supporting fine dairy and livestock
farms contrast with its timber producing hills
and ridges. Much of the county area which
was harvested during the lumbering boom of
the early 1900’s lies in Mark Twain National
Forest established in 1930’s. Lead and zinc
have been mined in the county.
By 1910, the agricultural and lumbering
productivity brought Kansas City, Ozark
& Southern Railroad. Built from Mansfield
through Bryant to Ava, it had an uneven
success and ceased operation, 1935. Among
early settlements were Rome, Topaz, and
Arno. Communities founded after the Civil
War include Drury, Squires, Denlow, Sweden,
And Vanzant. Among the latter settlements are
Brushyknob and Smallett.
Douglas County, lying in a resort region,
is noted for scenic forest drives, springs,
and streams including Bryant and Beaver
creeks and Little North Fork River. In an
area of great scenic beauty southeast of
AVA is monastery of Cistercian Monks of
The Strict Observance (Trappists) dating
From 1950, made Assumption Abbey, 1956.
Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri
and State Highway Commission, 1961
History of Mark:
see long description
Web link: Not listed
Additional point: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
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