Sunday, April 3, 2011

Out and About in My Home Town, Clarksville, Mo.

River front park

Gates to a Clarksville County Estate.

A grand home from a different time.


My House, The 1845 Elgin/Cottrell House









And The Father of all Waters, The Mighty Mississippi River.

A house on the hill.

Another Country Estate.



   Sometimes we don't know what we have or appreciate it until someone else brings it to our attention. I grew up here in Pike County Missouri on a farm. I knew from an early age that  this part of the country, was a very special place. Our farm had the old ice house,chicken house,bunk house,barns,out house and it was a beautiful place with lots of trees, rolling hills and a large yard.I remember when I was about 16, sending photos to Better Homes and Gardens of our farm trying to get it published. Well-that didn't work. When I was in collage, I worked with the Missouri State Historical Society to do an little book about all the farms and homes in this area. I drew all the pictures and did the research. One of my favorite things to do today when I have an out of town guest is to get in the car and take a tour of our beautiful Pike County. In the middle of Pike County, Missouri, is the jewel of the county,  the little historic town of Clarksville. We have 490 people and more pride than any one in Dixie. Years ago this little river front town fell into disrepair. Stores were closed and homes were in ruin. A small group of people came and worked hard to re-build the down town and seek artist and antique dealers to come and make this there home. Today, most of the store are full, we have 4  wonderful places to eat, several beautiful bed and breakfast, a winery, golf course and the older homes have been bought up, loved and repaired.




Time goes by.




Romantic gardens,come enjoy a glass of ice tea!

    Clarksville has a rich past. In 1800- A temporary settlement was made by pioneers.Life was not always good here in Missouri. In 1812 the early settlers were massacred by Indians. That did not stop people from coming and a new group of settlers soon arrived.  In 1817 that early settlement became known as Clarksville. Supposedly named  for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.Clark served as governor of the Louisiana Territory from 1813-1820 The Elgin family, who built My Old Historic House, came to Clarksville in 1817 ,with a land Grant from President James Monroe.My house was started in 1845 with an 1860 addition. Missouri became a State in 1820. In 1847-Clarksville was incorporated  by Governor John Miller of Missouri. In 1850- Clarksville received its charter.











Entrance to yet another Country Estate.





   The Artists and Antique dealers are working real hard today to make Clarksville a fun tourist destination. Many events take place during the year. My house is open for tours and can be rented for special functions. The golf course and winery are both favorite places for weddings. In the summer the river comes alive with boaters and fishermen. We welcome every one,young and old. Come have an adventure where life is a little slower and everybody knows your name. I hope you think Clarksville is as beautiful as I think it is.




Entrance to The Mississippi River Front.
One of our 7 churches.




A raised Ante Bellum Cottage.

Antique Shops.



My Antique and Gift Shop.

Hand made Windsor Chair Shop.

First Street in Clarksville,Mo.

Lock and Dam 24, Mississippi River.


Every body here has dogs in the shops and outside. 


Grand old Trees.

Clear Blue Sky.
And maybe the only brick OUT HOUSE in the entire US of A.

Interesting building.

Come by and visit us all in Clarksville real soon. We will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss.

28 comments:

Ann from On Sutton Place said...

Hi Richard...what a great post and so full of information. I enjoyed every minute. You obviously have great pride in your heritage and that is something to be admired in this day and age. In my town of Findlay, OH our Main St. south of the center of the city is old historic homes. Several blocks of all different styles and time periods. My husband grew up in one and his grandmother lived a bit further down on Main. My in-laws started having health issues and we sold their house about 6 years ago. It took me and my sister-in-law a year to empty it out and get it sold. My husband and I talked briefly about moving in but we were recent empty nesters and thinking of down-sizing...not going bigger. The young family we sold it to has restored it lovingly room by room and it looks better than ever. Old homes have a certain charm that, in my opinion, cannot be recreated today. You are blessed to call one your home. Hope your week is great...~Ann

LydiaO said...

You live in a lovely old town. I love small towns. I live in one and wouldn't have it any different. We have old houses all over but the biggest ones are on NW 4th Ave. And we are home to the Baker Hotel!

Lavender and Linen said...

What a lovely old town. It looks so layed back and peaceful.

Thanks for posting!

Ted said...

