Dash to the Past — Shoe factory is booming

A Poplar Bluff family set a one-of-a-kind birthday record in 1925: three sons of different ages all born within a day of each other.

Today’s headlines also included progress for local industry and successful forest management.

100 years ago

Jan. 3, 1925

• The latest member of the Woodall family arrived in time to wish everyone a happy New Year. He also gives his siblings a unique claim to fame — the Woodall’s eldest son was born Dec. 30 and their second son on Dec. 31, so the youngest’s arrival on Jan. 1 gives them three birthdays in three days.

The Woodalls live in Poplar Bluff and also have a daughter. Mr. Woodall used the publicity to brag on his children’s nearly perfect school attendance.

75 years ago

Jan. 3, 1950

• Production is booming and job prospects are high at the International Shoe Company’s plant on Cedar Street, belying its near-closure in 1949.

The plant formerly manufactured dress shoes. The corporate headquarters moved to shut it down after sales dipped but were halted by an outcry from the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce; over 200 residents were employed there, many of them skilled laborers, and citizens helped fund the construction of a second local factory. International Shoe Co. pivoted and refurbished the plant to manufacture work boots.

There are currently 100 new and former employees, a spokesman said, and new hires were being added as quickly as they could be trained.

50 years ago

Jan. 3, 1975

• Use and improvement plans for the Poplar Bluff Ranger District of the National Forest in Missouri have been approved, ensuring its healthy management for years to come.

District Ranger William Nelson said the planning was balanced between timber harvest rotations of 80-120 years and conservation studies of soil, wildlife and waterways. The forest was divided into 1,000-acre compartments for flexible management, and reviews will be held every year for the next decade.

The multidisciplinary team responsible for the studies included a forester, forest supervisor, engineer, wildlife biologist and two rangers.