Scott City Archives

November 19, 2011

Scott City’s Eisleben Lutheran Church

Who knows how these conversations start? At one point during Mother’s Birthday Season celebration, Brother Mark insisted that Friend Robin Hirsch had been to the Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City. I have no idea, nor did Robin, why this would have occurred, but we were soon loaded in the van and headed to Scott City. Mother heard the jingling of the car keys, so she, of course, was on board.

Robin wasn’t ready to concede that she had ever been there before, but she unfolded the extra joint in her arm to document that she and Mark had been there this time. I thought only teenage girls had that extra joint, but it must be a universal female characteristic. Click on any photo to make it larger.

Church has interesting steeple

The church had an unusual steeple and bell tower. I couldn’t tell from the ground if it was steel or some other material.

Church built in 1913

Above the front door is a stone that reads

Ev. Luth. Eisleben

Kirche

Gebaut – 1913

That translates to Evangelical Lutheran Church Built 1913.

There’s not much information on the web about the church. Wikipedia says that the church dates back to 1851.

Past Buried May 1, 2011

There is a curious marker at the foot of a newly-planted tree alongside the main sidewalk. “The Past Buried May 1, 2011,” it reads. It would be interesting to know what that means.

Santa Visits Illmo-Scott City

The caption under this photo in the Dec. 17, 1966, Missourian said “Santa Claus – particularly his beard – proved almost as interesting as the gifts he distributed to the children at the annual Christmas party given Friday night by the Illmo-Scott City Junior Wives for children of that community. In the picture above, Kim just can’t keep her hands off Santa’s beard. Her little friends watch in fascination, waiting for their chance to steal a stroke of the silky hair. The party, given at the junior high school gymnasium in Illmo, was attended by 124 special guests.

That’s the only photo that ran in the paper, but here are some that didn’t make it into print.

Wide-eyed wonder

I think I know why the kids have these expressions. That’s the scariest Santa Claus I think I’ve ever seen.

Beard, not face, gets the attention

Fortunately, Santa’s beard got all of the attention. I don’t know that I ever shot another Santa that wore a full-face mask,.

Santa has great personality

Despite his scary appearance, Santa had a great rapport with the kids. The 124 children were guests of the 15 Junior Wives Club and their children.

The story said that a decorated Christmas tree flanked by large candles appointed the room. A film, “The Littlest Angel,” obtained from the Riverside Regional Library was shown, games were played and carols sung.

Gift boxes as large as the children

Some of the children received gifts almost as large as they were. In addition to the gifts, the children also received bags of candy, fruit and gum.

Club members said about $350 was spent on the party. The money was raised at the Junior Wives annual benefit social, held in October, and other club projects during the year.

Photo gallery

Here’s a collection of photos from the event. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

February 3, 2010April 2, 2021

Scott City I-55 Interchange Under Construction in 1960s

A trip to St. Louis or Memphis took all day

If you’re a Post-Boomer, you probably don’t know going to St. Louis or Memphis was an all-day affair before Interstate 55 was built. It was such a big deal that The Missourian routinely ran briefs that said, “Mr. and Mrs. John Jones, 1618 Somewhere St., journeyed to St. Louis for shopping and to see relatives.”

It wasn’t until the late 60s that the paper established the policy that a mere trip to those two cities didn’t warrant coverage unless actual news was committed.

I had forgotten how recently I-55 was constructed, until I saw the aerial photo above tacked on the end of the roll that had the Bald Knob Cross shots on it. That would have put it roughly in 1964. (Also on the roll are some shots of downtown Cape before the KFVS building was built. They’re coming in the next few days.)

It took me a little head-scratching to figure out where the photo was taken. My first guess was Route K near the mall, but there are no railroad tracks out there. Then, I remembered some overpasses over tracks in the Chaffee area, but there’s no Interstate there.

It was the Scott City Interchange

Finally, I pulled up Google Earth and started searching for railroad tracks near an interchange with a highway overpass nearby. I also figured that it was probably near the Cape Airport where Ernie Chiles and I would have taken off. Bingo. That was it. The giveaway turned out to be what I assume to be a train station just east of the ramp area.

Highway 61 is the overpass on the left

The overpass to the left of the interchange carried traffic north over the Diversion Channel to Cape and south to Benton. The road that parallels the railroad track is Main Street leading into Scott City.

The equipment used to build the Interstate was a little more modern than the steam roller my Dad used to pave Rt. 25 going into Advance in 1941.

Here’s a map showing the Scott City Interchange as it looks today

View Scott City Interchange in a larger map

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