As is the case most weeks, I never know what to write about. I try to avoid too many personal stories about my own family members. But when your maternal family has been in the Grain Valley neighborhood since 1854, and your father’s family came in 1922, avoiding personal stories is rather difficult.
     Sometimes I look around the museum and I’m inspired by artifacts I see and sometimes a recent donation to the Historical Society provides a story. Many times, I rely on a picture for my inspiration. Such is the case this week. However, the photo I have chosen is my mother.
     My mother was the second daughter of Loren “Elmer” and Mittie Rumbo. Elmer came to Grain Valley from Kentucky but Mittie was born in Grain Valley, as was her mother, Anne (Herrington) Sanders. Mom had one sister, Opal. My mother attended 12 years of school, 5 in the original brick building, one year in a church, and her final 6 in the “new” two-story, built in 1926 after the fire. She graduated salutatorian of her class in 1932. While she had planned to attend college, it was not to be. On Christmas Day, 1931, Grandfather Rumbo’s feed store burned to the ground. It was during the Great Depression; the family business was destroyed and college was no longer an option.
     She moved to Sni Mills for about a year. She lived with her married sister and worked at the Sni Mills general store which was owned by Opal (sister) and Clyde Fristoe. Soon Clyde bought a grocery store in Grain Valley and my mother returned to live with her parents in the house where she was born. I think she had various retail clerk jobs around town until March 25, 1937, when she and my father were married. After a honeymoon on the East Coast, they returned to the “little house” at Sni-A-Bar. My mother ran the boarding house and she often noted that “my salary was $150 per month and your father only made $100 per month!” I think she had to pay the woman who helped her prepared meals for the Sni-A-Bar workers.
    They left Sni-A-Bar in 1942, and after managing a dairy farm in Fowlerville, Michigan (1942-45), they moved to Lee’s Summit, Kirksville, Tarkio, North Kansas City, Independence, and Lake Tapawingo. After WW II, my dad was employed by a number of large cattle operations to get the purebreds ready for a dispersal sale.  They returned to Grain Valley in 1949 with two children, one ready to start first grade. They purchased Loring Hardware, later known as Napier Hardware.
     My mother worked at our hardware store. She kept the books, ordered and stocked merchandise, and waited on the costumers. But just before Christmas in 1959, another huge fire destroyed the family business. Napier Plumbing & Heating continue after the fire and she continued to “keep the books.” In January 1961 my parents bought the school buses in Grain Valley and Oak Grove. They operated Napier Bus Service until 1983. In 1973, with the gas shortage in full swing, they bought DX Travel Mart in Oak Grove In order to have enough gasoline to run the buses in Oak Grove and Lone Jack. And mom continued to “keep the books.”
     In between, she raised two children and made sure that they both graduated from college. I think that was her only disappointment in life, she wanted to go to college; she wanted to be an accounting teacher. She would have been a good one!
     If you would like to know more about Grain Valley history, homes, businesses, or people, drop me an email. If I don’t know, I will try and find out for you.
     Visit the Grain Valley Historical Society during its Missouri Centennial Celebration through August 15th. The museum, located at 506 Main, will be open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10:00am—4:00pm, and Sunday from 1:00pm—4:00pm. 
 

​     Have you been to California, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, or Nevada?  How  about  Glasgow, Paris, or Madrid?
     They are all within a short drive because they are all towns in Missouri.
     According to the 2010 U. S. Census,  Florida is currently  listed as an uninhabited village with a population of 0. Geographically, it is within the Mark Twain State Park. Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site has the two-room rented cabin Samuel Clemens – Twain’s real name – was born in, first editions of many of the author’s works, a handwritten manuscript of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and many of the furnishings from Twain’s Connecticut home. The site also has a public reading room for personal study and research.
     If you are a fan of Clemons, it is well worth a visit. By the way, it is in Monroe County, not far from Paris or Mexico.
 

     In a “normal year”, members of the Historical Society would be hustling around today to get their pies, cakes, and cookies baked and their ice cream made for the Moonlight Ice Cream Social. 
     For over 30 years, the annual fund raiser took place in Armstrong Park on the fourth Thursday in July. Last year the event had to be cancelled because of the pandemic. This year, we are back, but with a new location, date and time.
In celebration of the bicentennial, the Missouri State Historical Society is encouraging towns across the state to host an ice cream social on August 10, the actual date Missouri became a state in 1821.
     Ice cream socials are a traditional gathering, dating back to the 18th century in North America. The first one recorded in America was in 1744, when Maryland governor Thomas Bladen served ice cream for a dinner party. In 1784, George and Martha Washington purchased a “cream machine for ice” for their home at Mount Vernon. The first ice cream social in the White House was in 1802, with the 3rd U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson.
     When ice cream became more available to the public in the 1860s, organizations such as schools and churches started hosting ice cream socials. Church events were often fashioned after the "ice cream gardens" common in society at the time. Over the years, ice cream socials began appearing as fundraisers for various organizations.
     Early Americans enjoyed many of the same flavors we do today, including strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio. However, there were many other flavors served in the 1800s that aren’t as common today, like tea, parmesan, and even oyster flavored ice cream!
     This year, our Moonlight Ice Cream Social will be held August 10, on the patio between the Historical Society Museum (506 Main Street) and Iron Kettle Brewing (508 Main Street) from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. We hope you will join us.
 
