Pulaski County’s downtown Waynesville is one great place to “time-travel” through historical collections, at the Old Stagecoach Stop. Located along the banks of the Roubidoux Creek near the Big Spring, it is on the Kickapoo Trace in The Ozarks of Missouri. Waynesville was first settled in 1832 by G.W. Wilson. Two years later when Harvey Wood, the first postmaster, named the new post office, he dubbed it “Mad Anthony” Wayne after the Revolutionary War hero. The Stagecoach Stop is one of the oldest buildings around and today, the museum is called “Doorways to the Past” because each room – each doorway – represents a different era. The building has been a Stage Coach Stop, a hotel, a Civil War hospital, and, later, apartments in the 1940s and ‘50s. The museum has an amazing tour that takes visitors from the Wild West to the Civil War, to the building of Fort Leonard Wood and beyond. The Old Stagecoach Building was constructed in the late 1850s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this pre-Civil War building was intended as a log cabin by William Walton McDonald. He was a veteran of the Mexican-American War, and came to Pulaski County from St. Louis County around 1850. McDonald soon became the county clerk, circuit clerk, and postmaster. The original structure that he built was comprised of two cabins connected by an open dog-trot. The roof could be dropped in case of fire. One cabin was used originally as a residence and the other, as a stagecoach stop for passengers. The stagecoach was used on the Burden and Woodson route, which later became the South-Western route. This building became important during the Civil War because the stagecoach stop was located on a road vital to the Union Army for moving men and supplies. The road was along an important path leading from the railhead at nearby Rolla to southwestern Missouri and into Arkansas. Although the fort is no longer standing, there is a marker so when visiting, people can still find its site. The fort stood from 1862-65. The guide who ran my tour said when the Civil War broke out, loyalties in the area were truly divided. As in many towns, after the war, when the railroad came through Pulaski County in 1870, the stagecoach disappeared; however, the stop continued as a hotel and boardinghouse through several owners after McDonald sold the building in 1870. The town grew as Waynesville took on new status as the county seat and Route 66 came to town. Then Fort Leonard Wood was built, bringing thousands of construction workers and the Army, once again, filling apartments on the upper floors. The guide said that even in the 1950s electricity had not yet come to the area. The hotel closed its doors in the early 1960s and was later actually condemned by the city of Waynesville in 1982. Local leaders led by Gene and Maxine Farnham were able to save the historic building, and visitors can now enter and see decades of history through these “Doorways to the Past.” This is a seasonal attraction; the Old Stagecoach Stop is open Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April through September. It is also open for certain holiday events. For more information, visit http://oldstagecoachstop.org Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
