Melva, MO (ghost town)

[Barracuda]

Found this today and thought it was interesting. There's supposed to be a few ruins and foundations of this town that was destroyed in 1920 by a tornado. It's south of Hollister but before the AR border. It says to follow the Rail Road tracks south and the ruins of the old Post Office are on the left. Anybody been there yet or know any more info?

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ ... rnado.html

[Hiccup]

dammit!
too much to see!
too much to do!
*head explodes*

add this to my list of cool shit i wanna see
*head re-explodes*

[Barracuda]

So I'm slow. This one was apparently old news too.

[gimpface]

I've been there LOTS of times, it's one of my favorite areas to check out. You used to have to hoof it all the way down the tracks from Hollister to get there, but with the bridge to Branson Creek golf course (which is almost on top of Melva), access is better than ever. The foundation for the old missionary house is still standing and can be seen from the tracks. Further up the hill there are several foundations and old walls. Once I found the buried remains of what I think was a Ford, but that was years ago and I can't find it now. I recall at least one of the foundations having a cellar next to it, but it was partially collapsed and inaccessable.
Melva's main industry was providing lumber and labor for the construction of the railroad. There were several mines: The Silver Moon, The King Solomon, The Josie B, and The Morning Star. The minerals mined were lead, zinc, and copper. The mining began in 1907, but in 1911 a geological report lists the district as "not active at present". Mining would continue on and off for several years. I've been half-assedly trying to find the Silver Moon for some time now, and I'm getting close. I don't think it was built over after all. I know what section it is in, and I know that it is a half mile from the tracks. I also know that the shaft, if not collapsed, is at least forty feet deep, possibly more. They had planned on taking it down to 150, with another shaft up the hill a bit going to the same depth with a drift connecting them. Don't know if they did. If not collapsed, certainly flooded. Getting closer...

[gimpface]

Anyone wishing to make a field trip, take hwy 65 south past Hollister. On your lefthand side, turn onto maple street ( you can't miss it, big "Branson Creek turn here!" signs are around). Turn into the B.C. property, cross the bridge, and on the left side you'll see a trail leading off. Park somewhere around there, ignore the tiny "no tresspassing" sign, and walk the trail down the hill to Melva. There is a cleared trail with recent surveying work having been done in this area, leading me to believe that Melva may not be around much longer. Check it out before they plow over another bit of history.

[caver]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,reminded me of the Seinfeld episode
where he's trying to figure out his girlfriends name which rhymes with a female body part.....Mulva....

[bluecookies]

ignore the tiny "no tresspassing" sign

haha!

[ShadowBearer]

Bransoncreek has no real security. I am pretty good friend s with the owner's granddaughter so I might ask her to see what she can find out about the mine.

[Grey]

Once again you need to show me this place gimpface...if you don't there will be a price to pay.

[ShadowBearer]

Yeah...you will get the famous "grey bitchyness"

[Grey]

I believe you are far more bitchy than I am...but that's off subject. This is one place we need to checkout though

[ShadowBearer]

How does tuesday work?

[Grey]

Thinking that we already have a lot to do on tuesday, we will see if we can fit it in.

[gimpface]

If you guys want to do this Tues, that's fine but we'll need to do it before:

A) Nightfall- this would be a major pain-in-the-ass after dusk.

And

B)Drunkeness- although I'm sure it would be entertaining, this would probably not be a good place to stumble around head-butting things.

[Grey]

We will see how plan A goes before we decide. How's that sound.