Callaway Memories

Photo courtesy the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society
Cedar City is in the upper left corner of this 1955 photo. Do you remember the Bridge Drive-in (upper right) where you could see the movie from the highway?
Photo courtesy the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society Cedar City is in the upper left corner of this 1955 photo. Do you remember the Bridge Drive-in (upper right) where you could see the movie from the highway?

150 years ago (1874)

How did people get in the habit of shaking hands? The answer is not far to seek. In barbarous times,

when every savage and semi-savage was his own lawgiver, judge, soldier, policeman and overseer of his

own safety, in default of all other protection, two friends and acquaintance, or two strangers desiring to

be friends or acquaintance, when they chanced to meet, offered each other the right hand- the hand

alike of offense and defense, the hand that wields the sword, the dagger, the tomahawk or other

weapons of war. Each did this to show that the hand was empty, and neither war nor treachery was

intended. A man cannot well stab another when he is in the act of shaking hands with him, unless he be

a double-eyed traitor and villain, and strives to give him a cowardly blow with the left while giving the

right, and pretending to be on good terms with his victim.

125 years ago (1899)

A Bank is to be organized at Williamsburg this spring. Should the Eldon & St. Louis railroad be built, the

depot will probably be 2 ½ miles from Williamsburg. The bank will be located on the railroad and will be

called "The Bank of Nine Mile." The following is a list of stockholders: J. A. Garrett, Sparrell McCall, C. W.

McCall, Ben Grant, Dr. J.J. Bolton, Huron Burt & Son, J. A. Leavell, C. E. Martin, Judge Sam T. Weeks,

Bailey Martin, Dr. W. S. McCall, Dr. G. D. McCall, G. W. Garrett & Son, Dr. R. N. Crews, John Yates, R. D.

Yates, J. W. Martin, T. G. Martin, Craig Hobson and Robert Arnold. John Yates is spoken of for President

and Sparrell McCall is to be the cashier. He is a young man of excellent habits, fine business ability and

will make a popular and efficient cashier.

100 years ago (1924)

(From advertisement) "Special 12:00 Dinner Every Day. Breakfast- Supper. Short Orders, Sandwiches,

Salads, Home Made Pastries, Fine Line of Cookies, Fountain Drinks. BUSY BEE CAFE. Zickos Brothers,

Mgrs. Fulton."

75 years (1949)

Cedar City Resisting Invasion From Across the Missouri. Jefferson City's move to annex a portion of

Callaway County is met with strong opposition from Cedar City. Mayor of Cedar City, Louie C. Corley has

directed the city attorney, Roger Krumm, to block Jeff City's annexation attempt. Corley claims that Jeff

City has not met with its obligation to provide services to the portion of Callaway already annexed and

will not be able to provide the services in the near future. As stipulated by the Sawyer Act, an annexing

city must provide two things: First, the annexing authority "must show such annexation is reasonable

and necessary to proper development of the city." Second, the authority must be able to "furnish

normal municipal services (such as fire and police protection, and water and sewer services) to the

unincorporated area within a reasonable time after said annexation is to become effective." Corley said

that these services are not being provided to the Westinghouse power plant or the airport. Jeff City

annexed this area several years ago. "They haven't done anything with the land they already have,"

Corley explained. "We're getting complaints from Holt's Summit residences that there is no water during

the morning and evening-- the peak time of water usage." Cedar City however, does have a mutual aid

agreement in which Jeff City provides fire protection to Cedar City and the surrounding area. The

agreement was recently revised by Mayor Corley directing the Jeff City Fire Department to accept calls

only from persons designated by Mayor Corley. The battle for the land revolves around the fact that

several large industries have indicated an interest in the area--both mayors said they have been

contacted but refused to give names. With industries moving in, one of the two cities is going to benefit

from large industrial taxes. Cedar City is currently seeking a levee bond which "will increase the value of

the land," Corley said. It will enhance Cedar City's chances for annexation in the future--if Jeff City's

move fails. The vote for the levee, proposed to increase the current levee to 22 feet, will be put to Cedar

City voters later this month.

{My father used to say, "If you don't know what it is, look it up. It is your responsibility to learn." Hence

the following on the Sawyer Act (mentioned in above text). An interesting read, I wish I had more time

(and space) to devote to it...Basically, the Sawyer Act made it harder for a city to annex surrounding

areas by setting parameters to be met by the city before the annexation can occur. The Washington

University Law Quarterly states, "In 1953, the Missouri legislature enacted Section 71.015 of the Revised

Statutes, popularly known as the Sawyer Act. Prior to this time, a city council, with the consent of a

majority of city voters, had power to extend city limits to include adjacent territory by the passage of an

ordinance. This procedure gave city officials the authority to expand 'the city limits in such a manner as

in their judgement and discretion may redound to the benefit of the city.' The ease of annexation often

resulted in such scramble for incorporation by unincorporated areas {often farming communities} to

avoid annexation that coordination, orderly planning and development were impossible." The late

James Baughn, webmaster of the Southeast Missourian, wrote on the Sawyer Act. He said, "Prior to

1953, it was easy for cities to expand as much as they wanted. They merely had to adopt an ordinance

and hold an election in which only city residents could vote. Landowners of the areas to be annexed

were almost completely shut out of the process. They could try to challenge the cities in court, but

judges gave wide latitude to city governments... (Thanks to the Sawyer Act,) cities had a greater burden

to show that their annexation plans were reasonable."}