Maramec Museum, St. James
November 2024
The number one attraction is Maramec Spring itself, which gushes some 96 million gallons of water a day. Feeding the fish in the spring branch is a fun activity, as is walking the paths through the trout hatchery area before heading into the park grounds to explore the remains of the iron ore furnace and related structures.
Picnic tables are scattered throughout the park, and there are several hiking trails. The Historic Drive takes you past scenic lookout points, the old Maramec Community Cemetery (1858-1882) and an open pit mine. There’s also a café, park store and campground.
For the purpose of this column, the focus is on the two museums in the park, the Maramec Museum and the Ozark Agriculture Museum, both of which are included in the park admission fee.
The Maramec Museum of Natural and Cultural History tells the story of the spring, from the Native Americans who lived alongside it through its heyday in the mid-1800s as an iron works to its current role as a 1,856-acre wildlife refuge and park. Large dioramas show how a village of 500 people grew up around the iron works and how the various structures functioned as part of a booming industry. Near the entrance, there’s a 21-foot-tall bluff with a small spring that flows into a 600-gallon aquarium. Displays show the recharge area for the spring and the water cycle. There are hands-on activities for children and a gift shop.
Fans of old-time agricultural equipment will want to visit the Ozark Agriculture Museum, a barn-like structure packed with all types of farm machinery and an assortment of farm equipment lined up outside. Be sure to note the in-ground rim shaper, which was used to make wagon wheels.
Old Iron Works Days, held annually on the second weekend in October, is a great time to visit the park. Live music, a fiddling contest, old-fashioned games and demonstrations of old-time skills and crafts are part of the festivities.
Maramec Spring Park is located on Missouri Highway 8 south of St. James. The park is owned and operated by The James Foundation, while the trout hatchery is operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Maramec Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, April through October; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March and November. The Ozark Agriculture Museum is open by request. Admission to the park is $5 per car and includes the museums. For more information, call 573-265-7387 or visit MaramecSpringPark.com.
1944 WAR MUSEUM, Washington
August 2024
Pinter only started collecting World War II items about seven years ago, but his collection grew quickly and soon was overflowing the spare room in his home. The door of opportunity opened when Michelle Leesmann of USA Mortgage in Washington offered the spare suite next door to her High Street office to house the fledgling museum. As word spread, offers of help and donations of items began to pour in from family, friends and friends of friends.
What makes the collection so special is that so many items have a local or regional connection. Many were donated by the families of Franklin County soldiers who brought home souvenirs from their war experiences. Uniforms, guns, knives, a mess kit, medals, jewelry, newspapers, official documents, old photographs, foreign currency, telegrams—there is plenty to ponder when wandering through the exhibits. The collection is displayed according to three regions of the war effort: Europe, the Pacific and the United States.
Among the most moving artifacts are ones with personal touches, such as the trench art made by soldiers from both sides of the conflict, including drawings carved into canteens and other pieces of equipment. The wedding dress of a young soldier’s bride brings wartime romance to life. The most poignant to this visitor is the hand-pieced quilt with blocks for each soldier who enlisted from a small town in Oklahoma. There is an embroidered gold star on the squares of those who paid the ultimate price.
Some visitors might be surprised by the number of Nazi items on display, including a flag with a prominent swastika, but these were artifacts carried home as souvenirs by the victorious soldiers.
Volunteers to work at the museum are welcome, as are donations of wartime memorabilia.
The 1944 War Museum is located at 1380 High Street, Suite 6. Hours are limited and change frequently; check the museum’s Facebook page, The 1944 War Museum, each Sunday to see the coming week’s schedule as well as notice of special events. Admission is free, but contributions are appreciated. The museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and welcomes donations of World War II artifacts. For more information, email WashMo1944@gmail.com.
The Soda Museum, St. Charles
May 2024
Smith’s love affair with all things soda related began when he bought a 1937 tray advertising Coca-Cola at the age of 10. The tray, which is in the museum, showed a woman in a yellow swimsuit running on a beach, holding a Coke in each hand.
Today the thousands of items in the museum include bottles, trays, vending machines, coolers, syrup cans, crates, toys, neon signs, games, wooden tubs and much more. The brands range from the familiar—Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, 7-Up, Sprite, etc.—to the less familiar: Moxie, Devil Shake, Sunburst, Goldenmoon, Five-O, Bubble Up, Kickapoo Joy Juice, Brownie Root Beer, Squirt, Rio, White Cap and others.
“It has been my lifelong dream to share my passion and extensive collection of memorabilia in St. Charles,” says Smith, museum director and lifelong resident of St. Charles. “This museum is not just about the beverages; it’s about the stories, the innovations and the memories associated with sodas that have touched lives globally.”
The museum occupies a fully renovated building that dates to 1896. It was originally a hardware store. From 1939 to 1979, it was a J.C. Penney store, then from 1980 to 2018, it was home to Gene’s Shoes. The museum displays are on the main floor, mezzanine and top floor.
