I just found out that the church will be torn down and a new one built. The bell has been removed from its stand and will be put on the new building. I am leaving the cache as is so use your imagination to see the bell. They plan to move the bell to the new building..
Sounds like a good book title. HMMMM.
You may have to look hard to find the bell. It may not be obvious, but it can be seen from this spot. This particular bell is an example of a time gone by. Church bells were the main means of communication for worship services, time of day, and emergencies.
Parking is available nearby, please park legally. Put the container back exactly like you found it.
A little background for you.
This community is situated in rural northwestern Osage County, along State Highway 18. This community originated as Salt Creek, a location along the Midland Valley Railway and was named for a nearby Arkansas River tributary. The post office opened in November 1906. The postal designation was changed to an invented word, in March 1910. The town site was established in autumn 1909. By November of that year the community had two grain elevators, a general store, and a lumberyard. A bank had been organized, and several businesses, including a hotel, were being planned. Cattle ranching and farming fueled the economy. Main crops were corn, wheat, oats, and hay. Two passenger-freight trains arrived and departed daily, and children attended a local school. A Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1920, a year in which the town had an estimated population of about five hundred. On Saturday nights residents watched silent films at a downtown theater.
The community benefitted little from the Osage oil boom of the 1910s and 1920s. During the Great Depression the Works Progress Administration constructed a public school and a community well. Despite the renewal the town's population fell from 197 in 1930 to 57 in 1950. By 1970 local children were attending school at Shidler and the Midland Valley track had been abandoned. In 1980, the population was 67, the town comprised thirty residences, two churches, two businesses, and a senior citizens center. Although there was oil field activity nearby, farming and ranching continued to support the economy. The town had 58 inhabitants in 1990 and 31 in 2000. In 2000 the nearest post office was at Shidler. The population was 31 at the2010 census.