HISTORY IN FOCUS

Willow Springs Historical Genealogical Society Museum

Owned and Operated by the Willow Springs Community Foundation

 

This week, we’re covering three local stories, all packed into one column! First, we’ll look back at the Commercial Hotel. Next, we’ll take a look at some photos of the A&W Drive-In. Finally, I’ll share what happened at the Braddock Lakes/Hay Holler Youth Conservation Corps Camp Reunion and the long-awaited time capsule opening. Let’s dive right in!

 

The Commercial Hotel, Willow Springs

The Commercial Hotel once stood on the northeast corner of Center and First streets, where the laundromat parking lot is located today, directly across Center Street from the Hotel Horton.

 

The Commercial Hotel was an early Willow Springs landmark and appears on the town’s 1893 Sanborn map. Built by George Roberts, who operated it for a number of years, the hotel was said to have been the first brick  building erected in Willow Springs. Roberts later sold the property to Jerry Fair.

 

The Commercial Hotel met a dramatic end on the morning of January 28, 1931, when a gasoline stove exploded in one of its rooms. The room was being used by W. J. LaZier, who cleaned and pressed clothes there.

 

The explosion occurred around 9:00 that morning and was powerful enough to knock down a partition leading into the hotel office. Within only a minute, the entire front portion of the building was engulfed in flames. LaZier was seriously burned, and the fire ultimately destroyed the Commercial Hotel and its contents.

 

After standing at the corner of Center and First streets for decades, one of Willow Springs’ earliest landmarks—and a building remembered as the town’s first brick structure—was gone.

 

A&W Drive-In, Willow Springs

The A&W Drive-In was once one of the most popular gathering places in Willow Springs, known for its delicious hamburgers, shakes, and, of course, A&W Root Beer.

 

Through the years, many local teenagers worked there as a summer job during high school, while others picked up shifts to earn extra income. My mom, Dawn Lovan-Biehl, worked there for a summer during her youth, along with many others!

 

Across the country, A&W restaurants became closely associated with the classic American drive-in era. Customers could pull in, order from their vehicles, and have their food delivered by carhops. With its root beer, burgers, fries, and shakes, the local A&W was more than simply a restaurant—it was a familiar gathering place where people stopped to eat, visit, and spend time with friends.

 

From what I have been able to gather, the Willow Springs A&W was established sometime during the 1950s at the site of the present-day Bamboo House Chinese Restaurant on the northwest side of town. Gladys Juanita Sorrells served as the restaurant’s manager when it first opened. The A&W passed through the hands of several owners during its years of operation. 

 

Unfortunately, the Willow Springs A&W eventually closed, as did many of the classic drive-ins that had once been familiar gathering places in communities across the country. Although the restaurant is gone, it remains fondly remembered by the many local residents who ate, worked, and made memories there.

 

First Braddock Lakes/Hay Holler YCC Reunion Brings Former Campers Together

On Saturday, October 24, the Willow Springs Historical and Genealogical Society hosted the first-ever reunion of the Braddock Lakes/Hay Holler Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Camp. The event welcomed 30 attendees, including 21 former YCC enrollees and nine spouses. Several traveled from out of state, while others drove for hours to reconnect with people they had not seen in decades. 

 

The afternoon began with an introduction to the Historical Society and a short presentation on the history of the original Braddock Lakes Resort and the YCC Camp.

 

Several artifacts and historical materials were displayed for the occasion. Afterward, everyone enjoyed a potluck meal, shared stories and photographs, and reminisced about summers spent working and living in the Mark Twain National Forest.

 

Following the meal, we traveled to the former camp at Braddock Lakes, just over the Douglas County line off Highway 14. Former campers walked the grounds, examined the foundations of buildings where they once lived and worked, and compared the landscape of today with their memories of the camp during the 1970s.

 

Then came the moment many of us had been waiting for—the opening of the Hay Holler time capsule.

 

Around 1980, YCC enrollees constructed a roughly three-foot-by-three-foot mortared stone structure to protect a time capsule filled with materials from the camp. The YCC had clearly built it to last!

 

For approximately an hour and a half, former campers and I took turns swinging a sledgehammer at the structure, but it refused to give up its contents. As dusk approached, most of the group accepted defeat and began heading home.

 

Shortly before sunset, we decided to give it one last try. Instead of swinging harder, we tapped repeatedly at the center until it finally began to cave in. Small pieces of concrete were removed one at a time until a wooden lid appeared. Using a long pry bar, I lifted the lid and discovered a thin metal container wrapped in several layers of plastic.

 

After nearly 50 years, the Hay Holler time capsule was finally open!

 

Unfortunately, the container and everything inside it were soaked. I placed the metal container into a plastic tote and headed out with nearly 50 years of hidden YCC contents in my back seat.

 

Inside were two glass soda bottles, several C-rations, camp photographs, magazines, newspapers, a Missouri driver’s guide, a Wildlife Code of Missouri handbook, and approximately 120 pages of camp documents and miscellaneous YCC materials. Among the most important discoveries were several journal-style accounts describing the daily activities of the camp and its enrollees. 

 

Although some materials—particularly the photographs—had suffered considerable damage (I believe from the sodas and C-rations), the documents were carefully separated, dried, and successfully digitized. The surviving materials will next be turned over to the U.S. Forest Service for further curation and preservation, adding an important collection of original records to the surviving history of the camp.

 

The time capsule opening was conducted with the full support and approval of the U.S. Forest Service, whose Heritage and Recreation staff have been wonderful to work with throughout my many years of cultural-resource and historic-site projects on National Forest lands.

 

One question was asked repeatedly during the reunion: “Are you going to do this again next year?”

 

The answer is absolutely yes! After watching former campers, counselors, and Forest Service staff reconnect, hearing stories that had not been told in decades, and recovering records hidden for nearly half a century, there is no question that this should continue. The first Braddock Lakes/Hay Holler YCC Reunion may be over, but it certainly will not be the last! I thank everyone who attended and helped make the day an absolute blast for all of us!

 

Museum Updates

We have only one film session remaining for the Willow Springs documentary, Where They Once Stood: Memories of Willow Springs. Once that session is complete, we will begin recording the narrations, followed by the editing process. The documentary is making excellent progress and is well on its way to completion!

 

We sincerely appreciate everyone who visits the Willow Springs Historical and Genealogical Society Museum, as well as those who have generously donated photographs, documents, artifacts, and other historical materials to our collection. Since reopening in February, we have not had a single day without visitors! Lately, it also seems that new materials are being donated nearly every day we are open. The support from our community has been incredible, and if you haven’t stopped in yet, we hope you will soon!

 

Museum Hours and Facebook Page Information

Be sure to follow our Facebook page as well, where I post historic photographs daily.

 

You can find us at www.facebook.com/WillowSpringsHistoricalAndGenealogicalSociety or scan the QR code provided in this column with your phone to visit the page. The museum is regularly open every Thursday from 1:00pm to 5:00 p.m. at 211 N. Harris Street in downtown Willow Springs.