Bit of History -- October 29, 2025

Halloween in 1914 was a lively night for pranksters. Halloween that year was on a Saturday The boys in the town spent both Friday and Saturday rearranging farming equipment, telephone poles and many other things, placing them on Main Street, blocking anyone from traveling the street. “Main street on Sunday morning had the appearance of a back alley and from the amount of stuff piled on the city's main thoroughfare, it is evident that there were some mighty willing workers abroad. Threshing machines, telephone poles, bill boards, out-buildings, chicken coops, etc, all played a prominent part in blocking the street.”

The writer ended with the wry comment: “It was certainly an enjoyable affair-for those who participated.” All that certainly wouldn’t be a lot of fun for anyone who had to clean up.

Bit of History -- October 1, 2025

In the October 1, 1914 edition of the Ridgeway Journal, when Ridgeway was just starting to get electric power, there was a short story about something new in town: “The Bartlett Implement Co. have erected an electric sign on top of their store building bearing the firm name. The sign contains eighty lamps and aside from the electrical equipment is the product of home labor.” The sign was built byW. Bartlett, W. L. Perkins, U. C. Eaton and Ross Wiley. It was the first of its kind in Ridgeway and the editors expected that others would soon copy him.

According to the 1914 Sanborn fire map, Bartlett Implement Company was probably located on the east side Main Street about half way between Vine and Walnut. Tracy thought that Shepherd Equipment was located in that area later.

On the same page, Bartlett’s also took out a nearly quarter page ad reminding their customers whose accounts were in arrears that “Oct 1 is here.” They wanted those accounts paid because they had already committed that money elsewhere. “It is not good business for you to let it run over and we have made such commitments that it would be bad business for us to allow it to run over.”

Bit of History - September 18, 2024

In 1916, Harrison County had not one, but two county fairs, named “Harrison County Fair”. One was the first annual fair held in Bethany on the current fairgrounds.  It was a great success and in 1917, it was renamed the Northwest Missouri State Fair and continues to this day. 

The other “Harrison County Fair” was held in Ridgeway.  Sponsored by the Ridgeway Agricultural and Mechanical Society as the “Corn Show and Live Stock Exhibit”, the first fair was held on October 22-24, 1914 in Ridgeway.  They offered premiums for “live stock, corn and other products” and “everybody should get up on their toes for the biggest little affair of the kind ever pulled off in Harrison County”. 

In 1915, the fair was held in the J. W. Leazenby pasture west of town (on the north side of the current Route A just before you get to town).  It featured not only exhibits of livestock, crops and other items but also musical entertainment and the aerial sensations “The Flying Bicketts”, who were “double trapeze experts and wizards of the air”.  While the Ridgeway Journal referred to it as the “Harrison County Fair”, the other county papers called it “the second annual fair at Ridgeway.”

The 1916 Harrison County Fair in Ridgeway lasted 5 days and promised “to eclipse, in more ways than one, any like event ever held in the county.”  Free attractions included the Kohlman’s big band and the “biggest display of fireworks ever set off in Harrison County” including a piece specially made for the fair called “America First, Then Comes Ridgeway.” 

The 1917 Ridgeway Fair was still called by Ridgeway as the “Harrison County Fair” but listed on other Harrison County papers as the “Harrison County Agricultural and Mechanical Fair”. 

That year’s event was not a financial success and it seemed that some people thought that Ridgeway should give up on having a fair “after being rained out and frozen out for four years, but the Ridgeway spirit is not so easily broken” and the promoters were already planning to enlarge the fair.  However, there was no Ridgeway fair in 1918, although there would be other fairs in later years.

Bit of History - March 20, 2024

On July 16, 1914, the City of Ridgeway published the city’s financial statements for the first six months of the year.  The city received a total of $1,361.26 from taxes, fines and licenses.  Among the expenses was $23.29 for being overdrawn on January 1, $43.67 for the clerk’s salary.  The marshal was the highest paid city worker at $75; the aldermen were pai $56.25 and the mayor received $18 for the six-month period.  They paid $41.30 for the election.  The road fund received 289.56 from taxes and paid out $243.56 for materials, labor, “road drags” and street commissioner salary and fees.  There were two special funds for the new City Hall and jail ($3000) and Electric Light Fund ($10,014.10).  E. S. Miner Jr., City Treasurer, certified that “all the above is a correct accounting of all money received and paid by me.”