What a nice overview. I will reference it on

www.pikecountyliving.com

Clarksville Living... said...

Great job Richard. Your photos and description of Clarksville and the surrounding area are wonderful. Appreciate all you do!
Mike
Vesterbrook Farm

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Thanks for the tour. Love the old homes like that. They sure don't build them like they use to.
Enjoy your evening.

Bama Planter said...

Richard, this post was grand. I'm emailing my friend in Denver again so he can drool over all the pictures, too. His Jordan family from Louisiana, Missouri were victims of an Indian attack before they moved further west. We are going to have to come visit you for the full tour. (My okra, corn, gourds, cotton, squash, and tobacco will be planted when the "signs" are right in a little over a week. My 87 year old father plants by the almanac.) Missouri looks like a grand place to live. Your friend Marshel at Bamaplanter.blogspot.com

Babs said...

Richard, Thank you for the tour of Clarksville. I love historic homes and I'm really enjoying the photos of yours and other homes in your city. What is the syle of your home? The windows and ironwork are beautiful. Thanks for following my blow. I'm your newest follower.

M.A. the 2nd ~ Frances Russell said...

Richard .... what a georgeous part of the world you live in! You are so right ... we often don't appreciate truly what we have all around us. There is always beauty to be found somewhere. I love your home ... it is absolutely beautiful and I love the corbels under the roof/eaves. I would love to see more! I also love the other homes you showed and those gorgeous iron gates!
kind regards
Frances

xinex said...

Gorgeous homes,, Richard, including yours. Love your balconies and I love that iron gate!...Christine

Marcia said...

I loved loved LOVED this tour! Makes me proud to have a home and business here. You reopened my eyes to all the beauty and charm I so often take for granted. We are truly blessed. My wish is that all your blogger friends could travel here to see it first hand!

Stacy Leigh said...

Beautiful Richard! Great pictures! Thanks so much! Stacy

Divine Theatre said...

Oh Richard! I cannot wait to visit!
Thank you, again, for the history lessons! That is my favorite part of your blog! Well, that and the beautiful photographs! Well, that and the beautiful photographs and Sissiy dog!
We have the same putti statue!
Kiss Sissy!
xoxo

Andie

Pam of Eastlake Victorian said...

Richard-

Wow, what a grand town you live in! Such beautiful homes! It's great that you've been a big part in the revitilization of the town. I would love to visit. If I ever swing downstate Illinois, I might just make a special trip to visit Clarksville!

-Pam

Bonnie@ The Hopeless Romantic said...

Thank u so much for visiting Richard. U are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place! Ive really enjoyed the pics. Love the brick outhouse. Musta been real "well to do" people who built that, lol. Ur probably not that far from my son who lives near Kansas City... I too am a beagle owner. Of course he's a big boy, he's almost 50lbs.....Hope to see u out and about in blogland, Bonnie

Anonymous said...

J was just saying the other day, he wants to bring Aunt Ruth up to Clarksville. We are overdue for a drive around Pike County. We absolutely love that gorgeous area of our beautiful state!

You won't believe this, but when I checked in to facebook this morning, one of my daughter's friends had a link to this post. K commented on the fb post. She said,"I am sending this to my mom, she loves him."

Bruce Barone said...

Hello Richard.

It is a real pleasure to meet you!

Bruce

Bohemian said...

Thanks for stopping by Richard, yes, the Self Starter Necklace is a bit of an inside joke only because I often have trouble Self Starting... so perhaps this will be motivational? *winks*

I love that your town has preserved so much of it's History. Since we live very close to Phoenix the City has encroached with Urban Sprawl into our once Agricultural Community and now many of the old Ranches and Farmhouses have been razed in the name of 'progress' and the once green fields of farmland and Dairies have been replaced with a sea of red tile roof cookie cutter subdivisions and Malls. *le sigh* I like balance of both... not too much of either... preservation and progress should not have to be conflicting of each other IMO.

Dawn... The Bohemian

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the lovely visit and comment on my blog, Richard. I know I can always count on you for your sincere friendship and kindness!

Wonderful photo essay of Clarksville....it always has presented itself as visually charming.

southerninspiration said...

I am indeed Southern...thanks for stopping by. Love all the pictures, especially of the houses!!!
Suzanne

Rose ~Victorian Rose ~ said...

