Recent growth leads to renewed interest in Taney County history

FORSYTH, Mo. -- A renewed interest in Taney County history has led to plans to build a heritage and cultural center next to the county's oldest remaining government building.

County Commissioner Ron Herschend said the center next to the concrete jail built in 1913 would be a repository for artifacts, a place to teach Taney County history and an attraction to bring vis­itors and revenue to the county seat.

The board of commissioners' pledge of $50,000 to the White River Valley Historical Society has allowed the society to hire its first paid staff two months ago. Since then, membership has grown by 15 percent.

Managing director Lisa Owen, a fifth-generation Taney County resident, said she expects to surpass 200 members by the end of 2007. The funds also paid for a computer, and a Web site is under construction to provide public access to historic records.

There are plans to restore the old jail. Money from an anonymous donor has allowed the reprinting of an important volume of Taney County history, out of print for decades.

Taney County native and society member Jo Stacey Albers said residents may be more interested in preservation because of rapid growth including the construction of a shopping center.

The goal is to build the 10,000-square-foot, two-story heritage center by the society's 50th anniversary in 2011, said society member and native Leon Combs.

In its early years, Taney County was a hub of commerce along the White River. The river was so important to trade in Springfield that in 1833 Greene County allocated $6,000 to help build a road from Springfield to Forsyth where Swan Creek met the White River, near where the jail stands.