Snapshots of History

By Editor | September 25, 2024 |

By Mike Avitt
I was at the Diagonal Printing Museum over the Labor Day weekend and Jan Johnston showed me a rural race track in a 1894 Ringgold County atlas book.
The race track was in the southeast corner of section 27, Lincoln Township.
I had not noticed this before now.
Horse racing was very popular in the 1880s and 1890s. As I viewed the area around the race track, I saw something else; a rural church that was unknown to me.

Part of Lincoln Twp. In 1894.

The church was in the southwest corner of section 23 in Lincoln Twp. And one-fourth of a mile west was a “private cemetery,” also unknown to me. On the plat map, the church was labeled, “United Presb Church.”
I have seen Ringgold County plat maps from 1875, 1894, 1904, and 1915. My favorite is the 1894 because it includes details such as the denomination of a rural church or the name of a rural school, not just the district number. Having these details makes research easier. All of the other atlases would just say, “Church.”
Rural churches in Ringgold County were common, but not a United Presbyterian Church.
In fact, this is the only one I’ve ever seen. Anyway, having the denomination of the church made it easier to research.
In doing research in the 1880s, I have only one digitized newspaper to utilize and that’s the Ringgold Record, a Mount Ayr paper.
In seeking rural news , I’m completely dependent on the contributor or correspondent from that area for information. I am constantly lamenting the lack of details provided by these correspondents.
But, I found more than I thought I would concerning the church.
The church in question was called Platte Valley United Presbyterian Church and was located in the southwest corner of section 23 surrounded by land owned by W. H. Reed.
That land is a cornfield today. I drove over to see if a sign marked the location of the former church building.
I first get info of the church in the July 19, 1883 Ringgold Record. A Rev. Canada was preaching in July, Rev. Shannon in August, and Rev. Cleland in October. I was unable to find if Platte Valley ever had a regular minister.
When a church ceases to exist, it rarely makes the news but this one did. In the March 1, 1900 Ringgold Record is an account of the ending and a brief biography of Platte Valley.
The article says Platte Valley was very active in the 1870s and 1880s, but the railroads missed the area and new towns sprung up taking rural citizens away.
Both Diagonal and Shannon City got U. P. Churches in 1890. The article goes on to say the folks that left Platte Valley strengthened the churches they moved to.
Still, Platte Valley was two and a half miles south of Fairview, a rural Methodist Church, and with no other churches around, one would think there would be a need. It’s probable the lack of a preacher and building maintenance issues forced the closure.
This church building appears on a 1904 map but updates of rural areas were often missed. I don’t know who bought the building or furnishings or when.
I didn’t find anything on the rural race track and I only found a little about the “private cemetery” one-fourth of a mile west of Platte Valley U. P. Church.
But, that little bit is very, very interesting. We will look at that next week.