Richard, just a quick pop in and thanks so much for coming by my blog...which I can't seem to get into... to post right now...and I have NO IDEA how to "clear my cache..or delete cookies" ..and all that stuff they are asking me to do.
I will have to see if I can get someone over to do it for me. At 73 years of age...I am not techy about computers.
They are just suppose to work, dang it !
I will come and visit LONGER when this all gets cleared up.

Rose

lvroftiques said...

Richard I don't know how I missed this one? So thanks for giving me a heads up *winks* Clarksville looks like a perfectly lovely place to be! So many beautiful houses! I sure would love to come visit some time! And that last building looks REALLY interesting to me. Vanna

Tammy in Seattle said...

Hi, I was "near" Clarksville early in Oct of this year (2011) with my husband that was raised in Eolia & went to school at Clopton in Clarksville, "many" years ago! Ha!

On your page for April 2011 the 3rd picture titled "A grand home from a different time" is VERY interesting to me. We SAW that house while there in Oct! We took some pictures outside of it's grandeur! I have looked ALL over the internet trying to FIND it, but NO ONE has ANY INFO on it at all! It HAS to be a historic home with tons of history! Can you PLEASE tell me the "name" of that house?! Please! That house is amazing! It reeks of history of servants, carriages, carriage house, etc.

I looked at your vintage home you restored and it's beautiful. Very good job! That mystery house HAS to have so much history and I'd LOVE to know what it is! One of my nieces in Mo thought it was called the "Wheatley Mansion" but there was nothing on the internet that showed any such place.
Since you are a resident of Clarksville and it's history, surely you could shed some light to me of that gorgeous mansion, and it's name and/or history!

I'm a history buff and each time we come to MO, from Seattle WA, I want to see more history of MO. Two times in visits of 1979 and 30 years later in 2009, we went on the tour in Old St. Charles, the first state capitol. Wow! Loved it! Then we also saw Merrimac Caverns that year, and I hadn't been to it since 1959; "40" years earlier! I was 9 yrs old then! What a trip to show our daughter where I had been at 9. (Passing through with parents on way to Ohio from CA, to live - many times over and over again!)

We were also there for the re-enactment of the Lewis & Clark boats leaving port for thier historic trip to "our" coast, in WA. "We" have historical monuments in WA (and Oregon) of when they arrived! (A replica of their fort, that was sadly burnt down by bad people, then built "again" for us history buffs. A park dedicated to their history, with a museum, and artifacts, and many of our mountains and bays were named by Lewis and Clark.

I would REALLY appreciate any information you could share with me. Send me an email.
Tammy -- sleepless in Seattle

Tammy in Seattle said...

Note from Tammy in Seattle;

The place of the picture I was referring to I wanted info about was on this page:

Sunday, April 3, 2011
"Out and About in My Home Town, Clarksville, Mo."

It was the 3rd one down on "this" page titled:

"A grand home from a different time." A closeup of the front of it is further down too. (the 10th picture down from top.) No names listed.

Thank you so much. Tammy

Tammy in Seattle said...

Why do I not hear from you? I waited & waited! I wrote youin 2011! I was told by my niece that the stately mansion from another time is called the "Wheatley Mansion"yet there is NOTHING online that shows that. It's a Gorgeous, mansion, & I got to even see the inside. My niece knows the owner, got married there, and allowed me to see the gorgeous rooms inside. What a legendary, historic, mansion from another time in history. If I could live in MO, I would LOVE to buy that mansion & live in that historic home of times gone by.The owners should sell it to the city, or state,to be a museum for all to see and appreciate. It's amazing! I LOVE historic homes! Your's is beautiful too!Thanks for all YOUR hard work1

Denise boshers said...

Growing up we owned one of the houses on stilts across the railroad tracks .it was our clubhouse. We came several times a year. It was pink then latter painted brick red. I remember going to pirates cove every visit and going up the skylift with all the stores like a little town and they would have a stop cover band . Also the slide that went down the side of the hill and the house that looked normal till you went in and it was all tilted. Those were good times, I miss that place . I'm guessing the skylift is gone :(

Denise boshers said...

Meant zz top cover band.lol auto correct

Beth said...

Tammy in Seattle: I hope you've gotten your answer by now. I just ran across this blog. You are probably talking about the Falicon mansion. I'm SURE that's it. Just Google that ;)