     Tickets are available at the museum or from members of the society: Adults, $6. Children under 12, $4.
 
Visit the Grain Valley Historical Society during its Missouri Centennial Celebration through August 15th. The museum, located at 506 Main, will be open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10:00am—4:00pm, and Sunday from 1:00pm—4:00pm.  For more information on the Grain Valley Historical Society, visit www.grainvalleyhistory.com.
 

​     When someone with a connection to Grain Valley moves, we (the Historical Society) get “stuff.” Sad to say, when someone dies, we get stuff.  Within the past month we had gotten lots of stuff.  Some of the items we have received have come from old Grain Valley families; names that will be familiar to some of you.
     Names like Gibler, Williams, Herrington, Sebolt, Stephenson, Baumgardner and Doty. The individuals that go with these names include teachers, college athletes, Hall of Fame coaches, successful farmers and business owners, postmen and policemen, a couple of city mayors  and a veterinarian to name a few.  I look forward to sharing some of their  photos and memorabilia with you.
     The first photo I chose is from Kathy Doty, great, great granddaughter of the lady in the center of this photograph. Her name is Minnie Louisa Zohn Sebolt. She was born in Wurttemberg, Germany in 1837 and emigrated to the United States on April 13, 1860. 
     On March 3, 1861 she married Frederick Sebolt in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  When their son Frederick was born in 1868, they were living in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Their last four children were born in Independence, MO.
     Eight of their ten children survived infancy and seven are in the photograph. Frederick Sebolt, Minnie Sebolt (seated) and Charlie Sebolt are in the front. The second row (left to right) includes Annie Sebolt Stephenson, Christian Sebolt, Bertha Sebolt Hamilton, Luke Sebolt, and Minnie Sebolt Stephenson. Absent from the photograph was another daughter, Julia Sebolt Hawkins.
 
     Charles Sebolt was the father of Hubert Sebolt, a veterinarian in Buckner, Missouri from 1957 to 1993. After his father’s death, when Hubert was about 6 years old, he was raised by his Uncle Luke Sebolt and his wife. Luke’s daughter, Imogene, was the postmaster in Bates City, Missouri through much of the 1950s and 1960s.
     Annie Sebolt Stephenson was the grandmother of Les and Loyd Stephenson, the twin brothers who grew the family apple orchard on Lee’s Summit Road into Stephenson’s Apple Farm Restaurant from 1946 until 2007.  Annie and Minnie Sebolt married brothers.
     Minnie and her husband, Charles Franklin Stephenson located on the family farm, south of Grain Valley on Nebgen Road. I have written several articles about this family which includes Ona Bumgardner, the young teacher that put Oak Hill School on the map.
     Ona’s daughter. Erma Doty, wrote the often copied and quoted “History of Stony Point,” and was a beloved teacher at Grain Valley High School. Minnie and Charles had children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren that have made a contribution to our community.
     Thank you, Kathy Doty for sharing this old family photo.
 
Visit the Grain Valley Historical Society during its Missouri Centennial Celebration through August 15th. The museum, located at 506 Main, will be open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10:00am—4:00pm, and Sunday from 1:00pm—4:00pm.  For more information on the Grain Valley Historical Society, visit www.grainvalleyhistory.com.
 

     By 1945, the yearbook had photographs of the busses with their drivers and pupils. One was the photograph featured last week of Mr. Frantz and his “South Bus”. A  third route had been added with the “Pink Hill” bus driven by Mr. Graham. The “North” bus route was driven by Mr. Peal.

​     The state capital of Missouri lies on the banks of the Missouri River, but did you also know that Pierre, SD, and Bismarck, ND, also border the Missouri River.  Missouri is seemingly in an endless dispute with those 2 states as to who should control water usage from the Big Muddy. 
     Jefferson City was laid out by Daniel Morgan Boone, the son of the frontiersman. It was named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who served from 1801-1809. The town was incorporated in 1825, and the general assembly moved there in 1826.
 

