1934-2018 is 84 years, hardly the space of a lifetime, but a lot of history can happen between the dashes.
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Three things remain constant, after having gone through many changes — the Honey Creek bridge on Highway 13; the elections; and the fall festival. 1934 and 2018 had another historical event in common — a drought.
Here’s a look back at Daviess County in 1934:
Honey Creek Bridge built in 1934
The Honey Creek Bridge that is now being replaced on Highway 13 so
uth of Gallatin was built 84 years ago, along with Highway 13. The highway was graveled, not paved. And Highway K, also built during this period, was a dirt road, not even graveled. Still, both were considered great improvements.
The contract for building Highway 13 through Daviess County was let on Jan. 19, 1934. It was among the last roads in the state’s secondary system to be constructed.
The contracts were let in eight different sections, most of them three and four miles each. The 164 miles of roadway was estimated to cost $1,903,300.
The call was for 237 men, skilled and unskilled, to report Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, for work on Highway No. 13 construction. The call asked for timekeepers, office men, concrete foremen, grading foremen, carpenters, steel workers, painters, blacksmiths, pump men, steel painters, mechanics, tractor men, and unskilled laborers. Highway 13 was to be completed in five months. The work was in addition to Public Works Administration (PWA) projects.
A staff of highway engineers and assistants located in Gallatin for work on Highway 13 on Feb. 1, and also for a farm-to-market highway, K Highway. The staff included Robert Shottenkirk of Gallatin.
Work started on Highway 13 on Feb. 8, 1934. The first work was done at the “Y” junction of 13 and 6, east of the Wabash depot. The route of No. 6 was to be changed from the “Y” to the top of Harris hill, eliminating the bad curves. The first work on 13, south, was to be building of the Honey Creek bridge.
Haase & Schmidt construction company used crushed stone for surface and crushed their own stone, on some spot south of town. There were several good rock ledges available.
Contractors moved in with their equipment by Feb. 15 and started work. The contractor for Hwy. K, farm-to-market from Highway 6 to Gilman City would be there the next week and start work on that road.
During March, work went forward on both ends of No. 13. They started pouring concrete on the Honey Creek bridge, and the dirt work was started at the Daviess-Caldwell County line.
By May, the state stood ready to bring condemnation proceedings to obtain the last pieces of right-of-way needed for Highway No. 13 between Bethany and the Daviess County line near Coffey.
Hwy. K begins on Highway 6 about four miles east of Gallatin and runs north to Gilman City. No. 13, going north from Gallatin, leaves Highway No. 6 at a point about 500 feet east of Wabash Crossing, going through a cut near the Redmond Smith home, and giving a direct, bee-line route to Jameson.
Highway No. 6 was also worked on east of Gallatin. The winding road up Harris hill just east of Wabash Crossing was straightened and cut down, allowing more “driving sight” for motorists to see an approaching car at a greater distance. As it was, one had to drive blindly up or down hill because of the numerous curves.
By July, with the exception of a short detour around the unfinished Honey Creek bridge south of Gallatin, the new Highway No. 13 was open to Hamilton, graveled and ready for traffic.
A great improvement over the old dirt road which averaged one curve to about every half-mile, the new road lay almost in a straight line from Gallatin south to Hamilton, the curves long, sweeping ones and well banked.
From Gallatin north the road was not so nearly finished. There was still a big detour around the Redmond Smith hill where the great amount of rock made it difficult for the contractors to get through. Another problem was the long haul that had to be made with the rock when it was taken from the hill.
Highway 13 was complete by August. The new highway, south, was graveled and ready for the heaviest traffic the year around. When the contracts were let for the roads, the money was not available to afford graveling both north and south of Gallatin on Highway 13. North 13 was complete except for the graveling.
At about the same time Highway 13 was completed, another road was finished in the county, the farm-to-market road SK. That road left Highway 6 east of Gallatin near the Muddy Creek bridge, going north 6.9 miles. SK was only a graded road, ungraveled, but a great improvement over the other roads a driver had to take to go north from No. 6.
The cost for the two roads was $154,000, divided as follows: No. 13, $132,000, and SK, $22,000. Most of that money was spent on labor, and the labor used was mostly Daviess County men.
