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]

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)]

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]

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]

 “Once the most important and popular play place of the Tri-State district,” Lakeside Park in Jasper…

Dorothy Leake in the 1920s

Dorothy Van Dyke Leake, an educator noted for her ecological work and her efforts to…

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]

John Malang, “The Father of Missouri Roads,” was born on September 9, 1866 or 1867. Sources provide…

Curtis Fletcher Marbut, circa 1930s. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Curtis F. Marbut Papers, C3720]

Curtis Fletcher Marbut revolutionized American thinking in soil science and had an…

Hanging rock

Located in the southwest corner of Missouri, McDonald County borders Arkansas and Oklahoma. Situated within the…