Bit of History - March 13, 2024

On January 1, 1914, I. W. Maple put a small ad in the Ridgeway Journal that his new theater was nearly finished and would be opening on January 20 with a production by the Leonard Players.  The theater was a brick building on the west side of Main Street between Pine and Cedar just north of the building where R & T’s thrift shop was formerly located. The building took up the entire lot with the stage at the west end and the box office on the east as you came in from Main Street.

The theater quickly became a hub for community activity.  People came there to watch plays, slide shows and the new moving pictures, but it also hosted community events such as the school plays, commencement ceremonies, church events and meetings.  The theater got a new Minus Gold screen in 1917 which was “!0 x 13, entirely seamless and woven into one piece” which was a great improvement over the old one.

Maple ran the theater himself until 1923 when he leased it to E. W. Johnson in 1923 and John McCrary in 1924.  He had opened a new theater in Albany and moved there to manage it.  The theater operated as the Rex until 1929 when it was purchased by Bill Leonard of the Leonard Players.  He installed a new projector and renamed the theater to Ridgeway Community Theater.  But in 1932, the building was acquired by the Ridgeway Building & Loan. Under the management of Dean Leazenby, mayor of Ridgeway, the theater was completely renovated with all new sound equipment and reopened as the Palace Theatre.

The Palace offered all the newest “talkies” for Ridgeway’s entertainment and continued to provide space for community events as well.  They hosted Missouri Public Service’s “Electric Cookery School” for families who had purchased the new-fangled electric ranges and wanted to learn to use them and “Instruction by Moving Pictures” courses for agriculture.  The theater remained open until at least the 1950s when it stopped being mentioned in any of the Harrison County papers. 

The building was torn down decades ago and I have no pictures of it to share, but if you have some or know of someone who does and is willing to share, please let me know. 

Bit of History - May 25, 2022

Even in 1914 when Ridgeway was booming, businesses were concerned about people going outside Ridgeway to shop.  This little piece appeared in the March 12, 1914, edition of the Ridgeway Journal.  Even though we may not have nearly the number of businesses now as over 100 years ago, it is still nice to shop in Ridgeway when we can, especially now with the Farmers & Makers Market.

Why You Should Shop at Home:
Because my interests are here. 
Because the community that is good enough for me to live in is good enough for me to buy in. 
Because I believe in transacting business with my friends. 
Because I want to see the goods. 
Because I want to get what I buy when I pay for it.
 Because every dollar I spend at home stays at home and works for the welfare of the town. 
Because the man (person) I buy from stands back of the goods. 
Because I sell what I produce here at home. 
Because the man I buy from pays his part of town, county, and state taxes.
 Because the man I buy from helps support my school, my church, my lodge, my home. 
Because when ill luck, misfortune or bereavement comes, the man I buy from is here with his kindly greeting, his word of cheer, and his pocketbook if need be.

Bit of History - May 18, 2022

Did you know that at one time, Ridgeway elected its postmaster?  On November 19, 1914, the Ridgeway Journal announced that Postmaster Melvin would leave his post the next February and that Congressmen J. W. Alexander decreed that the next Ridgeway postmaster would be chosen by public ballot.  The election would be held “by Australian ballot system” on November 27 from 7 am to 7 pm.  At the time the article was written, three democrats had announced their candidacy:  Charles E. Johnson, James T. Jefferies, and F. M. Spragg.  By November 26, four more candidates were vying for the job:  C.O. Buzzard, J. C. McCaul, C. A. Stoner, and C. E. Switzer.  The paper concluded with “take your pick –it’s bound be a democrat any way you choose. “

The race was on and it was “a warm number from start to finish. The seven candidates worked hard, and automobiles played a very prominent part by bringing in the country voters.  Much electioneering was done by friends of the candidates and as a result, it is said that many votes failed to land where they were originally promised.”  The paper went on to say that there was more interest in this local postmaster election that for a presidential election and no one had any idea who would win until the votes were counted.  C. A. Stoner won with 63 votes, easily beating F. M. Spragg who had 52 votes and J. T. Jefferies with 51 votes.  

