Great Depression: Federal Seed, Feed Loans for Farmers
In March, 1931, both feed and seed loans became available to help needy farmers in Clinton, Caldwell and Daviess Counties. Some of the regulations for the Federal Seed Loans were: Loans are made for seed, fertilizer, and feed for work stock, or fuel and oil for...
Great Depression: Manual Labor for the Unemployed
Modern machines weren’t always used to make things easier in the days of the Great Depression. In August, 1931, Gov. Caulfield, said Missouri would do everything possible to relieve the unemployment crisis. Whenever it was possible to use manpower, machine...
Great Depression: Good Impact of the Red Cross
By June 30, 1931, the Red Cross had given disaster relief to 38 of the drought stricken states which spread over the northwestern states. At the peak of the drought relief program, more than 2,000,000 people were being fed, clothed, and given other help, and in all of...
1931: Oil Found in Daviess County Near Oakland School House
What do gas and unemployment have in common in Daviess and Clinton Counties? Plenty, especially when oil is found in this vicinity and oil wells are pumping oil out of its surface. In 1931, Frank Messler of the Messler Gas Comany and his geologists struck a good flow...
Five Significant Daviess County Bank Robberies Summarized
A quick study of cases where Daviess County banks were “subject to withdrawals without proper paperwork” reveals five significant incidents. In chronological order, here’s a summary of the county’s most significant bank robberies, according to...
Rollin J. Britton a Distinguished Lawyer, Local Historian
Rollin J. Britton (1864-1931) was distinguished as a lawyer, historian, literatus and poet. He grew up on a farm near Pattonsburg, MO, and was a confidant to those grouped by photographs in the “Hall of Fame” featured in the Daviess County Courthouse in...
1931-2001: McDonald Tea Room on the National Map
The famous McDonald Tea Room brought thousands of people to Gallatin, MO, over many years before fire consumed its contents …and its future. But for several decades, on a typical weekend, one could find cars bearing license plates from many states parked in...
1930s: Desperation Leads to Gasoline Bootleggers
To understand gas bootlegging, we must remember that during the years of the Great Depression gasoline was pumped into a large glasslike cylinder located above the gas pump. Thus, the customer could actually see the gas before purchase or before putting gas into their...
Great Depression: Horsepower vs Tractor Power
During the Great Depression years, a few tractors were emerging on the scenes while the use of horses was dwindling. In 1920, there were over 10 million head of horses on the farms. But upon the arrival of the 1930s, the number had dwindled to 2.5 million. Even with...
1930s: New Ball Field at Dockery Park a CCC Project
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) boys played no small part in Daviess County. They seemed to have “a finger in every pie.” With their help and with the help of many others, Gallatin had a new ball diamond. These boys were aided with help from local...
Farming With Go-Devils and Listers During the Depression Era
The term “Go-Devil” seems to be a brand name such as Allis Chalmers or John Deere. Among other things there are Go-Devil boats and engines. Probably the two Go-Devils that would interest us the most would be the sled and the one that had disk-like wheels...
Daviess County Road & Bridge Scenes of Yesteryear
Gallatin Post Office Locations Over the Years
Standard Oil Service Station in Gallatin, MO
Service stations once were common to many corner street lots in most small towns across the country.
Snyder Equipment Company at Gallatin, MO
R.B. Snyder Equipment Company, located at 504 South Main in Gallatin, MO, sold International Harvester, McCormick-Deering farm implements.
1920-1930: ‘Snapshots’ of Noted Local History in this Decade
The Roaring Twenties: It was a time of conservatism, it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world to politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the times of Al Capone and Charles Lindberg. In...
1929: $8,000 Bank Robbery at the Pattonsburg Savings Bank
The Pattonsburg Savings Bank was robbed by two young men from Kansas City in December, 1929. Over $8,000 in cash was taken. The two highwaymen started southward in a Chevrolet sedan with several hundred armed men in pursuit. The getaway car skidded into a ditch near...
1929: First City Hall Known as ‘The House that Joe Built’
During the Great Depression era, Gallatin citizens had a loss unrelated to the financial crisis that plagued the nation. In 1926, a fire destroyed the city hall which at that time was merely a wooden structure built in the 1870’s by the former city marshal, Joe...
1928: Connell Hardware Ruined by Fire; East Side of Square Escapes
In 1928 fire consumed the Connell Warehouse, threatening the entire east side of the Gallatin business square. The rear end of every building located across the alley from the warehouse was on fire a number of times that fateful night, but hard work and action by...
Visit the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail, located 2 blocks west of the Daviess County Courthouse in Gallatin, MO. This historic relic is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a visitors’ center — by appointment,
Trudi Burton, ph: 660.663.7342
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