Harry Truman loses in Daviess
Missouri’s beloved Harry Truman (33rd President 1945-1953) ran for the United State Senate in 1934. Harry waged a statewide campaign and eventually won the Democratic primary by a significant margin.
He lost the election in Daviess County to J.L. “Tuck” Milligan of Richmond by 790 votes.
He then faced incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Roscoe Patterson, first elected in 1928. Harry won the race by a landslide of about 20% of the vote across the state….but he lost in Daviess County again. This time he lost by 353 votes.
The official ballot for the General Election on Nov. 6, 1934, included the Democratic Party; Republican Party; Socialist Party; Socialist-Labor Party; and the Communist Party. There were a total of 17 Socialist votes cast in the county.
The fall festival
Gallatin’s Annual Fall Festival was held Oct. 4, 5 and 6 in 1934.
The 2018 Chautauqua features car shows and touch-a-truck, with all kinds of emergency equipment to view.
In 1934, the program leaned to the actual four-footed variety of horse-power. There were cows, sheep and hogs on the premium list and the program included a men’s riding contest and a ladies-only five-gaited horse contest. There was a doll show, a dog show, a pony potato race, and a concert featuring Hamilton’s 56-piece band.
In the Ladies’ Hall (under the direction of Mrs. L.R. Doolin) you could find bread, flowers, quilts, rugs, aprons, and pillows. Prizes were given for the best displays of hand work.
Merchants listed as sponsors of the festival were: C.L. Shelton Mercantile; Gallatin Motor; C.K. Connell Hardware; Davis Drug; Jones Barber; Downing’s Grocery; M.E. Fitterer’s & Sons; Mundell Electric; Young Lumber; Tolbert Oil; Farmers Mercantile; Gann’s Bargain Store; Inter-County Telephone; Bank of Gallatin; Model Tailors; City Market; Andrews Produce; First National Bank; Haynes Shoe Shop; and Place Bros. Grocery.
The Drought
Farmers in 2018 have much in common with the farmers of 84 years ago. This year’s farmers are cutting corn for silage, feeding hay through the summer months, and watching their ponds go dry. How did the town folk get by without air conditioning?
“The Dry Weather Continues Here” was the headline for a front page story in the Aug. 9, 1934, edition of the North Missourian:
The intense heat and the dry weather continue here with alarming results — crops are gone. The corn along the river bottom has been lost, both the corn planted early, and the late corn. It has fired both at the top and bottom.
Grand River, although still flowing at the rate of almost 3,000,000 gallons per day, is very low. The temperature reaches above 100 degrees every day, just as regularly as the sun rises, and it continues to stay in the 80s and 90s until late at night. One night recently it was 94 degrees at 10:15.
Doctors report that the ratio of illness is higher this summer than it has been for many years — the intense heat tearing down whatever resistance one may have. The doctors also have warned the people here of over-exertion and working in the sun.
Riding through the streets of the residential section of the town at night will reveal the fact that very little indoor sleeping is being done — the yards are the bedrooms here now, and one doesn’t even need the heaves for a blanket. Any suggestion of a bed cover meets with disfavor.
The city council at Cameron has issued a proclamation that no burning of trash or rubbish will be permitted because of the danger of grass and subsequent fires. Everything is so dry a fire could easily gain headway that would be difficult to overcome. That ruling, it is thought, is because of Cameron’s inadequate water supply.
Gallatin’s water supply is still plentiful, but the citizens have shown wonderful cooperation in conserving the water here in case the shortage would become acute.
Gallatin now has a theme song — “There’ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight,” and it is very, very appropriate.”
Help for Cattlemen
Also on the front page of the same issue (Aug. 9, 1934) was this story: “Help Given Drought Stricken Cattlemen”
The government Drought Cattle Program was thrown into high gear in Daviess County last week with the purchase and shipment of 251 head of drought stricken cattle from 21 farms located near Gallatin, Altamont and Winston, according to reports from the office of J.C. Weidler, Emergency County Extension Agent, who is serving as County Drought Relief Director.
The appraisal and shipment of cattle from farms where the water supply has been exhausted, and where feed is scarce or out, will proceed with the greatest possible speed, according to reports from the county agent’s office. There are already in his office applications for cattle appraisals from 274 different farms covering approximately 1700 head of cattle.