FYI, the “Australian ballot system” is the system we use today for voting in public elections.  Also known as the “secret ballot’, it uses a pre-printed ballot, and the voter remains anonymous.

Bit of History - May 4, 2022

“There Will Be Light” was the leading headline in the February 26, 1914, issue of the Ridgeway Journal.  Ridgeway voters had just approved a $10,000 bond issue to build an electric light plant in the city of Ridgeway. Despite having already approved a $3000 bond to build the new city hall and jail, voters approved it with by a ratio nearly 9 to 1.   The board of aldermen set to work requesting and accepting bids.  In March, they purchased a plot of land from Daniel Landes in the southwest corner of the 6^th Block of the Miner Addition, just east of the railroad.  (From old maps, I think it would have been about where the dog pound is now, or a little east of it).  They hired E. Y. Davis & Son of Albany to construct the powerhouse out of brink and tile for a cost of $897. This company also built the new city hall and jail that year as well as a new brick office building for Dr. Lake Brewer, which completed the first block of all-brick commercial buildings in Ridgeway. (Ridgeway Journal, Apr 23, 1914)

In the April 16, 1914, issue of the Journal, the Board announced they had accepted several bids for the electric plant.   They purchased a Fairbanks-Morse 2-cylinder, 4 cycle 50 horsepower oil engine and a 10,000-gallon oil tank for $2,765. Westinghouse Electric provided all the electrical equipment for the building and Western Electric sold the city all the poles, streetlights, wires, cables, transformers, etc.  The Board then hired Ridgeway electrician C.I. Wiley to oversee all that installation.  The equipment was delayed slightly, but by August 27, the Journal reported that the light service was operational, and customers were slowly converting to the new electric light plant.  By September, the service schedule was provided by the board of aldermen:  the lights would go on from 5 pm to 11 pm (except Saturdays and other special days when evening entertainments needed them on longer).  Morning light service started on October 1 from 5 am to sunup and “Ironing Day” service was from 8 am to 11am on Wednesdays. 

Bit of History - April 7, 2022

The year of 1914 was a big one for the city of Ridgeway.  That was the year that the city built a City Hall and jail and contracted to have a gasoline-powered electric plant build and the city wired for electricity. In the midst of all this, on June 23, 1914, J. H. Shirer and C. S. Stoner came to the board of alderman with a proposal:  if the board would contribute to the cost of building a new bandstand in the park, they would raise the rest of the money via donations.  Per the meeting minutes of the City of Ridgeway Board of Aldermen,  the board considered that proposal and agreed to give $150.  The board appointed three men to serve as the Park Board to oversee construction:  A. A. Guteridge (Chairmen), Ernest Snider and “Mr. Daniels”.  Meanwhile, donations were being collected.  Per an article in the July 2, 1914, issue of the Ridgeway Journal, the old stand had been torn down and the new one started.  One donation was a benefit by the Rex Theater where they donated their proceeds from showing an a one-reel comedy entitled “Those Persistent Old Maids” and a two-reel drama named “The Power of Prayer”.  The program also included orchestra selections, vocal solos, and a male quartette.  At the time of the screening, the town had collected $350 of the expected $450 cost of the stand (about $12,767 today.)  By the August 1 board meeting, the building had been completed to the point of adding the roof.  

Park Bandstand in September, 2022

Bit of History - March 30, 2022

 “Where’s Perry?”  In August 1914, the Ridgeway Journal posted a $5 reward for any information about a printer of theirs named Perry Tschup (pronounced “chupp”) who had gone missing in the night of August 6.  He was described as “22 years old, of small stature, 5’6” in height, weight about 130.  Black hair and eyes, fair complexation, and at the time of his disappearance, had a slight wound over right eye.  Will probably show up in some printing office.”   (Ridgeway Journal, Aug 13, 1914)

That was the last anyone seemed to have heard of Perry in Ridgeway in 1914. I scanned through several weeks of Ridgway Journals after that notice and didn’t find another mention of him despite the $5 reward (about $140 today).  Thanks to the power of the internet, I did find him – in Indiana.  It seems that Perry returned home to Munster, IN where he worked as a printer in the winter and on freighters during the summer.  He entered the Army during WWI and got into a lot of trouble when he assaulted a young woman and ended up in jail.  He pled guilty and was turned over to the military and somehow ended up overseas to serve in the war.  He fought, was severely injured and honorably discharged.  He returned home to his old career as a printer, married, had children and grandchildren, retired from printing to become a farmer, and passed away in 1983 at the age of He died in 1983 at the age of 91. (Sources available upon request.)  I wonder if anyone in Ridgeway ever heard from him again.  I found him only because his name is rather unique and he is mentioned many times in the local papers throughout his life.  

