There is plenty of Irish going around in Nodaway County — what with the world’s shortest parade by Burney’s, the Irish settlement at Conception, the old St. Patrick’s Church, and bars seemingly everywhere. But if you want to go to Ireland, all you have to do is go to Wilcox.
On July 26, 1907, members of Battery C, Fifth Field Artillery marched into Maryville late at night as part of a 200+ mile march from Fort Leavenworth to Des Moines after overnights that included Lake Contrary in St. Joseph and Savannah. In August, the Army marched back to Fort Leavenworth through Maryville.
The unity brought caissons (the two-wheeled cart designed to support the trail of an artillery piece). In 1908, Edmund Gruber, commander of the unit and later commandant of Fort Leavenworth, wrote: “The Caissons Go Rolling Along.” Those lyrics differ from the current official version. Gruber’s version was transformed into a march by John Philip Sousa in 1917 and renamed the “U.S. Field Artillery March.”
The unit camped at McJimsey Park Pond (just north of the Alice Beal property –Beal Park today– across the Wabash tracks)
Battery C had supposedly won the Army baseball title the year before and Maryville showed its hospitality by beating the team 2-0. The Army stayed longer on the retrun march and lost two more games. The games were probably played at Carl Riffe Field (named for a deputy sheriff), which was at the corner of East Halsey and South Charles (and is still a field today). It was two blocks from St. Mary’s Church (now St. Gregory Barbargio). This field was used by several ball teams, including the high school team, and was discontinued around 1915 when the college built its field.
The Comets were a semipro team, and this item challenges the printed history of the team, which says it got its name because Haley’s Comet was present during a game. The Comet was in 1910, and this predates that.
John J. Pershing, commander of the U.S. armies in World War I, had lunch at Courtesy Court at 12th and North Main on May 1, 1936. Pershing was traveling from Lincoln, Nebraska to his boyhood home at Laclede, Missouri where he was going to dedicate the cornerstone of a new school. Maryville is midway between the two communities.
The Olde English style building at 1202 North Main has rich culinary history including Glen “Mac” McGinnis who sold it in 1948 to set up Mac’s Steak House by the Mary Mart Shopping Center and Thompson’s Paradise Donut Shop which opened in 1968 by Mr. and Mrs. Lester Thompson.
A protest over the quality of food (often called food riots) at the Student Union Cafeteria in April 1964 included students blocking Main Street (which was the route of 71 at the time), tear gas, and police dogs. The run-up had included 1,600 students attending a rally at the football field. The Missouri Governor called out reinforcements from the Missouri Highway Patrol. The riots followed the October 1963 panty raids at the college, and some of those involved in this event were accused of attempting to instigate panty raids in the food riot. The image is AI colorized and enhanced. The original photo is here.
The Maryville Municipal Swimming Pool opened on August 20, 1955. It was the first time Maryville had a public swimming pool since the Maryville Sanitary Swimming Pool at First and Vine closed in the late 1930s. The 230,000-gallon pool opened ahead of schedule after a $75,000 bond election for the pool passed in November 1954, following much effort by the Soroptimist Club, including torchlight rallies. The pool was initially open only 2 weeks, and opening day was on a 100-degree day, and was punctuated by a lightning storm in which swimmers went into the dressing room but didn’t leave.
