Continuing my drive through Paris, Missouri from last week’s Thursday Doors. The engraving on the library above reads “In Memory of Wm H & Susan Van Zandt Dulaney. Interesting fact: Norman Rockwell made a Paris, Missouri native the main subject of one of his paintings. Had I known this, I would have found the county courthouse to see a copy on display.
Corner Doors Plus one bonus
Tucked down town on a side street was this little corner door set. Lots of personality with the lampost, bonus door down the side and matching awnings. What’s not to love?
An old hardware store circa 1881Zoomed In for the details
According to my research this door was once a fishing and hunting surplus store. That is so typical of Missouri!
You can almost hear the screen door slam.
Too bad about that broken window. I don’t know what it is, but once there’s one window broken, the rest soon follow I’ve noticed in old buildings. Irritates me to no end! I really liked the screen door and the 3 windows above balancing it all.
Lemonade sippin’ porch
I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Doors post and are able to drop in over at Norm 2.0 for many more doors posts. You’ll see doors from all over the world.
What more could you ask for? A Mustang convertible, sunny day, and front door parking at church?! This is how we roll in Rural Missouri! Don’t get too worked up, it was on a Saturday. 😉 Now, if only I could revisit and see the inside of the door trio. Maybe next time we’re in Paris, Missouri, population 1,220. It’s located north of Mexico, Missouri, in the Northeastern part of the state and was settled in 1831. More photos from this sleepy town next week.
Hopefully you enjoy the perspectives I’ve tried to display here. Doors are not always the easiest things to capture and here are some examples.
Barn Doors and Cattle Gates
It’s not uncommon to see an old farm split by a road. In this case you add a pretty good curve where they’ve clearly painted double yellow lines to remind you it’s not a good idea ever to pass, much less stop and take a door photo.
Here’s the closest you’ll get without the steering wheel or hubby’s head in the way. Not to mention the tinted side windows aren’t very conducive to picture-taking.
Barn, Garage, and Farmhouse Doors
As you can see, Houston,we have a problem. The hood is factor #1. And there’s the issue of the cracked windshield #2. The space between that home and myself is #3. Around here, you just don’t go driving up a private drive even when most folks are pretty neighborly. There are factors like Meth manufacturer’s who try finding hiding places off the beaten path to make said meth, dogs who may or may not be friendly, and shotguns owned by the farmers trying to protect themselves. So…….
Filtered and Cropped
I’ll be using the cropping (no pun intended, dear farmers) and filtering available. You see, once a few years ago before I had shared in Thursday Doors, the hubby and I were driving down a road back home and were literally chased down by a farmer who didn’t recognize us. We pulled over, showed him my camera, the child in the back seat and did some name-dropping of “my people”. Once I explained who I was related to the area we were in, and then told him I was writing a blog post about barns in the county, he simmered down…. kind of. He clearly was a bit on the mistrustful and hostile side of the spectrum.
Another farm in the creek bottoms
And you can’t tell from here, but it’s split by the road as well.
Clapboard sided farm house
It’s sometimes a choice of which side of the road you photograph. We were between destinations with not a lot of sunlight left to play with so turning around was not in the cards that day. Guess we’ll have to take another drive sometime.
in which my great great grandfather was a charter member,
Windmill and Missouri Barns
and past this farm,
you’ll come to Mt. Olive Baptist Church. It was here that my grandfather was ordained as a minister in 1886. He was 39 years of age at the time and served as a pastor here 2 different times. The Versailles Statesman published that as of 1927, he’d married 125 couples, as well as conducted 225 funerals. I wonder how there could have survived all these years 2 Baptist churches so close to each other. This one was originally a log school house but burned and was rebuilt by 1914. It sure wasn’t a good-paying occupation as in 1912 the salary was $100.00 per year, payed by the quarter. No wonder they had to farm as well as be pretty much indispensable for weddings and funerals, prayer meetings, Sunday School, Sunday services and don’t forget the Revivals and Camp Meetings. Not to mention offering various sorts of family counseling for the sick or homebound, marriage counseling, excessive alcohol consumption or treatment of family or neighbors — some of these you certainly didn’t discuss in those days. Such a full time job for so little. As you ponder these things, I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the photos we took as we wandered around the church yard.
Early Photo published in Florence, Missouri’s 160th Celebration. (glad I bought the book back in ’92)
A Throwback event was planned by my husband and I for our daughters. We bought them tickets for Christmas and the event was held last Friday evening in Kansas City. But as you can see from some photos below, we were kinda worried if we’d get to make it there. Ice is the worst! Can’t stress it enough. There’s nothing moving, unless it’s you falling on your rump or other body parts that happen to land first. Such as my youngest hitting her head on the pavement headed to work. So glad she wasn’t hurt badly! Scary stuff and not the best part of living in the Midwest.
Double Icicles out my back door
Twigs beaten down from wind and freezing rain
Icy View from the back porch
Shards of death as the hubby called them. A clear ‘Do not enter’ signal.
The Throwback Event as I have dubbed it was a concert to see Sara Evans who happens to be a Missouri-born country music singer in case you weren’t aware. Three of us met the eldest daughter at the Ameristar Casino to see the show. We took a couple prints of the 2002 pic below along for autographing.
Sara Evans with my girls at the 2002 Missouri State Fair.
Little did we know we’d get to take another photo or 2. They’re all grown up now clearly and this mom is feeling all sappy and stuff. My how time flies. Some song lyrics from Born to Fly: Hey, ’cause I will soar away like the blackbird I will blow in the wind like a seed I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams And I will grow up where I want, wild and free  Who doesn’t want this for their children? Some more photos below of the fam and some doors that are the best I could do with an icy parking lot on the outside. I.Don’t. Skate.
