Sunday, September 16, 2007

Hometown tour

Jack and Katie are here to welcome you to our little town.
Here is our city pool where I spent a lot of summer hours as a child. They just recently redid it and added murals to the walls of the locker rooms.
Our little library. Don't let it's size fool you, it is excellent and our folks take great pride in it.
The Wayside Inn Museum. Lots of historical and antique items. It was still a hotel when I was living in the little white house you see to the right. That was in the late 1970's. Every year, we have Hysterical Historic Days and it is a lot of fun.
Our post office. Still has wood floors and walls.
Looking towards downtown from the south on Main Street.
The founders of our city in the 1800's. The Cruce mansion used to stand on the south side of the park. Sadly it burned to the ground with all the antiques that were in it. The city had wanted to buy it but the family wanted a lot more money than the city could afford.
This is the wash basin folks used before our town came into existence. Some people had come across the springs in a cow pasture and were healed of their illness after drinking the water. Soon people from all over heard about it and started coming here to drink it.
Our new city hall and community center across from the park.
Looking east to Main Street at the park.
A long walk down to the springs!

Can you tell how much iron is in that water? Fighting rust on the tubs, sinks, and toilets is an every day thing here. The water is loaded with a lot of minerals and either you love the taste or hate it. I love it and Jack hates it! We joke that the water here is so hard it will knock you down if someone throws a glass of it on you.

South of the park looking at the bandstand. Yes, we still have free concerts all summer long!
A monument to all the people from our town who did surveying work.
Katie and I next to my dad's name, Lawrence Lane.
This house was close to being torn down in the late 1990's after being empty and run down for many years. Someone bought it and is fixing it up. It was a house kit from Sears Roebuck and Co. in the early 1900's. It came into El Do by train car in crates and was hauled by horse and wagon to this site. Yes, you really could buy houses out of a catalog!
Don't you love this old Victorian? We have a lot of old homes in town.
This is our opera house which is being fully restored and will once again be a theatre. Want to learn more? Visit The Opera House and see all the goings on. All of downtown is going to be restored including antique look street lights.
This was once a ratty, run down laundry mat and look at it now!
I am very proud that our town is once again taking pride in where we live and fixing it up to be a little jewel in the Ozarks once again. Some have asked how I came to live here when I moved this past summer. Well, my family on my mom's side have been in this area since before there was a town and my dad's family wasn't far behind! I left for awhile but am back to stay. We have lots to do here, wonderful places to eat, lakes all around to play at and plenty of peace, quiet and family values. Thanks for coming to visit us here, so nice to see you. Come again when you can and you will be very welcome!

33 comments:

Sue Seibert said...

What a lovely town you live in! Thanks for sharing this and all the other things you share. You are sooooo special!

Anonymous said...

Wow! And I thought MY Neighborhood was small! :0) Your town seems very charming. I love old victorians. Thanks for the tour!

Peggy said...

What a lovely neighborhood! I enjoyed my visit

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

It looks like a lovely town to call your own! :)
I'm so glad your happy !!!

Jen said...

I love the downtown ere.....our downtown is the same way going back to restoring old houses and shops....your town is very historical and charming...I enjoyed my tour...thanks for having me.

Anonymous said...

What a great town and so much fun history. I'm going to stop complaining about my hard water after seeing yours..LOL. I'm glad you are enjoying your neck of the woods. Thanks for the lovely tour.

La Dolce Vita with LeAnn said...

Michelle, oh how I wish I could take the day off and visit your town in person. Loved your tour and the tour guides seem like such good people,*yes dogs are almost people in our family.

someone else said...

What a great tour! You have a charming town.

Terri Steffes said...

Love the opera house! I think you have a great neighborhood! Come and visit me!

Susan said...

I enjoyed your tour very much, Michelle. Looks like a lovely place to live.
Susan

Carole Burant said...