The basement houses an arcade with dozens of classic games collected by Smith’s father. There are pinball machines, bowling machines, air hockey, classic video games and more. Also in the basement, there’s a refreshment area where you can buy and taste almost 100 types of bottled soft drinks and enjoy a snack.
The museum is a fizzy walk down memory lane for soda lovers. History buffs will appreciate the effervescent tale of carbonated beverages from the 1880s onward. And arcade enthusiasts will find plenty of games to pass the time.
The Soda Museum and Main Street Arcade is located at 126 North Main Street in St. Charles. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for the museum; $15 for unlimited arcade game play; or $20 for a combo ticket. The Museum of Soda History is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and accepts deductible donations of old soda items.
Red Cedar Inn, Pacific
February 2024
The famed Red Cedar Inn in Pacific, which lured travelers on Route 66 with its fried chicken, was a popular stop from its opening in 1934 until its closing in 2005. The City of Pacific purchased the building and, after extensive renovation, reopened it as a museum and visitor center in August of this year. It is well positioned for the upcoming Route 66 centennial in 2026.
Crossing the threshold is a bit like time traveling. On the outside, the building looks much the same as it always has—logs with chinking in between, a shady porch with rocking chairs —but the inside is bright and open, with museum display cases, neon signs, a gift shop area and much more. Remnants of the original building are incorporated, such as the wooden booths and bar counter in the side room, and a section of the original exterior wall.
The business opened in 1934 as the Red Cedar Tavern, advertising steaks, fried chicken, frog legs and fish. The two gasoline pumps in front enabled travelers to fill up their tanks when they stopped to fill up their stomachs.
In the 1940s, the name was changed to Red Cedar Inn. With the addition of an outdoor brick barbecue pit, the restaurant added barbecued ribs to the menu, served with a special Red Cedar Inn sauce. In the 1950s, according to the museum signage, “Business was so good it was difficult to make a left turn into Red Cedar traveling east.”
Then I-44 opened in the 1960s, and traffic along Route 66, or Osage Street, declined. The Red Cedar Inn went through several phases and was leased to various tenants with varying success until the third generation of the Smith family decided to take the reins in 1987. In the 1990s and early-2000s, the Red Cedar Inn was featured in Route 66 books, magazines, calendars and documentaries and was recognized as a roadside attraction by the Route 66 Caravan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It closed on March 7, 2005.
Today you can see the original neon sign, a place setting of dishes, a uniform and cap and other Red Cedar mementoes. A time line walks you through the inn’s history.
Other museum exhibits focus on Route 66, the Meramec River watershed, the history of Pacific and the Union Pacific and Burlington Frisco railroads that run through town. A large room in the back is the children’s museum area, with lots of hands-on activities.
Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Center is located at 1047 East Osage Street and is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Visit PacificMissouri.com/324/Red-Cedar-Inn-Museum-Visitor-Center or call 636-271-0500 for more information.
MoArk Regional Railroad Museum, Poplar Bluff
November 2023
Housed in the historic Frisco Depot in downtown Poplar Bluff, the MoArk Regional Railroad Museum features exhibits of seven different railroads—Iron Mountain, Missouri Pacific, Union Pacific, Frisco, Butler County, Cotton Belt and Amtrak—as well as an extensive model train layout. There is also a gift and hobby shop, and a model railroad repair shop.
The depot, itself, was built to replace the original Southern Missouri and Arkansas Railroad depot which was destroyed in 1927 by a tornado. Built by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad and completed in 1928, the Spanish Colonial-style building served Poplar Bluff until the branch was abandoned in 1965. The depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
There is a lot to see on the museum grounds, too. You can explore two cabooses, a mail service car, working cross lights and a block signal, and you can take a look at the train schedule posted for December 1944.
This is the 32nd year for the non-profit museum, which has no paid staff and relies totally on volunteers who work about 2,500 hours annually to maintain the museum. Their work pays off; from July 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023, the museum welcomed 1,505 visitors from 146 cities in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Japan.
The museum sponsored its first train show and swap meet in May. It participates in the town’s Iron Horse Festival held annually in late September. Christmas trains and visits by Santa Claus highlight the holiday season at the museum.
The Amtrak station is two blocks away at 400 South Main Street in the brick Union Pacific depot, which was built in 1910 by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, the first railroad to come to Poplar Bluff in 1873. That railroad was succeeded by the Missouri Pacific in 1917 and the Union Pacific in 1982. Restoration of this station is ongoing. There are plans to create a Depot District that would connect the Amtrak depot with the 1928 Frisco depot housing the museum.
As you drive or walk downtown, be sure to note the three-plus miles of historic brick streets along Main and Vine, completed in 1913 following specifications established for brick streets in New York City.
MoArk Regional Railroad Museum is located at 303 South Moran Street and is open Saturdays 1-4 p.m. except during major holiday weekends. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. Annual memberships are available for $12 per individual or $20 per family. The museum is east of the Black River Coliseum. For more information call 573-785-4539. For group tours, call 573-686-2241 and leave a message.