Tales from Days Gone By

Dr. Bill Eddleman
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Behind the big themes, celebrated figures, and dry dates of history are the interesting stories of life in the past and ordinary people. Southeast Missouri has a varied and rich history that you often don’t hear about in history classes. Join Bill Eddleman of the State Historical Society of Missouri to hear about these stories with “Tales from Days Gone By.”

  1. 5D AGO

    All Covered with Heavy Timber: The Vanished Forest of the Southeast Lowlands

    In 1869, the lawyer and future railroad entrepreneur and historian Louis Houck rode the court circuit to Kennett with other lawyers and court officials. Upon reaching a point south of Bloomfield, as he later wrote, “I sat down on a hillside on the left of where Dexter now stands, looking over a vast forest of timber on all sides, greatly impressed; not a single farm in sight or opening in the vast woods except at the foot of the hill, an open place known as Miller’s Farm. Going south for miles we traveled along the edge of what was known as the East Swamp, all covered with heavy timber.”

    4 min

  2. FEB 11

    When the Bubble Burst: The Panic of 1837 in Eastern Missouri

    Economic conditions boomed in Missouri and the country in 1835. The cotton market and prices increased throughout the South, resulting in increased land purchases and growing demand for enslaved workers. Across the Lead Belt of southeast Missouri, rising lead production and increased demand for furs fueled the boom conditions.

    4 min

  3. JAN 21

    William A. Bacon’s Service in Southeast Missouri and on the Plains

    On a summer’s day in July 1926, a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian noticed an old man sitting in Courthouse Park across the street from the newspaper. The reporter greeted the man, who introduced himself as William A. Bacon, a Union Civil War veteran who had just celebrated his 80th birthday.

    4 min

  4. JAN 7

    "A Place Where People Are Uplifted Spiritually" — The Tale of Epworth Among the Hills

    The area around Arcadia in Iron County first became known to many young people of the mid and late 20th Century as a place to go to summer camp. Many of these camps were church camps and remain, although they are not as popular as they once were.

    4 min

  5. 12/24/2025

    A Merry Christmas in 1872: Reports from Southeast Missouri Towns

    Not that long ago, a frequent practice of local newspapers was to have a representative of communities in their circulation area report on happenings in those smaller towns. Some of the reports give valuable insight into local history, while others border on gossip.

    4 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    Pilot Training in the Bootheel: The Malden Army Airfield

    When the U. S. declared war on Japan and Germany at the end of 1941, mobilization of the armed forces began immediately. An acute need for fighter pilots required that training had to begin as soon as possible. The War Department acquired several new sites for airfields, including 2900-acre site four miles north of Malden in Dunklin County.

    4 min

  7. 11/26/2025

    Nearly 100 Years of Brewing in Old Appleton

    One of the longest-running local breweries in southeast Missouri, Old Appleton Brewery, started with a German immigrant, Caspar Ludwig.

    4 min

  8. 11/12/2025

    St. Francois County’s Oldest Settlement: Big River Mills

    One of the first American settlements in the Ste. Genevieve District was at a cluster of land grants on the west side of Rivere Grande, or Big River, in present-day St. Francois County.

    4 min
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About

Behind the big themes, celebrated figures, and dry dates of history are the interesting stories of life in the past and ordinary people. Southeast Missouri has a varied and rich history that you often don’t hear about in history classes. Join Bill Eddleman of the State Historical Society of Missouri to hear about these stories with “Tales from Days Gone By.”

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