[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY AT JOLLY MILL PARK

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                             HON. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 19, 1999

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, as members of Congress we often address the 
need in this chamber to improve the spirit of volunteerism or the 
spirit of community to meet local needs. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to 
call attention to a group of dedicated people in the Seventh 
Congressional District of Missouri who demonstrate the impact of that 
spirit.
  For almost 150 years, Jolly Mill near Pierce City has been a fixture 
in Southwest Missouri. Located on the first road from Springfield to 
Oklahoma, the three story mill has served as a grist mill, a 
distillery, and a resupply point for wagon trains and stagecoaches. It 
survived two skirmishes in the Civil War and the burning of its 
surrounding settlement by bushwhackers. It continued as an enlarged 
flour mill though it could not attract a railroad line. However it 
could not survive as an operating mill forever, finally closing its 
doors in 1973.
  But that is not the end of the story. A group of citizens decided 
that it was essential to save this heritage landmark for future 
generations. They did not turn to government for federal grants or 
lobby to have the site added to the state park system. Like good 
Ozarkers they knew they could do the job themselves. Using local 
donations they bought the mill and 32 surrounding acres to form the 
Jolly Mill Park and formed the Jolly Mill Park Foundation.
  The Foundation has an ongoing commitment to protect the history and 
heritage of rural Missouri. Not only have they restored the mill to its 
condition at the turn of the century. Nevertheless, they have also 
moved and restored a 90-year-old iron bridge and a one room school 
house built over a century ago.
  The park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a 
gift from the Foundation to the community. Its visitors can make their 
way to the old limestone slab foundation and hand-hewn and pegged 
framing timbers of the old mill to relax, reflect and to better 
understand the lives of those who settled there and developed the area.
  Mr. Speaker, today I offer my appreciation and that of all my 
colleagues for the spirit of volunteerism and community that 
characterize the unselfish dedication of the Foundation and its many 
members over the last 16 years to preserve this singular part of the 
history of Newton County and Southwest Missouri.

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