We pick up where we left off last week, on a trip to the Missouri Ozarks. In case you missed last Friday’s offering, here is the link.
PWB: Noble Fur Fridays - Deep in the Missouri Ozarks, 2020
At the end of last week’s diary are links to two Daily Bucket diaries that have pictures and videos of Big Spring. It’s worth a few minutes of your time to learn about this fascinating area. Big Spring is one of the largest in the world, with its cold clear waters gushing from the base of a cliff and flowing into the nearby Current River.
As a youngster, I spent many a summer day on camping trips with my family. I still stop by whenever I’m in the area.
Three years ago, when Noble Fur was there with me, I didn’t take her on the trail around the spring. Pets weren’t allowed, and Miss Fur would not have liked the noise and crowds anyway. Instead I took her to the old lodge, which had been closed to repair flood damage. Nobody else was there, and kitty had plenty of nooks and crannies and walls to explore.
Big Spring was Missouri’s first state park, dedicated in 1924. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed many of the buildings and trails that still exist in the park. Time has taken its toll.
From The National Park Service,
This area of the park includes a historic dining lodge and 16 historic structures, with rental cabins and other features that were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934-1937.
However, decades of use, maintenance backlog, and a record-breaking flood in 2017 caused deterioration of the cabins and dining lodge, resulting in human health and safety hazards, as well as the potential loss of historically significant structures. Other improvements include recreation area repairs, boat dock renovation, and utility system upgrades.
Construction and restoration are still underway, with a grand reopening scheduled for next year.
Thank you for exploring the historic landmark with Noble Fur.
For updates on the renovation of the lodge and the nearby cabins, check this website run by the National Park Service.
Big Spring Lodge and Cabins Restoration
The pictures will look very familiar, now that you’ve seen Noble Fur’s visit. One excerpt:
Because the original stone wall was beginning to buckle in places from the pressure of the hillside, a new concrete retaining wall is needed behind the rocks to reinforce the strength of the wall. Blinderman Construction began by first cleaning the wall. The difference in the before and after photos below truly is astounding. Once clean, Lawrenz Masonry dismantled the wall to further evaluate its condition. It was determined before dismantling that this step was needed to ensure a successful reconstruction, of course. Each rock was taken from the wall, given a designated ID, measured, and determined if it is reusable or not. Some rocks were, unfortunately, too fractured to be reused. The reusable stones' facings were then separated 5.5” from the front face, and these pieces were put aside until they can be returned to their original location.
Blinderman Concrete Company will later come in to lay the new concrete retaining wall. Those incredibly important rock facings will then be attached to the front side of the new wall to give the look and feel of the original with the added strength and support of modern concrete. This new wall will be installed with advanced stabilization techniques and will be clad in much of the original material, thus retaining the historical ambiance of the 1930’s era in which it was originally designed.
That’s it for today’s photo journey and history lesson. Noble Fur is no longer with us, but her memories are a part of a larger history that will endure.