BY MIKE AVITT Household appliances existed long before electricity came along. Sewing machines were a common household appliance 140 years ago and were powered by a treadle. The person operating the sewing machine pumped the treadle, providing power to the machine. Then came electricity. Mount Ayr received electrical power in 1909, although it would be…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT I’m fascinated by early high school sports because of how disorganized it was. There was no schedule nor conference. Equipment, if it existed at all, was inadequate. Coaches were novices and playing fields were muddy pastures. Basketball was played in barns and opera houses before gymnasiums were built. Let’s look at early…
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BY MIKE AVITT The Q Club was at 122 S. Taylor Street in Mt. Ayr, and closed in 1975. I saw my first video game here in 1974; it was called “Pong”. This game was followed by “Breakout” and “Centipede.” Let’s talk about Fun Town. Arv and Shirley Woollums opened Fun Town about March 1,…
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BY MIKE AVITT In 2006, NAPA (National Automotive Parts Association) Auto Parts was located at 204 W. Madison in Mount Ayr but that would soon change. Let’s look at some auto parts store history. Ringgold County first saw automobiles around 1905 and by 1910 there were many of them. Parts and repairs could be obtained…
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BY MIKE AVITT The two-story brick building on the south side of the alley was torn down about 1976. It sat at 112 S. Taylor Street on the east side of the Mt. Ayr square. The building was built for William A. Simpson in 1898. Simpson, the father of Marie Simpson, had moved his general…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT In October 1882, The Ringgold County Board of Supervisors purchased land in sections 17 and 20 of Liberty Township for the purpose of constructing and operating a county Poor Farm. Ringgold County’s population was increasing rapidly at this time and that meant the population of poor, feeble-minded, widowed, and orphaned was increasing,…
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BY MIKE AVITT I had a fair amount of success researching Riley Township. Most townships in Ringgold County had a railroad, a state highway, or an incorporated town, but not Riley. Riley Township is located at the southeast corner of Ringgold County and was named after Robert H. Riley, an early settler in Athens Township.…
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BY MIKE AVITT I spoke at the Mount Ayr Public Library during Ayr Days on the topic of ghost towns. A keen student of Ringgold County history pointed out my omission of Polen during my talk and I admit I thought it would go unnoticed. I took this week’s picture on April 3, 2010 in…
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BY MIKE AVITT The Redding Post Office has undergone a remodeling since I took this photo July 2, 2005. I found some more information on the early days of Redding and the post office there so let’s get started. I was looking for the earliest days of Maloy when I stumbled upon an article in…
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BY MIKE AVITT I was asked to put on a picture slideshow at the Mount Ayr High School class of 1962 reunion to be held during Ayr Days. I don’t know how to do that so I made prints of some pictures I had from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. And this week’s photo…
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