the State Historical Society of Missouri
![This steamboat once graced northern Indian Creek in McDonald County, Missouri. [Courtesy of Ric Akehurst]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2026-01/1.-indian-springs.jpg?itok=O0vOq6OB "This steamboat once graced northern Indian Creek in McDonald County, Missouri. [Courtesy of Ric Akehurst]")
Indian Springs was a resort town in …
![Herman Jaeger. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Southwest Missouri Region Photograph Collection, P1110]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Herman_Jaeger.jpg?h=edea59cd&itok=ZIxcaUYw "Herman Jaeger. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Southwest Missouri Region Photograph Collection, P1110]")
Herman Jaeger was born in Brugg, Switzerland, on March 23, 1844, the sixth of seven…
![Jolly Mill circa 2022. [Photo by Ross Brown]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-03/1.-jolly-mill.jpg?h=7e5f5b54&itok=YZl1LG4V "Jolly Mill circa 2022. [Photo by Ross Brown]")
Jolly Mill, a grist mill and whiskey distillery, was built in the late 1840s on Capps Creek in…
![Nathaniel N. Kinney. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Rolla Research Center, William L. Vandeventer Papers (R1428)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Nathaniel_N_Kinney.jpg?h=b52d3aca&itok=IzJ8gtIa "Nathaniel N. Kinney. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Rolla Research Center, William L. Vandeventer Papers (R1428)]")
Nathaniel “Nat” N. Kinney has a popular image as a romantic, violent, swashbuckling…
![Emma R. Knell, circa 1926. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Knell Family Photographs Collection, P0708-015517]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Emma%20R.%20Knell.jpg?h=c427acad&itok=yJMP7Qme "Emma R. Knell, circa 1926. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Knell Family Photographs Collection, P0708-015517]")
Emma R. Knell, a businesswoman and politician, was born in Moline, Illinois, on October 21…
![The Figure 8 roller coaster at Lakeside Park, added in 1907, was a “huge reversing spiral” in which cars rushed down a half-mile curving track with “three figure eights in a descent of 50 feet.” [Courtesy of the Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-06/1.%20Figure%208%20Roller%20Coaster%20Lakeside%20Park%20Joplin%20Museum%20Complex.JPG?h=c36628e1&itok=hcrmvx97 "The Figure 8 roller coaster at Lakeside Park, added in 1907, was a “huge reversing spiral” in which cars rushed down a half-mile curving track with “three figure eights in a descent of 50 feet.” [Courtesy of the Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum]")
“Once the most important and popular play place of the Tri-State district,” Lakeside Park in Jasper…
Dorothy Van Dyke Leake, an educator noted for her ecological work and her efforts to…
![Log City, circa 1942. [State Historical Society of Missouri, John F. Bradbury Jr. Postcard Collection, R1551]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2025-02/1.-log-city.jpg?h=faa43f9b&itok=BH2xWmeN "Log City, circa 1942. [State Historical Society of Missouri, John F. Bradbury Jr. Postcard Collection, R1551]")
![Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Mary Kathy Dains Photograph Collection, P0300]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Mary_Elizabeth_Mahnkey.jpg?h=fdc48845&itok=wxfN7XjG "Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Mary Kathy Dains Photograph Collection, P0300]")
Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey was a lifelong newspaper and magazine journalist, and a regional poet. Born in Boone…
![John Malang. [Floyd Calvin Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians: Land of Contrasts and People of Achievements, 1943]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-04/1.-john-malang.jpg?h=7d0e74b9&itok=G6K7Xt8P "John Malang. [Floyd Calvin Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians: Land of Contrasts and People of Achievements, 1943]")
John Malang, “The Father of Missouri Roads,” was born on September 9, 1866 or 1867. Sources provide…