Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/581

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 521 greater part of the value of manufactured products which in 1910 reached a total of more than half a million dollars. Black river runs through the county on the eastern side and has a number of small tribu- taries, the largest being West Fork of Black river. There are a number of springs and an opportunity is afforded for the use of water power which will doubtless receive attention in the future. Another industry which will probably be developed is fruit growing, as much of the soil in the coiuitj' is capable of being put into orchards. The population of the county is 9, .592 and its taxable wealth is $2,369,791. There are 63 school districts, employing 63 teachers; 3,099 children of school age are enumerated in the county. At the present time there is only one rail- road in the county, the Missouri Southern, which riuis from Leeper. in Wayne county, on the Iron ^Mountain, to Corridon, near the central part of the county, ilost of the other sections of the county are served by the Iron Mountain Railroad in Wayne and Iron coun- ties. There is no incorporated town in the count}'. The county seat is Centerville and the largest town, perhaps, is Ellington, on the railroad. Some of the other smaller places are Bunker, Lesterville and West Fork ; of these towns Bunker is a railroad town and is situated in the midst of a large pine forest where large mills cut a great deal of timber during the year. The county is attractive on account of its scenery and also the opportunity for forming summer re-sorts, and for hunting and fishing. The streams are full of fish and there is still game to be found in some portions of the county. Ripley county is on the Arkansas line, 60 miles west of the Mississippi river. It con- tains 640 square miles of land, about one- third of w-hich is in cultivation. Large parts of the county are still covered with timber, the principal timbers being yellow pint;, white oak, black oak and red gum. The southeast part of the county is in the low lands of Black river. The Mississippi escarp- ment, a line of bluffs, runs diagonally through the country. The northwest part of the eomity is hillj^ and even mountainous. Owing to this situation the eastern part of the county is more densely settled and at the present time the land is more valuable. Farming and timber working are the prin- cipal industries of the county. The ship- ments of lumber and other timber products are large, perhaps the largest saw-mill in the .state is located at Grandin, in Carter county, but near the Ripley county line. There are large mills also at Doniphan that saw and dress large quantities of lumber. Besides these there are some portable mills which are moved from place to place over the county. The manufactured products of the county liad a value of $376,677 in 1910. The only large item in this total was lumber and cooperage, with a value of $289,830. The eastern and southern part of the county is almost wholly agricultural in its interest. The principal farm products are cotton and corn. Some livestock is raised and the county is within the fruit belt. In time orchard products w'ill become one of the im- portant features of the county. There are considerable deposits of iron ore scattered over the western half of the county though there are no large attempts made at handling ores. Owing to the improved methods of handling ore and its increased value it is