I love little towns like this and I so enjoyed my tour with you:-) I think it's wonderful that the people are taking pride in it again...so many of these old buildings can become such jewels. I was interested in hearing about the spring water and how people would drink it to become healed!! I wish I could go visit you one day:-) xox

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

Thanks for the tour!! This is fun...Also thanks for stopping by.Sandy

Susie Q said...

I love this town! Any place that truly honors it;s heritage is pretty special in my book! Your town is pretty and just so warm. I imagine it is welcoming as well...
Love your doggie too!

Hugs,
Sue

Unknown said...

What a lovely little town. I love small town living. I grew up in the St Louis area until I was 12,and we spent many a happy time in the Ozarks for long weekends and vacations. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for coming by to see me.

Susie said...

You've done a great job showing us your cute little town! Don't know if I'll ever make it there, but if I do, I'll be sure to look you up!
xo

Overwhelmed! said...

I grew up in a town of 150 people, so I'm all about small towns! :)

I enjoyed the picture tour of your pretty neighborhood. Thank you for sharing!

My “Welcome to My Neighborhood” post is right here.

Ms. Kathleen said...

I have one word that strongly comes to mind - Charming -- What a charming little town. I love it. And I love the old houses and old buildings. Lead is fixing up their old opera house that burned. I have only been in it once during restoration.

Thank you so much for participating in Welcome to My Neighborhood! God Bless!

Oh, love the music!

Tammy said...

I enjoyed walking around your neighborhood with you!
:)

Anonymous said...

What a nice tour! The springs are neat! I agree, there is nothing like small town living. Thanks for sharing.

Dawn said...

Thanks for visiting my town. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to yours. Others have said it right - charming! It's so good when the city is smart enough to fix up the old instead of tearing it down.

I lived in Heber Springs, Arkansas when I was a kid, where we had those springs and people brought their jugs down to get medicinal water. It smelled like rotten eggs! But they loved it.

groovyoldlady said...

(Don't tell her that, Kathleen. I'm trying to get RID of the music!)

Your town is utterly charming! Thanks for the tour.

Suzanne said...

THANKS for sharing your town with me!! Suz

Sandra said...

Thank you for the tour, I loved it :)

Tammy said...

Oh, what a fun tour! I love all the historical buildings in your town!
Not sure if I've ever been here...great to "meet" you! :)

FarmHouse Style said...

I loved the tour. The opera house and the old laundry mat are wonderful. It must be so nice to live where your roots are. Thanks for sharing your neighborhood. Hope we meet up again.
Rhonda

Trish said...

Hi Michelle! I found your blog through one of your posts on Old Fashioned Christian Homekeepers ~ what a great blog! Your little town is marvelous ~ who knew you could buy a house as a kit from Sears?! LOL I look forward to seeing more of your cross stitch and crochet projects. It's always nice to find another Christian homekeeper who enjoys crafting. :)

Blessings,
Trish

Trisha said...

great pictures!

By the grace of God ... said...

Enjoyed seeing your "neighborhood" When we moved from Colorado to Kansas in 2002 -- the kids and I went around town and took a bunch of photos of our favorite places and things to do/see. I )unfortunately only have photos from around the home front since we lived in the county.

Robin said...

I love the Victorian homes - what a quaint little town with so much history!
I just posted my tour - I hope you can come by and visit!

Meari said...

Loved the pictoral tour!! I don't think I've seen a pic of Katie standing. She's taller than I thought!

Patricia said...

I do love small towns. Thanks for sharing yours!
Patricia
littlecabininthewoods.typepad.com

Gran said...

Michelle, It was so nice to take a walk with you as you share the details and history of your town. It gives the feeling of closeness and family as a community. That is so absent in most larger town.

Thanks for the tour of your hometown. I wish that I could have been there in person however, I had the next best thing.

Take care my dear friend. May your day be filled with many blessings and lots of friendship.

Angela

Anonymous said...

What an absolutely wonderful tour of your hometown - I loved every minute of it! :D