Walking with Kati

The Poplar Bluff Museum tells many unknown tales of our community. I want to tell you some of those hidden tales found within the museum walls.

Kati Wylie Ray loves history. She is one of the most prolific Butler County historians today.

Along with being a member of the Butler County Historical Society, Kati is also a board member of the Poplar Bluff Museum.

She puts down the history books and literally walks through history.

Kati organizes “walking tours” through the streets of Poplar Bluff every October, called “Walktober.” She tells the long forgotten stories of our town and its people.

One tour covers the devastating tornado of 1927. Kati takes you down the path that the tornado took through downtown. You will hear 86 stories of how every soul left the earth that day. You can’t help but leave with a tear in your eye because now you feel you know them all.

She also wrote the book “Poplar Bluff Tornado” which became the premier reference for that sad day. Kati was so moved by that event that she had a memorial placed in town to remember our 86 loved ones we lost in 1927. It is fittingly in the shape of a teardrop. The memorial is made of red granite and across from the Black River Coliseum.

Another one of Kati’s walking tours is through the City Cemetery. You will meet all the founding fathers of the town along with its heroes, entrepreneurs, crooks and a few quirky citizens. Kati’s research took her to every cemetery in Butler County. She was so dismayed at the poor condition of the forgotten memorials that she and her family routinely restore the aging headstones to their original glory.

In the museum, Kati’s contributions are everywhere. The museum is a collection of 12 “mini-museums.” Each one has artifacts and exhibits that were added through her research. Kati has identified all our fallen veterans from the Civil War to Vietnam, including our missing in action brothers.

Poplar Bluff has taken notice of Kati, too. In 2020, she was nominated to be a Daily American Republic Difference Maker, and was later recognized by the Butler County Community Resource Council as the 2023 Person of the Year.

If you haven’t met Kati, I’m sure she has met your family. She either knows your grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins through one of the many stories she has told. Next time you get a chance, take a walk through history with Kati on one of her walking tours, or come by the museum to view one of her many stories as told through an exhibit or historical artifact. Tell them Kati sent you!

The museum is open free of charge and handicap accessible. It is open 1-4 p.m. Sunday at 1010 Main St.