Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt

BY MIKE AVITT I took this week’s picture in April of 2007. It’s likely this is the oldest, active church building in Ringgold County. Let’s see what the old newspapers say. Unfortunately, once you get into the 1880s with the digitized newspapers, you only have two papers to draw from – The Ringgold Record and…

BY MIKE AVITT I finally found the information I needed concerning this structure. It was such an ordeal, I want to tell you about it. The Redding Centennial book suggests this building was erected in the 1880s and that it was remodeled in 1905. After years of research, I became suspicious of the construction date.…

BY MIKE AVITT High Point Methodist Church is well documented, being covered by S. L. Thompson in 1914. Raymond Banner further researched High Point and wrote about it fifteen or twenty years ago. High Point Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1874 and sat five miles east of Wishard Chapel or one mile west of…

BY MIKE AVITT I was looking for the dedication of the Tingley Christian Church in its second house of worship and I found some interesting history on page 5 of the February 20, 1896 Ringgold Record. In 1876, Rev. Ezekiel Harlan began preaching in the Tingley Center schoolhouse. In 1876, he organized the first congregation…

BY MIKE AVITT Before the Mount Ayr Sale Barn was built, livestock auctions were held in what we call McCullough Apartments at 119 East Madison. This building had previously been a livery barn. In 1935, Guy McCullough converted the sale pavilion into apartments and offices. The next sale barn was located at the Wilson farm…

BY MIKE AVITT James Preston Fife was born March 15, 1865 in Pennsylvania, his parents having come from Ireland. The family moved to Liberty Township, Ringgold County in 1876 and J. P. Fife never lived anywhere else. He passed away on September 22, 1945. In August 1941, Mr. Fife deeded forty acres of his land…

BY MIKE AVITT The Dragoon Trace Nature Center is located about two miles east of Mount Ayr, next to Poe Hollow Park. The Nature Center opened in 2017, but when did Poe Hollow open? It was announced in April 1967, that Ringgold County had received a matching federal grant of $2,800. The money would be…

BY MIKE AVITT Alan Smith sold the Mount Ayr Record-News to Tom and Tami Hawley on August 1, 2012. In Alan’s last, “Thoughts & Other Things,” article, dated May 26, 2016, Alan explains he had offers to sell the newspaper to corporate enterprises, but felt the Record-News may lose its “community” personality. He wanted the…

BY MIKE AVITT The 1980s and 1990s saw big advances in newspaper technology, which contributed to a more attractive look. Photos had a sharper image and color photographs were now viable. The Mount Ayr Record-News made its first appearance on the World Wide Web in April 1999. Mark McDaniel of Redding helped with the design.…

BY MIKE AVITT Jack and Helen Terry had owned the Lamoni Chronicle since 1950 and published the Kellerton Globe for almost three years. In 1966 it was time to raise the stakes and buy a county seat newspaper, the Mount Ayr Record-News. The Terrys took possession April 1, 1966 from Frank and Iona Spurrier. Iona…