In April 1970 the Ringgold County Historical Society met to discuss plans to establish a county museum and genealogical library. They discussed two possible locations: the former West End Market building in Mount Ayr and the Ellston High School building. The West End Market building had a $9,500 price tag but was centrally located and…

BY MIKE AVITT 140 years ago the Mount Ayr business district was dotted with livery barns. These facilities provided feed and care for horses while the rider was in town for business or visiting others. Livery barns also provided horses and buggies for rent; a service often used by local doctors. Stagecoach and hack lines…

BY MIKE AVITT This building in Diagonal was erected in 1909 for A. W. Marts and Dr. A. E. Jessup. After the previous newspaper plant burned, Carson Williams bought some printing equipment and placed it in the Jessup building in December 1917. Williams started a new newspaper called the Diagonal Reporter in January 1918. Thomas…

Thanks to Mitzi (McGehee) Hymbaugh for this week’s photo. The staff of the Midway Cafe is shown at the restaurant in May of 1952. Loueva McGehee, Dennis Foltz, Ike McGehee, Jr., and Leona Shaughnessy appear in this picture with others yet to be identified. The owner of the cafe at this time was Lucille (Shaughnessy)…

BY MIKE AVITT I took this week’s photo on June 27, 2009. Let’s look at some Ringgold County graveyards and undertakers. The Mount Ayr Centennial Book says the Rose Hill Cemetery Association was organized in 1882 although several burials took place prior to that date. The earliest information I found was in 1884 when a…

These buildings have interesting histories and so do the people who built them and occupied them. A fire in November 1889 destroyed most of the buildings from the alley by Lefty’s Club Tavern to the alley by Lucky Lanes. Lost in that fire was the first frame Ringgold County Courthouse building. The brick courthouse was…

BY MIKE AVITT There was a freak snowstorm on April 21, 1918 and a photographer captured this scene. Freak storms happen once in a while but the winter of 1936 happened only once. In mid-January 1936 the Record-News reports 16 inches of snow fell the previous week with strong winds. The railroad tracks between Mount…

Ellston’s original depot burned in 1907 and a new one was built later that year. Let’s look at the beginning of this Union Township town. Surveyors for the Humeston & Shenandoah Railroad were staking out the right-of-way in northern Ringgold County in 1881. The Ellston Centennial Book says Dr. John Davis and Abner Goodell provided…

BY MIKE AVITT I posted this photo on Facebook and was asked how I determine the date of a photo. Let’s look at Tingley’s Main Street and I’ll tell you. The white lettering on the photo tells me this image was a postcard. Penny postcards were most common in Ringgold County between the years 1908…