Ripley County was awash in debate over the Corps of Engineers’ proposal to dam the Current River in 1949. The same year, the U.S. government considered how to decentralize its largest cities to protect resources from nuclear attack, which could’ve led to a different kind of boom in Poplar Bluff. Other headlines on this date covered freak hunting accidents and handyman skills.
100 years ago
Oct. 8, 1924
• Two men died miles apart in identical hunting accidents today. Leroy Coffee, a 35-year-old farmer near Marston, and Jess Tucker, an 18-year-old in the New Madrid area, were both found dead on their respective hunting trips. Evidence indicated each man accidentally dropped his gun and both guns discharged. Both died of head wounds.
75 years ago
Oct. 8, 1949
• “‘To dam or not to dam,’ is the chief topic of conversation in the Ripley County seat,” the Daily American Republic said. Supporters and opposition to a large-scale and controversial plan to dam the Current River placed full-page advertisements in the Doniphan Prospect-News today. Both sides claim to have the majority of public support and are expected to descend en masse on Newport, Arkansas next week for a hearing with the Corps of Engineers, who proposed the plan.
• Atomic anxieties could lead to a boom in Poplar Bluff.
In the 1940s and ‘50s, the U.S. government weighed decentralization policies as insurance in case of Soviet nuclear attack. The DAR reported today that people and factories from St. Louis, Memphis and Louisville could divert to Southeast Missouri, mitigating the industrial impact if those cities were bombed.
The DAR continued, “Bureaucratic blueprints call for some present cities of relative size and strategic location of Poplar Bluff” to expand their populations to 20,000-30,000, reaching a “modern average” size while being “as safe as possible from the Atomic threat.”
50 years ago
Oct. 8, 1974
• High school woodworking classes paid off for Bill Walker, a graduate of Gideon. What began as a money-saving DIY project has expanded into a home of hand-built furniture.
Bill and his wife Jan are studying at the University of Tulsa. Inspired by the $700 price tag on stereophone speakers, his first project was a sound system and since then he’s crafted an entertainment center, bookshelves and a foldaway bed, all from plywood. Since both Walkers enjoy the rustic look, the finished products are left unsanded.
The couple plans to design and build a home and more furnishings after they graduate.