The coal rush
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By Lyman Bott
of Moundville, Missouri Born 1927
I was born in western Kansas, during the era of the severe dust storms. My folks had a wheat farm, and after several crop failures, dad sold the farm for what little he could get. We moved to a small farm on the outskirts of the sleepy little farming town of Moundville, Mo., population around 200.
Then, not much later, coal was discovered about a mile west of town. Two big steam shovels moved in, and started strip mining and hiring a lot of people at a time of not much employment in this area.
The town started booming. And at one time, the population of 800 or more exceeded that of Nevada, Mo., the county seat of Vernon County. At the peak of the "coal rush," there were five grocery stores, although three were small; five filling stations; a hardware store; a lumberyard; a 5 and 10 cent store; two restaurants; a new "Model T" Ford agency; a barber shop; a doctor's office; a drugstore; two feed stores; an undertaking parlor; a telephone office; four churches; two auto and buggy repair shops; a jail; two lodges, "The Modern Woodman" and "The National Order of Odd Fellows;" a bank, a post office, a livery stable, a saloon, grain elevators, and a railroad station where the daily train, called "The Doodlebug," picked up livestock and passengers! It came from Pittsburg, Kan., to Nevada, Mo. You could ride from Moundville to Nevada, Mo., 10 miles for 10 cents. There was also a grade school, a high school and a two-year college named "Cooper College," after a Mr. Cooper who donated the land for the college.
After the coal ran out, the town started dwindling, as people started seeking employment elsewhere. Today there is one service station, a repair shop, a part-time post office, and a new grain elevator. The population is around 85 now.
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The company did leave some nice "strip pits" that quickly filled up with clear blue water and made for some nice swimming for us kids, and which today are good fishing spots.