Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt

Tuskeego is in Decatur County between Lamoni and Kellerton. I took several photos of the last two original buildings at Tuskeego around 2016. Both are gone now. Tuskeego is an unusual name and as such, it is easy to research in the digitized newspapers. The digitized newspapers have a search feature that works well with…

This week’s postcard has no information on the back, but the photo appears on page 85 of the Mount Ayr Centennial Book and the names appear in the book. Before I give you the names, let’s look at what the picture tells us. The band members are wearing uniforms. Uniforms cost money. But bands were…

I found this booklet while looking for something else, as usual, and I haven’t written about Bonnie and Clyde for awhile, so let’s get on it. Sharon Becker compiled this booklet (about 36 pages) in 2010 and it was published by Paragon Publishing (Mount Ayr Record-News). The complete title is: The Story of Bonnie Parker…

This week’s photo was taken in the late 1980s in the building that used to house C. R. Anthony’s Clothing Store. This building, at 108 S. Taylor, was turned into a make-shift museum during Ayr Days and the Preservation Partnership took this opportunity to gather and preserve local history. Shirley Hickman used this museum to…

Last week I wrote about Ringgold County’s first church building in section 12 of Jefferson Township. It probably faded away slowly as I can’t find an official abandonment. It was a log structure and likely without a heat source such as a fireplace or wood-burning stove. The building would have been open to damage by…

The Bever-Grimes Cemetery, seen here, is located in section 12 of Jefferson Township. One half block west of this gate is a sign that reads: Pleasant Ridge United Brethren 1857-1874 Site of First Church Building in Ringgold County. My interest in this topic was renewed recently as I came into possession of the secretary minutes…

I took this week’s photo on May 18, 2016 on Decatur Street in Kellerton. There were many two-story, brick bank buildings in Ringgold County at one time. This is the last one still standing. And I found the two men most responsible for its existence. Willis Wilbur Peasley was born in Essex County, New York…

I took this week’s photo on April 19, 2005. I just liked the way the barn looked with half its boards missing. Not too many years later, the barn was dismantled. But, with this picture, future generations will be able to see what we saw in 2005. I just got back from Mexico and have…

I took this week’s photo in 2002. It shows the former Warin Oil Service Station in Maloy which closed in March 1986. Coincidently, Johnny Warin, the founder of Warin Oil Company, died the same month. This is one of the earliest photos I took in Ringgold County strictly for historic reasons. Let’s look at Maloy…

Hardware stores are a very broad topic. There are an abundance of categories that fit under the “hardware” umbrella. And hardware stores used to be so common, we forget how many there were. I will solve that issue right now. For a brief amount of time, there were four hardware stores on the north side…