I’m traveling back to my roots this ThursdayDoors. After a DNA test back in May of 2017, I’ve taken the deeper plunge to investigating the paper trail. But there aren’t just paper trails when it comes to these searches. There are places to visit. So the husband and I took a Sunday Drive last weekend since we had temps near 60 degrees and some sunshine. Can’t stay inside on a day like that!
First View
This is Bethlehem Baptist Church in Florence, Missouri. It was here that my Gt. Gt. Grandfather was pastor. Reverend Caleb H. Cramer ministered to this community and the surrounding area for over 50 years of his adult life. This church was home to a whole lotta family members. (You know they had a ton of kids back in the day.) Although I only live 25 minutes away, it’s my first time seeing it.
Front Door Entrance – Newer Doors
When choosing this site for the church, I’m sure the view overlooking the valley was a major deciding factor. “Build your house upon the rock” Matthew 7:24-45 is a favorite Bible verse of mine.
Original Portion of the church
From the State Historical Society of Missouri’s public pdf “Organized in 1846 in the home of Reverend B.F. Dinwiddie. The first services were held in a log building on the site of Harmony School, and the first land was purchased from Henry and Amanda Wagenknecht in 1869.”
I happen to have the Reverend Dinwiddie’s final resting place on the far left of this picture. This was a beautiful view of the valley below here.
Civil War Era Photo of my grandparents
About Grandpa,…..Born 1847 and died 1932. But the years between were a life filled with good works. I mentioned his ministry before and he also served in the Civil war in the Missouri Infantry Volunteers. Usually one thinks of most of the Civil War action beyond Missouri, but we actually had a considerable amount of action here.
Rev. Caleb and Mrs. Nancy Cramer
Wish I could see the twin doors in the background!!
Steeple View
Newer addition
Side door w/ramp
Newest addition to the back
I must say I have my husband to thank profusely. Ron, you’re my hero!! He’s been helping fill out that family tree and it is becoming huge!! Wowza! We’ve gotten back to 1621 in one branch. (I’m such a history nerd)
There are a few well-kept secrets here in Mid-Missouri, but it’s high time I spilled the beans. I am super excited to introduce a couple friends of mine. They are Wendy and Doug Needy and they have created ‘The Silos at Prarie Vale’. This Airbnb rendevous on the Prairie is a gem! Tucked away in Rural Pettis County, Missouri–near Windsor’s Amish community, the Missouri State Fairgrounds, state parks, annual festivals and historical places. Who needs to stay here? Honeymooners, Fair-goers, World Travelers, Bikers (it’s a short pedal off the Katy Trail) or anyone who needs to destress their life. What an experience!!
Yeah, I know. This sounds like an ad. But I know these folks. I graduated with Doug. His mother, Judy, graduated with my aunt Glenda. Growing up, those 2 spent lots of hours as our room mothers, preparing cool parties for us. So many good treats and wonderful memories. And when I first met Wendy, we were planning one of our class reunions. Judging by the hard work and thoughtfulness they’ve invested in this venture I’d say creativity is just in their genes.
This Thursday Doors, I hope you’ll enjoy the selection of photos Wendy sent me. They will tell you so much more than I can. If you are interested in a more detailed description of The Silos, please click here.
Thanks to Norm 2.0 and all the Doors family who are so kind as to allow me to have this brag moment for one of Green Ridge, Missouri’s finest families. Please visit Norm 2.0 and find the blue frog button for door entries from across the globe. You will be awestruck by the superb views.
This was once a dairy farm
The Farm House w/wrap around porch.
Winter Silos
Covered Porch
Bucky and Libby’s goat “wedding” for fun
Doug, the wedding officiator
Bucky finishing off the wedding arbor
Wendy makes guest soaps from goats milk
Jetty a miniature donkey and 2 Nigerian Dwarf goats -Ace and Bucky
I found some leftovers in my photo stash that might have some merit this Thursday Doors. This will be a 2nd entry for Mexico, Missouri on my site.
Mexico, population of around 11,000, is located in Audrain County and is the location of a Veterans Home, the annual Miss Missouri Pageant as well as the Missouri Military Academy-founded 1889. It’s the county seat and most recently, was honored with the most snowfall in one occurence in the state for this year so far at 22 inches. (learned that from my husband’s dr)
Memorial Court House-June 2017
On the Square is a common term when referring to a rural downtown location. I was On the Square in the city of Mexico in June of 2017 when I took these shots. And some of the shots (confession time) are screenshots of the area from Google Earth because I felt it was necessary to go to this extent to give a better view than what I was able to get in person.
Typical town square
Built 1951
Chamber of Commerce
A place I had to refrain from entering was this music establishment.
Its OPEN 🎶
I have a knack of finding exceptional deals on 5-string banjos. My eldest daughter says I need more restraint from purchasing any more. Here’s one time I didn’t try my luck. Dear Daughter, you are welcome. 🙂
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was our final craft show for 2018. I neglected to photograph our booth for the first time in I can’t remember how long. But I definitely have a series of photos from afterwards. I’m sharing these this Thursday Doors. I hope you enjoy the simple beauty of this Missouri landscape of late November. And when you’re finished, I hope you’ll traipse on over to Norm 2.0, read his post where he’ll direct you to the rest of us door-seekers from around the globe.Â
First, the doors. This is a sliding door –Â garage-style-Â with an entrance door to the side.
Setting: Green Ridge, Missouri on one pretty hot, Saturday, June afternoon.
Green Ridge: population 476 as of Census 2010.
Hearing the cars rust on Main Street is a real thing.
So are Pot Luck and Fundraising dinners, church on Sundays, checking on your neighbors, volunteering, and bad cell phone service (with my phone company choice).
