Our last Missouri stop was in Old Greenville, a Corps of Engineers park that thankfully has not been shut for budget cuts. It is a place where folks come from not far away to get out of the house, relax, and walk or ride their bikes. During the week the crowd is mostly older folks and many have three-wheeled ebikes to go visiting their friends. Besides that, though, the place is full not only of beauty but of historical interest.
Two friends of mine, who don’t know each other, recommended this park to me. When that happens, I for sure want to find out what it’s all about.
Heavily wooded Old Greenville lies in the southeastern part of the state, just northwest of Lake Wappapello and on the edge of the Ozark Hills. There is a river nearby, the St. Francis.
And therein lies its problem: it floods.
So many times, in fact, that the town was actually moved two miles away after a dam was built in1940. The dam created Lake Wappapello and fixed a lot of problems for everyone else, but made things worse for Greenville. This park still floods. My friend Betty and her husband Dan were not able to stay here in April as they’d planned because it was flooded. The campground was not reopened until just a week or two before our arrival.
On the walking/biking trail that leads out of the park under Route 67, you can see all the levels of flooding that this area has endured before and after the existence of the dam:
In a stroke of genius planning, the town site is still here, and the campground was mostly built around its edges.
Signboards told stories as I walked along the old sidewalks. The picture above shows the foundation of J. Arthur Davis’s car dealership. Around 1929, a Whippet, which is a model of car I’ve never heard of, sold for $600.00.
And here is the courthouse. It wasn’t terribly old when it had to be taken down. A grainy old photograph shows the old steps that still exist.
Another grainy photograph sums up the town’s watery history.
Other things happened in Greenville going back further in time. Indians first used the river here for a crossing. And in a sad chapter in our history, in 1838, more Indians crossed during their forced march west on the Trail of Tears. In its early settlement, before bridges were built, a family by the name of Bettis ran a ferry. Folks who crossed the river could then board stagecoaches north to St. Louis or south to Cape Girardeau.
There were Civil War skirmishes in this area, with a Union and a Confederate leader conducting raids on each other over several years. Since Missouri was split they were both from this state. The men simply returned to their respective counties and led quiet lives after the war.
The cemetery has been left with some graves, five of them being unknown confederate soldiers.
Other graves dating mostly from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s told stories of short lives and lost children. And there was this, on a weathered old tree. When was it carved?
A bike trail leads through the woods to current-day Greenville, and yes, they did receive a brand-new courthouse. It stands behind the Statue of Liberty war memorial shown here.
Perhaps more importantly, Trail’s End Coffee and Cafe is right across the street from the courthouse. Jason and Jordan own this shop and Jason is Greenville’s mayor. Before we had even introduced ourselves, Jordan was preparing s’more pancake bites for us: still-warm bits of pancake with marshmallow creme and chocolate chips with whipped cream on top. And this was after we’d shared a blueberry muffin! She is so nice and the treat was delectable. We returned the next day for lunch.
Back at our campsite, we had one corner of the campground loop all to ourselves for one full day until someone came into the site behind us. Even then, it felt very private. I suppose that the only negative was that we had no TV, no phone service, and no Wi-Fi. This reality served to make us appreciate the interlude even more; we found plenty to do. It was a good excuse to head down to Trail’s End on our bikes to get some connectivity, and we never moved the truck in three days.
Who can complain when the only thing to do is to watch a woodpecker at work?
With thanks to my friends Kris and Betty for all their recommendations. Betty has a blog: chambersontheroad.com, and has also written an ebook called “RVing with Bikes” which you can find on Amazon.
Next time – over the rivers to Paducah
Twosna Travels 