Spring Road Trips

It has been a very wet spring and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, both of which are close to our current residence, have been over flowing their banks.   Still, John and I have managed to find some very sunny dry days to take some road trips. 

I first would like to mention New Town, a town we were interested in seeing because of The Bridge, a not-for-profit coffee shop located in that town.  Walking through the city park we came upon some very large animal statues.  We had been told that they were moved to the park from Noah’s Restaurant- an establishment which met its demise many years ago.   We had some good memories of that dining establishment so I was happy to see the animals again.

A couple of weeks later our next adventure was to Dillard Mill State Historic Site- it is located fifty miles due west of Farmington.  We combined that trip with a visit to relatives in Farmington. 

The mill is located on the Huzzah Creek, and is a very picturesque site with water cascading down a rock dam.  The village of Dillard grew around the mill, which now is located in the Mark Twain Forest.

The first mill built in 1850 burned and was rebuilt in another location close by in 1881.  That one also burned in 1895, and after the turn of the century was rebuilt.  It was a water powered grist mill used to grind corn and wheat, and operated until 1965.  We spent most of our day there, taking a tour of the mill, as well as walking around the town of Dillard’s cemetery.  There we found names of people who first settled the area, including proprietors of the mill- one of which was Marie Mischke, born in Poland in 1872.  She ran the mill from 1907 until 1917, after which she sold it to her brother.   By the way, the Dillard family name can also be found in the cemetery.   Joseph Dillard Cottrell was the owner of the mill in 1881.  There is lots of fascinating history in this state park!

Pictured above is Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, located in another state park of Missouri.  In 1872 it was one of 6 bridges built to allow passage from Jefferson County seat of Hillsboro to St.Louis.  We are quite fortunate that the state of Missouri passed an act in 1967 declaring all covered bridges in the state to be state historic sites.  There are 4 remaining covered bridges in the state.  High waters removed the Shady Creek bridge in 1886, it was reconstructed in 1899 using about one-half of the original timber.  For this trip we took our grandchildren to give their Mom a break.  They spent a wonderful afternoon wading in the creek below the bridge.  The water was clear and the level low enough for the children to play safely.  Big rocks and logs in the creek also added to their fun.