You are standing at the center of the Redings Mill Bridge.
The original one-lane Redings Mill bridge was built in 1886 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio. When the second Redings Mill bridge was built in 1930, the first bridge was dismantled and moved to Ritchie, MO where it was used until 1993.
The second bridge (The one you are on) was built in 1930 and was considered a marvel of design and made of steel and concrete. It is a closed three-span open-spandrel arch bridge .Besides the 20 foot roadway, it had a 5 foot pedestrian walkway. The channel of the Shoal Creek was widened under the bridge so that water flowed under the bridge from bank to bank. The old Redings Mill Inn still stands in the background.
When the third bridge was built in 2001 to reroute highway 86, the second bridge was purchased by an area alliance and is now part of the Audubon Center trail system. It is part of the walking trail and can also be rented for special occasions.
Look to the north and the south off of the bridge. You need to find an Old Foundation in the Creek.
When John S. Reding settled in Newton County, Indians outnumbered white men. His first mill, built on Shoal Creek in 1832, provided a social center as well as a place for homesteaders to grind their grain. Reding founded Shoalsburg, a small village that failed to grow into the city the founder envisioned. As Reding prospered, he replaced the small mill with a larger one in 1854.
Then the Civil War hit, and the area suffered devastating raids by both armies. Reding's sympathies lay with the South. Union officers sent soldiers to destroy the mill; however, they were confused about the location and burned the mill at Grand Falls instead. To their horror, the Union soldiers discovered that the Grand Falls mill was owned by Union sympathizers. Reding's Mill had to be spared because it was the only mill left in the area at which grain could be ground for townspeople and Union troops.
In 1868, Reding erected the picturesque mill that became one of the most photographed structures in southwest Missouri...
Reding's Mill burned to the ground in 1936. All that remains are a few pieces of the solid foundation which still breaks the flowing waters of Shoal Creek.
Now that you have found the ruins of the Mill... Look at the picture below...
Use the location of the Mill to figure out the next Stage. You need to be standing right about where this photo was taken.
Are you there?.....
Look around you. There are several signs. Do you see something that happened in 2006? Find the sign from 2006. This is the location for the final Stage. You are looking for a Bison Tube. Please bring your own pen.
(You do NOT have to do anything dangerous to retreive the cache. It is pedestrian friendly.)
Permission has been granted by the Missouri Wildcat Glades Conervation and Audobon Center for placement of this Geocache.
Congratulations to the FireflyBlue15 Team for the First To Find!!