Thank you to Peggy Hamilton who helped figure out when Shelly Lovitt’s little recipe book, “Ridgeway Methodist’s Favorite Recipes” was printed. Peggy sent me a note that H. E Marshall, who was listed as the pastor when the book was compiled, served from October 1940 through 1942. The Ridgeway Journal, which did the actual printing, ceased operations on December 18, 1941, so most likely the book was published about 1941.
One of my volunteer jobs is to administer the website for the City of Ridgeway and one of the projects for that website is to add a section to the website that will list all the current city ordinances. I have been spending a lot of time reading old city ordinances and it surprised me that they only go back to about 1911. In many of the oldest copies is a section reading that reads: “Emergency --- That the fact that a fire on the 18th day of June, 1911, destroyed all of the records of the City of Ridgeway, Missouri, creates an emergency and this ordinance shall be in full force and take effect from and after its passage by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Ridgeway, Missouri, and approval by the Mayor of said City”. The ordinances were all signed by J. W. Harrison, acting mayor, and Ed Easton, city clerk.
The only fire mentioned in “Ridgeway: Then and Now” for that year was the Kern Opera House. This was a three-story building on Main Street which housed businesses in the basement and first floor. Two lawyers had their offices in the front of the second floor and the opera house took up the remaining room. I found nothing about the fire in any of the papers on Newspapers.com. I will do some more research at the Genealogy Library and share what I learn.
