It’s a busy weekend in history. Across the decades, Butler County seeks President Harry Truman’s attention, warily watches FBI agents and faces slim chances of saving a historic building. It all wraps up with a Boy Scouts Scout-O-Rama exhibition and its equally American competition, the pinewood derby.
Saturday
March 30, 1924 — No issues available
75 years ago
March 30, 1949
• Butler County’s Centennial Committee is inviting President Harry Truman to give a radio broadcast to the county for its 100th birthday festivities. Dr. W.L. Brandon is reportedly negotiating with the president (or his office) on the matter.
The committee hopes to make the centennial celebration and historical exhibition “the biggest event ever held in Southeast Missouri.”
50 years ago
March 30, 1974
• Poplar Bluff’s besieged, historic Old Post Office receives a dire diagnosis today. Architect Harold R. Porterfield of Donnelland and Porterfield inspected the building this afternoon and found, “The building has deteriorated to the point that the entire structural system has been affected by the lack of up-keep and maintenance that all buildings require over the years.”
Restoring the building to its original state would cost $50,000-$60,000, not counting remodeling, he said. It also needs a new second floor and some of the exterior sandstone blocks have settled.
“This building was designed for a post office and that is the only function it could serve. To try to adapt it to any other use would necessitate major structural changes and changes in the mechanical and electrical systems. The cost would be prohibitive,” he added.
His inspection was undertaken at the request of the city council. The city proposed tearing the building down to construct a parking garage and has already founded a special business district to help foot the $400,000 bill. Many Downtown business owners support the plan but citizens have protested it at public meetings, and petitions to save the Old Post Office have gathered over 1,000 signatures so far. The council is expected to make a decision at its next meeting.
Sunday
100 years ago
March 31, 1924
• The hunt is on for a dairy thief. The suspect reportedly strikes between 6-7 p.m. and has stolen 20 bottles of milk over two weeks from the same three residences. A witness saw the theft last night and reported it to police, who passed his description to the affected homeowners.
75 years ago
March 31, 1949
• Voters were spooked by the presence of FBI agents this week, as city elections approach.
Elections are scheduled for April 5. On March 28, agents Elmer Emrich and Jim Monroe arrived in Poplar Bluff. Voters and political leaders, especially those in the Fifth Ward, were disturbed by their presence and many residents there said they wouldn’t go to the polls at all.
The lead agent of the bureau’s St. Louis office arrived in town yesterday to assuage fears, stating, “The agents were in Poplar Bluff’s Fifth Ward and other sections of Butler County on an entirely different matter which had nothing to do with any election and was not intended to influence anyone as to whether they voted or not in Poplar Bluff’s approaching city election.”
The Daily American Republic learned today the agents were the same ones assigned to a federal vote fraud case several weeks ago, in which charges against several defendants were dropped when all state witnesses refused to testify. Emrich and Monroe were reportedly “checking up on” an article the newspaper ran on the case.
March 31, 1974 — No issues available.
Monday
100 years ago
April 1, 1924
• Republicans of the 14th Congressional District met today, naming delegates and alternates to send to Springfield for the presidential election. Calvin Coolidge won the district almost unanimously.
75 years ago
April 1, 1949
• Whether public-spirited or just tired of waiting, East Poplar Bluff citizens are campaigning for the $5,000 needed to kick off a quarter-million dollar flood control project.
The $275,000 price tag for the city’s proposed circle levee is already allocated by the federal government, and work can start as soon as local interests pay preliminary expenses like legal fees and engineer reports. The Butler County Court originally planned to cover this by transferring funds between flood control districts. The plan was scrapped when a local attorney opined it was illegal.
Twenty-five residents and businessmen at last night’s county court started a committee to underwrite the $5,000 and get the project started by summer.
• A 12-year-old from Poplar Bluff is gaining fame on California’s airways. Gene Breeden, a former J. Minnie Smith student whose family relocated to Visalia, California, sings and plays guitar on the Curly Roberts broadcast. He’s also recorded several records. His grandparents, the Rev. and Mrs. Gus Crocker, live in Poplar Bluff.
50 years ago
April 1, 1974
• Fourteen Boy Scout troops from across the Osage Scout District came to Poplar Bluff on March 30 for the annual Scout-O-Rama showcase. Scouts demonstrated skills like hiking procedures and emergency preparedness, and competitions included a pinewood derby. Poplar Bluff scout Pete Burton, 10, won the derby with his car “The Candy Apple.”