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Sho-Me Santa Fe
Trail Scenic Byway
As you leave Saline
County going west, you are about to enter one of the most beautiful and
scenic roads in this area. First is Peter's Market a source for all
kinds of apples, peaches, and a large variety of vegetables. When you
turn onto Highway 24 you are driving through the site of one of the
earliest plantations of the Little Dixie Era. As you turn, you
pass the Cemetery in which the Galbraith's, who owned the plantation, are
buried along with early settlers of the area. You now approach the site
of the old junction of Highways 24 and 65 on the right is the Lucky
Lizard, a good place to eat, turn right onto Old Bridge Street, next is the Bridge Street Market (formerly Schrieman's Market) then continue on
Old Bridge Street to the newly reopened Bridge
Inn, noted far and wide for their fish. Return to Kelling Ave., and as you travel about a
block and a half you will see on the right, a Santa Fe Trail marker
which stands in the yard of a log house, built in 1818, the only
original log cabin still existing on the Santa Fe Trail, which has been
occupied continually since that date. On the corner of Kelling Ave and
East Washington on the right is the site of the restoration of Hazel
Hill School, a one room school dating to the early 1870's. This will be
a museum and visitor center for Waverly. Turn right and continue down the
hill and you will arrive at the Port of Waverly where many, many of the
old time steamboats
stopped to deliver goods and take on coal. There
were coal mines located a short distance from this park in either
direction. In this park you can watch as boats travel up and down the
Missouri River
and might take time to catch a fish or watch the Jumping Asian Fish
and see a 100 car unit train.
As you go back up the hill and arrive at Kelling Ave and turn right (west)
you will pass the St Thomas Presbyterian Church built in 1853, that will
be refurbished as a Multi-generational Culture Center. As you on down
the street, on the right, you
will pass the Waverly Regional Youth Center, formerly Kelling Clinic
and Hospital, where young boys in trouble
are treated and taught to get their GED. At the end of the block stands
the Waverly United Methodist Church where General Jo. Shelby raised his
Confederate Army of 1000 men on the front steps in four days, as you
turn right (north) the Waverly Christian Church is on the right, it was used as a
hospital during the Civil War. At the end of the next block on the left
is the house that received a cannon ball fired by a Union gun boat shot
by Heck Ledford, who later became a citizen of Waverly. At the end of
this street and about half way down the hill on the right was where
General Jo Shelby's home stood until it was burned by the Redlegs. This
hill is known as Mount Rucker named after a Doctor who loved to stand
there and see the vistas in all directions.
Returning to Highway 24 you will pass a impressive home which was
occupied by General Jo Shelby for a short time, corner of Commercial and
Jefferson. On the south side of
Highway 24 you see a large cemetery which contains the remains of war
heroes, prominent citizens and a lot of friends. The land was donated by
Washington Shroyer in 1846. The first grave was opened by Uncle Mel
Yourie a slave, farmer and land owner. He was buried there in 1909 at
the age of 109. There are soldiers of the Revolutionary War, War of
1812, Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I and II in their final
resting place.
As you continue west on Highway 24 you will see Waverly Apple BBQ
serving BBQ, broasted chicken and catfish. Across the highway is the
Santa Fe Elementary School, one of the top ten schools in Missouri, and for
the last three years a Gold Star School. Just west of the school is the
Waverly Memorial Park dedicated to those who paid the supreme price for
our freedom. Listed on the Plaque are Billy Maurice Salyer, Marvin
Hatfield, James Edwards, Isaac Frazier, Albert Hain, Arlos White, M.
Kelso Wolfe, Robert Cambridge, and John Bonk Jr. The park was built in 1946
by the Waverly War Dads and the American Legion.
Continuing west you will come to the Buckland Park, a small roadside park,
which is the only small roadside park on Highway 24
for many, many miles. In 1950 this land was donated by Mrs. Nellie Buck
Corder in memory of her parents, N. P. and Margaret Buck, to the Missouri
Highway Department, whose son, Leon Corder was a engineer with the
Missouri Highway
Department. You will find many folks stop here to eat and rest and watch
the birds and critters such as turkey and deer.
Next on your left is one of the oldest roadside stands, Schreiman's
Orchard, which has been in operation
for over 75 years. A wide variety of Amish baked goods and
candy, fruits and vegetables and crafts are available for purchase,
during the peach and apple season. A short
distance west is the Mount Hope Cemetery. This was the site of a village
called Mount Hope which had great hopes of becoming a bustling town, but
because it was so far from the Missouri River, the main means of
transportation at this time, it never materialized and the village
disappeared.
As we continue west we find the Baltimore Bend Conservation Area. This
is named for the riverboat, Baltimore, which found its final resting place
against an island in the bend of the Missouri River. It contains 1192
acres of wooded slopes with narrow ridges and open fields with a large
variety of local types of trees and native grasses and fields of grain
to provide food for the birds and animals. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has an additional 1490 acres of bottom land. There are many
things to do in this fine area such as hunting, fishing, primitive
camping, hiking, nature study and wildlife viewing, and outdoor
photography. Be sure to pick up the rules and regulations for your
safety and enjoyment.
Now we come to Baltimore Bend Winery, one of Missouri's newest wineries,
which has all ready been
established as a nationally recognized
winery, by winning top awards. They have a large variety of wines and
offer tasting samples. Many times during the year they have special
celebrations such as barrel tasting, Harvest Moon, and others.
Now when you approach the next road in just a short distance you may
once again stop to enjoy and fresh garden vegetables and tree ripened
peaches at the M & S Orchards one mile North.
As you travel on west on Highway 24 you will see Cramer's Farm where they buy
and sell walnut and other kinds of logs. Traveling on west several miles you will
see a sign for Cramer's Hilltop Nursery, where in the spring growing
season all kinds of vegetable and flower plants may be purchased.
The next point of interest is just outside Dover on the north side of
the road there is the sign of wagon tracks of the Santa Fe Trail. One of
the rare occasions that they have not been erased. Highway 24 followed
these tracks many years ago.
Prepared By John Hinz 7-13-2006 |