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Austin, the official at "Haletown."
D. B. McDonald came from Pipinville and built the first hotel, a double log building, which stood on lot 5, in block 2. McDonald was also a merchant in June, 1856, but the first merchants were Anderson and Hays. By the 1st of January, 1857, there were probably 25 families in the village; by the following year there were 50. In June, the first court house was completed and occupied. In the lower room of this building religious meetings were allowed to be held when it was not occupied by the courts. There were no church buildings in town until after the war. During the years 1858 and 1859, the progress of the town was slow. The disturbances in Kansas, the unsettled condition of affairs along the border, the panic of 1857, and one or two drouthy seasons all combined, had been of disadvantage to the county generally, and Nevada City did not advance rapidly. The advancement was continuous, however, and of something of a substantial character. No very elaborate and costly buildings were constructed, but there were a number of neat and tasty dwellings built. The first merchants hauled their goods from Independence, Lexington, and Kansas City. The teams employed were oxen, slow, patient and plodding, and the time usually consumed in making a trip to and from Kansas City was about eight days. A week was considered fast time. In short, Nevada City from its founding up to 1861, was scarcely different from any other town of its size in the state in characteristics and general respects, and not much different from the towns and villages of 400 inhabitants to be seen today. Of course there was no railroad, and there was no newspaper and no church, and but an indifferent school house, and there were two or three dram shops, which were patronized at times to their fullest capacity; but there were many God-fearing men and women, and public and private morality were not depreciated. Very early in the year 1861, secession flags fluttered in the breezes, and the sentiment of the citizens was practically unanimous in favor of the separation of Missouri from the old United States government. Soon there came the actual call to arms and the mustering of squadrons in the streets, and in June Col. Bougham's battalion formed and marched away to join in the little army of Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price. Thereafter, for four years, there was no peace for Nevada, until there came peace of desolation. For what with seizures and impressments, raids and forays, and what with the swords and torches of war, the little village was racked, riven, and ultimately dismantled and desolate. On Tuesday, May 26, 1863, the town of Nevada City was burned by a company of Federal militia from St. Clair and Cedar counties under the command of Capt. Anderson Morton. The circumstances leading to this incident ought to be understood and may be readily related. With the flower of her men slain in battle or wanderers from the wreck of a shattered cause, and burned and blackened from walking the furnaces of war, Nevada emerged from the great conflict in a sad plight indeed. So completely had it been dismantled and so abject and wretched was its condition, that it was seriously proposed to vacate it entirely, and to relocate the county seat, either to the north or northwest on the Marmaton or to the westward, on the west |
of Little Drywood. Had it not been for the efforts of Austin, Requa, Dodson, and one or two others, this might have been accomplished.
When late in the fall of 1865, the first post bellum county court assembled here, there was no suitable building in which the judges could deliberate, and for several weeks the county seat pro tem, was at Balltown, or Little Osage. The old school house was repaired at last, and here the county business was transacted for a considerable period. The first business men in the town after the war made money. Goods were sold at extraordinary prices, and the demand was equal to the supply. The lawyers had their hands full of business, the shop men were active, everyone had something to do. Emigration was direected from the Northern and Eastern states, and from certain parts of this State to Southwestern Missouri, and Nevada City got her full share. Not until March 3. 1869, however, was Nevada incorporated, and there was consequently not much of real improvement until then. The court house had been completed the previous October, and there were premonitions of coming importance if not of greatness, and the people were accommodating themselves to the circumstances. With the incorporation of the place came a change for the better in the regulation of its affairs. Sidewalks were ordered built, and a marshal entered upon his duties as preserver of the peace. With the incorporation came the dropping of the word "City" in its title, and the town has since been called Nevada. The first railroad through Nevada was the M. K. & T. The first locomotive reached the town on the 26th of October, 1870. With little notable incident in its history, Nevada passed the decade from 1870 to 1880 in prosaic, plodding gait, leading a life that was somewhat listless and humdrum. In the latter year its population was less than 2,000. But with the building of the Lexington and Southern Nevada Railroad came a marked change. Improvements began at once. Strangers came in, property changed hands very rapidly, new buildings went up, new establishments were opened, and the town progressed steadily and with reasonable rapidity. It became necessary to lay off additions to accommodate the homeseekers, and many purchases of real estate were made. The business houses were now put up of brick and were imposing and substantial in their character, and the dwelling houses were remarkable for their comfort, elegance, and architectural beauty. Crowning the crest of the northernmost mound of the Ozark mountains, with an abundance of healthful mineral water and pure air, and an altitude of more than 1,100 feet above sea level, Nevada, Missouri, has all the natural qualities that go to make an ideal health, and pleasure resort. A glance at the past will show that Nevada's natural healthful environments are not fictitious imaginings of a clever advertising brain, invented to attract those who travel in search of health and pleasure to her doors. The country was famous for its climate, water and atmosphere long before white men ever saw it. Nevada is located in the heart of one of the richest agricultural districts in southwestern Missouri. It is sixty-four miles north of Joplin, 103 miles south of Kansas City and 317 miles south and west of St. Louis. Exceptional transportation facilities are offered by the Missouri Pacific and M. K. & T. and their connecting lines, which makes |
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