Bit of History - March 23, 2022

We all know that advertising helps pay for the media we enjoy like streaming TV, Facebook and other social sites, radio, magazines, and yes, newspapers such as this one.  

In 1914, advertising appeared throughout the newspaper, including the front page and op-ed pages where we don’t typically see advertising these days.  For example, on the front page of the March 20, 1913 edition of the Ridgeway Journal was an advertisement for seed potatoes by Stoner’s Drug Store.  The next week (March 27, 1913) , a clothing store in Ridgeway named Campbell & Bartlett advertised their little boys’ woolen suits would last twice as long as other company’s suits for boys. Several pages later, in the “Local Mention” column, we learn that Mrs. Bessie Brock of Eagleville came to visit at the Jim Brock home, Otta Richardson went Bethany to visit his sister, Gold Medal Flour was on sale, a baby girl was born to the Inks family  and Campbell & Bartlett could clean that clothing for you to keep it looking good.  I was amused to see that the “social media” hasn’t really changed all that much.

Bit of History - March 16, 2022

In 1914, Ora Fordyce was out hunting on his property south of Ridgeway when he came upon a very unexpected site:  a body of a large reddish-brown monkey  hanging from a tree.  The monkey had a collar attached to long heavy chain that was fastened to a tree limb.  No one had any idea where the monkey came from, but Ora planned to have it stuffed and mounted.  (The Tampa Tribune, Jan 19, 1914)  I checked other sources, but no one reported a missing monkey near Ridgeway.  There was a monkey that went missing about that time from a lab at Johns Hopkins University, but that animal was found and returned. 

Ora had other interesting things happen with animals.  In 1938, his family were featured in the Maryville paper when one of his farm cats, having lost her own litter, adopted seven motherless skunks, and raised them as her own.  (The Maryville Daily Forum, Jul 06, 1936).  Then in 1940, he allegedly hauled a buffalo head back to Ridgeway that had been found just sitting on a pile of snow on Highway 69 between Eagleville and Lamoni, IA.  He installed the head in front of John Adams meat market for all to see.  (The Kansas City Times, Feb 12, 1940).

Ora Fordyce (also known as Orey F. Fordyce) was born in 1885 and grew up near Ridgeway, attending Ridgeway High School.  He owned a farm south of Ridgeway and was an avid hunter and fisherman.  He was also active in community.  If you happen to own a copy of the second volume of “Ridgeway: Then and Now”, there is a very nice story about his life on pages 18 and 19.   

Bit of History - October 6, 2021

Over the summer, while scanning copies of ordinances to put onto the city website, I found some letters regarding the city park that were very interesting.  The assumption has always been that the land for the park was donated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad.  The park land was donated to the city with requirements that the city keep the park fenced and maintained.  In 1914, the city wanted to do some updates to the park such as trimming trees and building some buildings, so the city clerk, W. L. Perkins, wrote to the railroad to ask if this was acceptable.  The person who received his letter, W. Card, who then forwarded it to I. J. Moon, the train master at St. Joseph, to investigate as the railroad had no records of this donation.  Mr. Moon obtained the original deed and discovered that the railroad had not, in fact, donated the land to the city. 

The land was given to the city by Mr. Charles E. Perkins and his wife, Edith Perkins, in 1899.  Mr. Perkins was the vice president of the C B & Q railroad and had personally purchased the land where Ridgeway now sits and had the property platted for the new city.  Per tax records published in the Bethany paper, he owned most of those lots for several years until they were eventually all sold.  The deed for the park did require the park be kept up or the land would revert back to the original owners.  As the city still owns the park, the plans from 1914 were acceptable and hopefully the Perkins family would approve the latest round of improvements by the community betterment association.