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A note to readers of The Message Tree As of October 2008, we are migrating The Message Tree to a new system to better serve you, our faithful readers. [ click here ] This change will help us to make The Message Tree, once again, a favorite web site for those interested in the history, people, and place of the Ozarks. And soon we will resume posting of NEW articles and photos of your favorite places and stories from the region. The Message Tree is owned and published monthly by Crabtree and Associates Got A Web Site? Let us show you how you can establish an online presence and harness the POWER of the Internet for your business or organization. Click to learn more about     the best in Web Site Hosting.	BACK TO THE GHOST TOWNS by JAMES F. (Jim) BARRETT   I have decided, if we are to discuss the Ghost Towns of Stone County in depth, as we have started to do in past issues of the THE MESSAGE TREE, we ought to have a list of all of the towns and hamlets which now exist in Stone County, and/or have existed in our county. In that regard I have done a lot of research. And here is the list. You will note that I have included check marks (x’s) showing if the town in question exists on the current (1998) State map, and if it exists on the current (1998) County map. If it doesn’t exist on either of these two maps, why, then it must be a -- Ghost Town! -- Right? No. Name: Existing on Current State Map Existing on Current County Map 1. Abesville x x 2. Andoe 3. Baxter x x 4. Blue Eye x x 5. Bradfield 6. Branson West x x 7. Browns Spring x 8. Buttermilk Springs 9. Cape Fair x x 10. Carico x 11. Carr (Carr Lane) x x 12. Cape Fair x x 13. Coon Ridge 14. Crane x x 15. Crank 16. Cross Roads 17. Curran 18. Dead Man's Curve 19. Divide 20. Dorcas 21. Earl 22. Elsey x x 23. Fairview (Possum Trot) 24. Flood (Pleasant View) 25. Galena x x 26. Gilmore 27. Goff's Creek 28. Hampton 29. High Camp 30. Highlandville x x 31. Homer 32. Hootentown 33. Hurley x x 34. Jamestown (I) 35. Jamestown (II)

(I have a similar list for Taney County if anyone’s interested.)

 So, there you have the list I’ve been able to put together so far. What I want you dear readers to do is to "correct" me. And to give me lots more information. Since I’ve talked about Radical and While Away, Garber and others, people have come up to me at Wal-Mart and told me bits and pieces of their personal recollections of those places. I am slowly putting together a pretty interesting picture of Radical, and I’m working on the others.

What I need for you folks to do is: A. Add to this list if you know of other towns or settlements which do, or did, exist in Stone County. B. Correct this list if you know that a town listed does, or does not, appear on current maps. C. Tell me WHERE these "Ghost Towns" not Xed on the map once were. Now THAT is the most important part! I would like to know exactly where the towns were, which no longer exist, or are no longer inhabited. That will let us begin our research into these "Ghost Towns." And it will let us get this information together and tell all about it to other of our reader friends.

Hunting for, knowing about and telling of Ghost Towns is a lot of fun. And I want to tell you, dear reader friends, that the Ghost Town bit has become by far and away the most popular subject we write about in our History of Here series. People seem to just love to hear about and consider the lore of old, lost and nearly forgotten towns. Garber simply fascinates people. I told you, I believe, that I have now encountered the present owner of Garber, a gentleman who lived there as a youth and has many wonderful recollections he intends to share with us as soon as I can find time to go interview him. Now that’s really grand, and I’m looking forward to being able to tell you readers all about old Garber.

You Radical folks! Come on, tell me about your little home town. It’s under Table Rock Lake now, but it was once a busy little place on the banks of the White River, on the Old Wilderness Trail, at the end of the (now under water) old Kimberling Bridge, not far from the abandoned Kimberling Ferry. Well, my goodness! How much fun history could one little town have? Lots and lots! Have I told you how Radical got its name? Sure, and that’s good fun too. You Radical folks come tell me the rest of the story, so I can pass it along to the Gazette’s readers.

I’ll be getting back to you in a couple of weeks. I plan to have lots more information on While Away, maybe some more on Radical, perhaps my interview on Garber -- who knows? I hope to hear from a lot of you Ghost Town folks. And I hope to have you give me lots of information about the foregoing list of towns. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you, and I’ll be grateful for your help. See you all in a couple of weeks with more -- Ghost Town stories.