Gov. Lloyd Stark Dedicates Horace Mann School and Wells Library 1939

Posted on May 27, 2026 by roger

On October 7, 1939 the Horace Mann School and Wells Library were dedicated by Gov. Lloyd Stark in a ceremony on the lawn between the two buildings. Prior to that time, almost all classes, from nursery through college, were held in the Administration Building. The high school was called “College High.” Initially, high school students took some of the same classes as college students, but they only received high school credit!

The colorized photo is from the News-Press. A similar photo is also in the 1940 Tower yearbook.

Caption: Governor Stark Dedicating Buildings at Maryville.
St. Joseph News-Press, October 9, 1939, Page 6. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-joseph-news-press-stark-dedicating-h/198423776/

The new library and Horace Mann training school were dedicated on Saturday at the Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, Maryville. In delivering the dedicatory address, Governor Stark paid high tribute to Horace Mann, who accepted the secretaryship of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837, just 100 years ago, on the day the Horace Mann building project was authorized.

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Maryville Leadway Foods vs. Beverly Hills 20th Century Fox 1941

Posted on May 25, 2026 by roger

In 1939, Bohm Townsend, via Townsend Grocery, organized one of the most amazing and colorful basketball teams in Maryville history — made up mostly of former Spoofhounds and Bearcats, and played its home games at Washington School and in the Martindale Gymansium at Northwest.

The team named for Townsend’s Chicago supplier of goods—Chicago’s Leadway Foods —would challenge local teams such as the Tri-Cs at the Conception Seminary Auditorium, become a power in the St. Joseph Metro League, and challenge Kansas City teams, including the Kansas City Police.  By 1941, it was ready for its close-up.  It took on the two most powerful AAU teams of the era — Phillips 66 and 20th Century Fox of Hollywood/Beverly Hills multiple times during the season.

It had grand plans, including playing at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Maryville planned home and home games with 20th Century Fox in December 1941, but between the first game at the St. Joseph Auditorium on December 3, a planned game in Hollywood on December 20 had to be canceled after Pearl Harbor, which also messed up other parts of its schedule.  Maryville lost to Phillips 66 in the semifinals of the regional AAU Tournament.

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Harold Ensley Nodaway County Visits

Posted on May 21, 2026 by roger

Before Harold Ensley’s Gone Fishin’ Show became nationally syndicated, he made frequent appearances in Nodaway County in the 1960s and 1970s, including two Spoofound athletic dinners at the First Christian Church and giving the West Nodaway commencement address.  He made appearances in Arkoe and Elmo.

There’s another Nodaway connection.  His original fishing song was written by Smiley Burnett, who lived in Ravenwood in the 1920s.

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KenRex Drama Desk Winners: Jack Holden, Outstanding Solo Performance, and Outstanding Music in a Play, John Patrick Elliott

Posted on May 18, 2026 by roger

Ken Rex, the off-Broadway play about Ken Rex McElroy in Skidmore, won two Drama Desk Awards on May 17. It was nominated for a third award  Outstanding Sound Design of a Play for Giles Thomas. Continue reading →

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“In The Garden of the Shah” With A Cast of 86 at Washington School 1928

Posted on May 16, 2026 by roger

In December 1928, Maryville High School put on a production of “In the Garden of the Shah,” which starred 86 actors – nearly the entire school population.

Photos of the show, which appeared in the 1929 Maryvillian Yearbook, also featured the classical Greek sculpture panels of the Washington School auditorium.  The AI colorization places some of the panels into the set.  They were actually around the top of the auditorium.  When the Washington School was torn down, many of the panels were moved to the Nodaway County Historical Society.

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Sears Kit House, Magnolia “Mansion in a Box” Rankin House in Tarkio, and Robinson House in Maryville

Posted on May 13, 2026 by roger

Two of northwest Missouri’s most famous and iconic houses — the Ted Robinson house (623 West 3rd) in Maryville and the Rankin house in Tarkio (106 South 10th) are Sears kit houses.  Both are The Magnolia, dubbed “Mansion-in-a-Box”.  Both were modified by architect A.A. Searcy.  The Magnolia houses are very rare, with some reports indicating there are only 7 left in the country
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1916 Bearcats Football Team

Posted on May 13, 2026 by roger

Colorized photo in the first Tower Yearbook (1917). This is also the first Bearcat team since football was discontinued after one season in 1908. That caption in the opposite order we expect today. The first row is the top row. The stylish stripes in various forms were part of the Bearcat uniforms into at least the 1930s. There are only 15 players to choose from! As the rosters grew, they moved away from group shots in later years. The team, which was 2-7, included losses to William Jewel 102-0 and Kirksville (Truman) 92-0.

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Aviation Club Forms 1940

Posted on May 12, 2026 by roger

The Maryville Aviation Club, formed in 1940 to make and fly model airplanes, had to split into two groups: junior and senior high school.  The above image is from a very poor-quality copy published by the Forum and is AI-generated and colorized.  The faces probably do not match reality.

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Original Munchkin Land Ponies and Carriage Parade to Tivoli Theatre for Wizard of Oz Screening 1939

Posted on May 12, 2026 by roger

On October 12, 1939, five Maryville area children dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz arrived at the art deco Oz-like Tivoli Theatre on a carriage pulled by two Shetland ponies that had actually been used in the movie in the scene where Dorothy rode out of Munchkin Land to begin her Yellow Brick Road journey.

The Tivoli had just opened 14 days earlier on August 28 after moving from its original location in the renovated Electric Theatre 110 E 3rd Street (site of Cobbler Corner today – the marquee is still there).

The parade to the theatre was part of an MGM promotion that went nationally where the ponies and carriage toured the country.

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Bob Bosch Present U.S. Capitol Flags Be Flown Over Washington and Eugene Field Schools 1974

Posted on May 11, 2026 by roger

BOB BOSCH (LEFT), a former Maryville R-II High and now assistant to Senator Thomas Eagleton, recently presented two American flags that have flown over the nation’s Capitol to Raymon Schuster (second from left), Washington Middle School principal; Mrs. Sharon Slagel, Washington-Eugene Field PTA president; and Dana Sharp, Eugene Field principal.  Each flag came with a letter certifying it had flown over the Capitol on a certain date. The flags will be flown in front of the two schools.  They are much larger than the flags normally flown there. (Heywood’s).

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