     I don’t know when Grain Valley first had school buses. Grain Valley’s first yearbook, published in 1936, had a photograph of the school bus driver on the page with the Board of Education. 
     My parents graduated in 1932 and they never mentioned school buses. They did talk about the barn behind the school where the country kids tied their horses during the school day. It was more of a covered hitching post with a trough along the front for hay or feed. The older boys would go out once or twice daily to give the horses water to drink.
     Mr. Ray Frantz was one of Grain Valley’s first school bus drivers. When I look at the photo I always wonder if the tie and hat were part of a “required” uniform for bus drivers. I believe this particular photo was taken around 1940. 
     There were two buses in Grain Valley at that time. They each had two routes in the morning to transport student to school and two more in the afternoon when the students were driven home. 
     One bus went north to pick up students and the other went south. The students farthest away from school were picked up first. Their second run was to pick up students near the school.
     During the 1950s, the buses in Grain Valley were operated by Elmer Perry of Oak Grove. their My parents bought out Mr. Perry in January of 1961. At that time, Grain Valley had four buses but each bus still had two routes.
     The first school buses in the U.S. weren't buses at all: they were wagons. Known colloquially as “kid hacks” (“hack” referring to a type of horse-drawn carriage), these wagons were used as early as 1886 to ferry children in rural areas to the one-room schools that were popular at the time.
    They were built by Wayne Brothers in Indiana. The Wayne corporation went out of business in 1992. Today Blue Bird and Thomas remain two of the biggest manufactures of school buses.
     There are many state and federal safety regulations for school buses. Probably the most recognized safety feature is their color. Scientists have found that people are able to see yellow objects in their peripheral field 1.24 times better than red. Unlike red, yellow is also more easily noticed in a dark environment. This is one of the major reasons “school bus yellow,” an actual color, was chosen. 
     The black lettering on yellow is the easiest color combination for drivers to see in the darkness of early morning when students are being picked up for school.
     While school buses were the main form of transportation during much of last century, beginning in the 1980s, fewer and fewer students road the big yellow bus. And yet, according to all the records, the school bus is the safest vehicle on the road—your child is much safer taking a bus to and from school than traveling by car. 
     Although four to six school-age children die each year on school transportation vehicles, that's less than one percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide.
 

​     Did you know you can step to the plate and face a major league pitch, drive a NASCAR race car or see what it is like to compete at the level of a college or major league football player?         
     The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is an amazing collection of the best of the best who have called the Show-Me State their home over the years.  Plan a trip to 3861 E. Stan Musial Dr. just west of Springfield, Missouri and enjoy the memorabilia and interactive exhibits on display there.
 

​     When I was a young girl, my mother would drive my grandmother to Independence. Grandma always wanted her to take the old rock road. I had two objections to this plan. One, it was so much faster to take 40 Highway, which was a dual lane road west from Blue Springs. And two, 40 Highway was a relatively “straight shot” to Noland Road, whereas the rock road had lots of curves and at least ten or twelve sharp turns before reaching 23rd Street and eventually Noland Road. 
     The old rock road, as Grandma called it, was really R. D. Mize Road. But before it was named after Judge Richard D. Mize of Independence, it was known as the Blue Springs Road and called the “rock road,” because it was one of the first routes to the county seat that wasn’t a dirt road. It was one of the first roads in Eastern Jackson County that was easily traveled by automobile.
     So what does all of this have to do with Grain Valley. Well, according to a “History of Grain Valley,” written by Frank Sebolt in 1936, Grain Valley was incorporated shortly after its founding in September 1878.
However, a few years later things changed.
     From Sebolt’s account: “Sometime later the incorporation papers were revoked. The town was disincorporated (today we would say unincorporated) so that the R. D. Mize Rock Road could be put through Grain Valley at state expense.  If the town had been incorporated, the state would not have furnished expenses for the road. The road was built in 1900-1901. August 31, 1903 the town was reincorporated and again began to prosper.”
     When the town was reincorporated, the boundaries were somewhat larger than the previous ones.  The old rock road made a sharp right at Buckner Road (later Buckner Tarsney), went straight south through the “disincorporated” Grain Valley and continued south about a mile before making a sharp left turn and continuing to Oak Grove and the county line. During the early years, the R. D. Mize Rock Road was truly just that. Rocks. Over the years, the rocks were oiled and eventually paved during the Pendergast years.
     Today, R. D. Mize continues to zig, zag and curve it’s way through Eastern Jackson County, although at some points along the way it has lost its name. And like my grandmother, some days I enjoy taking the “scenic route” myself!
     Visit the Historical Society on Wednesday or Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. We have new exhibits and extended hours through August 15, 2021, as we celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial. Hope to see you soon.
     For more information on the Grain Valley Historical Society, visit www.grainvalleyhistory.com.
 

​     It wasn’t always Porky’s Blazin BBQ.  It was once known as the Tarsney Store, located in the town by the same name. 
     A post office was established there in 1891, and remained in operation until 1902. The store and gas station remained in business until the 1960s and other businesses came and went over the years. Just up the road, south of Porky’s is a red house, that was the Tarsney School which Ken Winterode and his wife converted to their home in the mid-60s.          
     Although many students who attended there ended up at Grain Valley for high school, reorganization in 1949 put Tarsney School in the Lee’s Summit School District. The town was named for J.C. Tarsney (1845-1920) who was elected United States congressman in 1886, and was reelected three times. Tarsney was a lawyer in Kansas City and he never lived in the town which was named for him.