Villages of Crawford County, Missouri - DILLARD "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" and, much later, man with God's help made a lot of gristmills. Gristmills must have been the antecedents of civilization in Crawford County. Among the known sixteen gristmills in the county since 1800, several are still standing. One is located on Huzzah Creek about one and one fourth miles south of Dillard on an unmarked road. This grand old patriarchal symbol of primitive Crawford County has withstood the elements for more than a hundred years. It was built in the decade before the Civil War and named for its builder. It was operated as a water-powered gristmill until 1956. Joseph Dillard Cottrell was the builder, and the founder of the little town of Dillard. The local school also bore his name. Di11ard, like mother little villages, had its boom days, then its decline. The old mill was featured in Caldwells' Historic Sites in 1957, but the description an photograph are not representative of its grandeur. About 1906 the Sligo Iron Furnace Company was operating a railroad from a point near Cook Station to Buick. This railroad was called the Sligo and Eastern and was used largely for hauling ore from Buick to Sligo. A great deal of wood and other products were also shipped on this pioneer railroad. It used the old geared shay locomotive with the diamond stack, the type often used in the lumbering business of the Far West. The Sligo Iron Furnace Company built a frame store building at Dillard around the turn of the century, and this building is still occupied by Cletus Cottrell, a grandson of the founder, Joseph Dillard Cottrell. In the building, Cletus Cottrell and his wife have a general store which is at the present time the only one at Dillard. The Sligo and Eastern Railroad ceased its operation after the Sligo Iron Works closed, but the steel rails and the old decaying ties were not removed until about 1930. In the early days the tracks passed in front of and also behind the Company Store. The freighthouse and the switchyards were scenes of much activity. The hillside was dotted with a score or more houses, for the population at that early time was thought to have been about two hundred. The first post office at Dillard was located about a mile north of the present site and was first managed by Frank Doms. The office was later moved to the old Company Store building and during the next period of years some of the postmasters were Roman Coleman, Ozwald Parker, Everett Feltz, and Cletus Cottrell, the last having served as postmaster since 1938. The mail route which begins at Steelville, then g o e s to Cherryville, Davisville, Dillard, Viburnum, and returns to Steelville has been serviced by Alvin Walker for thirty years. This is a ninety-two mile route and since 1941 Alvin Walker has traveled thousands of miles and has no intention of retiring in the near future. In other days Dillard had four stores; one a large two story structure, was built by John Wilhite. The second floor was used as a meeting place for the Yoeman Lodge. Later it became the meeting place for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, who finally quit using it because it was considered unsafe for use when large crowds assembled. The store was later operated by Henry Fiebelman and later by Clifford Adams and D. L. Riggs. The third store was first owned by Everett Feltz and Everett Coleman, and later by Everett Coleman alone. The fourth one was operated by Fiebelman Brothers. In addition to the stores there were two blacksmith shops and a saloon. The saloon proprietor was Elick Keffer and in his saloon was a barber shop operated by Dink Jones. About 1926 a Job high school was established and Claude Midyett was the first high school principal. In a few years the two-year Job school was changed to a four-year high institution. A new building was constructed with Public Works Administration funds in 1933 and the school continued until absorbed by the Viburnum School System. Teachers remembered during the later years were William Miller, Arthur Naugle, Carrie Roberts , Helen Belle Feltz, Burr Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Yelton, Logan Steen, Mr. Eblen, Virgil Parker, and Walter Leezy. Nearly every community had one or more doctors in the early days and the doctors who practiced at Dillard were Rainey Parker- ----- Taff, and L. B. Donahoe. ------ CRAWFORD COUNTY AND CUBA MISSOURI James Ira Breuer, 1972 p. 113-116 ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe L. Miller ====================================================================