It is sometimes said that Missouri is the most forgotten state in America. Ask someone to make a list of the fifty states and Missouri is the one that is most likely to be left out.
Although the geographical centre of the contiguous states is located near Lebanon, Kansas, the ever shifting mean centre of population is close to Hartville, Missouri. That's the town that I wish to explore a little in this blogpost with thanks to Google Streetview for allowing me to have a nice look round the sleepy settlement in Wright County.
Here's the steel plaque that endows Hartville with its fairly new found status:-
Hartville is a good name for a town that in at least one respect is the very heart of America. It has a population of 594 people with 24% of those citizens living below the official poverty line. Here we are in downtown Hartville:-
To the south of the town is a civil war battle site. Below, the information boards explain the Battle of Hartville which occurred over three days in January 1863. Seven union soldiers were killed outright and eleven confederates. Many more were injured.
Below, in terms of architecture and history, this is surely the most important house in Hartville. It is known as the Kelton House - reconstructed in 1895 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
In my Streetview car I drove by this much humbler home on South Mabon Avenue...
At Casey's General Store close to the town centre you might want to pick up a gun along with your bread, milk and cornflakes. Perhaps a box of bullets too. To British people, the idea of this is quite appalling.
Here's the city hall. I tried to find a photo of Mayor Rob Tucker but failed comprehensively...
But I did find this picture of Holly Cooke who was a teacher in the area. Tragically, she was killed in June of this year when, driving her car, she apparently swerved to avoid a cow on the highway. No other vehicle was involved. Holly was not wearing a seatbelt but thankfully her ten year old son was and he survived the crash. She was just thirty one years old and she leaves a husband and three children behind to try to move on without her. I am sure that other bloggers and visitors will wish to join me in sending them our very best wishes.
Holly Cooke
I never forget Missouri, but that's because it's one of six states that borders my own. That's sad about the teacher and your inclusion of the photo makes it feel more personal.
ReplyDeleteStrange to think that a young woman looking out of the photo like that is no longer with us.
DeleteI've seen lots of small, somewhat forgotten towns, like Hartville.
ReplyDeleteThoughts to Holly Cooke's family.
Many of those towns seem in serious decline.
DeleteI can't get past "not wearing a seatbelt." It makes me angry that she died a possibly preventable death. I've been to Missouri--pretty state but the politics there don't suit me well.
ReplyDeleteMissouri should use Holly's name and image in a road safety campaign... WEAR YOUR SEATBELT!
DeleteMissouri is my state and I've lived here practically my whole life though I grew up in a different part of the state than where I live now. I don't remember hearing of Hartville but there are many many small towns that look like that. I don't care for the gun culture and the politics here either. Lots of us are working to help change that. Wish us luck. But, I suppose we live where we're planted in most cases and usually stay where we have family.
ReplyDeleteI do wish you luck Deb. Keep working for change!
DeleteIt's a completely different way of life as we know it.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, not "completely".
DeleteA population of less than 600 people is called a town, and they have their own City Hall? How odd. Here, even O.K.'s village with over 3,000 inhabitants is officially a village and not a town.
ReplyDeleteIt was an interesting wander around Hartville, thank you for sharing it. How different life seems to be over there than in my part of the world. I am trying to imagine my local shops selling and pawning guns.
Poor Holly and her family. Her son who was in the car with her must be heavily traumatized.
The aching and the absence will weigh heavily on those children for the rest of their lives. As in Germany, towns in England tend to have over five thousand inhabitants.
DeleteWith only 594 citizens it's probably one of these places where everyone knows everyone else. Interesting buildings. So sad about the woman dying so young.
ReplyDeleteI am a nosy fellow and I like to nose around such places but not with a gun in my hand!
DeleteI have a blog friend in Missouri.
ReplyDeleteIs she called Deb? See above.
DeleteNo.
DeletePoignant post. Such a beautiful young woman and mother.
ReplyDeleteSuch a tragedy.
DeleteVery small town America. It's very sad about Holly and her bereaved family. Please tell me you photoshopped in that gun advertising sign.
ReplyDeleteNo photo-shopping. You can see it yourself in a Google Streetview tour of Hartsville.
DeleteI would have to argue that my own state is more forgettable than Missouri. At least Missouri has to large cities whose names are recognizable by most of the population. I would guess 50% of the people I meet on the road don't even know the name of our largest city and of the 50% that do, 99% of them can't even pronounce it correctly! Still to this day, many still assume we are the state that produces all the potatoes, the honor of which goes to Idaho.
ReplyDeleteMy parents always insisted that seatbelts were clicked before we went anywhere, at least after the seatbelt law was passed in the late 70's or very early 80's. It became habit and still is. When I started procreating, I had the same rule with my children and it pleases me to know end to see them buckle up and even request the driver to wait a second until they can get their seatbelt fastened before the vehicle proceeds on its journey. It's a shame that Holly's parents probably didn't do those same things.
I owe a debt of gratitude. I owe a tailor three hundred bucks for my suit. I owe a lot to my education.
DeleteIt took me years to remember to always put my seatbelt on. Today, I am glad that my car beeps with annoyance when I have forgotten.
"When I started procreating..." seems strangely unromantic!
I'm going to disagree with you, Ed. Thanks to your state's position in the presidential political process, everyone knows about Iowa. But that might be all they know.
DeleteAll Star Trek fans know Iowa, too - it is where James Tiberius Kirk grew up.
DeleteSome Americans are appalled at the sight of blatant ammunition selling too but we are far too used to it. The only thing different about that store and some stores around here is that they don't appear to sell bait.
ReplyDeleteWhy use bait when you can shoot the fish?
DeleteThe joys of the internet, you can visit, without having to go there. My town of origin, is North Branch, Michigan, take a stroll around. The farm I was raised on was about 4 miles out of town.
ReplyDeleteI will got to North Branch soon. I wonder if I will see any living people there. Perhaps they have been shipped away by aliens.
DeleteI find it amazing that in a town of less than 600 people, a quarter of them live below the poverty line. That's horrendous. And why someone wouldn't wear a seatbelt is beyond me. The one time in my life that I did CPR compressions, it was in a ditch, on the side of a road. The young woman had been ejected from her vehicle because she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She didn't survive.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you did your best. Just hitting the windscreen would be like hitting a brick wall.
DeleteIt looks to me like City Hall used to be a bank, complete with a drive-thru window.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that Missouri is the most forgotten state in America. That must be something British people say!
Sadly, I wouldn't even blink at that gun sign. I'm so used to them.
Forgotten Missouri - definitely not a British thing - it's an American thing. Have you ever owned or carried a gun Steve?
DeleteLiving in Illinois, I would never forget Missouri. I have visited friends in Kansas City and have relatives in St. Louis. Always wear seat belts!
ReplyDeleteWe know some people in Missouri. They emigrated from England in 1985 or 86. Sadly Mick and Judy later divorced and they are now married to different partners. Their girls seem entirely American now.
DeleteThis was an interesting post to read because it was so random! And I do love random. My hometown in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains in upstate NY is kind of like that. That was really sad to read about that teacher that died. Why people don't wear seatbelts puzzles me. It is automatic for me to fasten it.
ReplyDelete