Tourism in
Welcome to Historic
County Seat of
Chariton County Heritage Tours,
Inc.
Janet Weaver, President
660-288-3425
Brochures
available:
Brunswick,
MO; Chariton County Historical
Society;
Dalton,
MO; Forest Green, MO; Generals;
E-mail Janet Weaver
Annual Festivals
Salisbury Steak Festival
2nd weekend in
June
Keytesville General Sterling
Price Days
2nd weekend in
September
3rd Saturday in
September
1st weekend in
October
Sumner Wild Goose Festival
Late October during goose
season
Chariton County Heritage Tours,
Inc. – This
Company will organize and plan tours of
About Keytesville:
At one time Keytesville boasted
two banks, two newspapers, hotels, restaurants, water-powered grist mill on
Mussel Fork Creek and numerous stores and businesses. Today it offers the visitor echoes of that
past embodied in several of these tour sites.
The Hill Homestead (from 1832) and the Presbyterian Church (1853) are
listed on The National Register of Historic Places. Besides the sites shown, other buildings and
residences exist that may be of interest.
Several homes lie outside the city limits and are not accessible on foot. These and other notable facts, pictures and
locations can be found in Keytesville, Missouri 1883-1983, a 150 year
history book produced for the Sesquicentennial celebration, available at the
museum.
Overnight accommodations are
available in the nearby towns of
Established
in 1964 by Friends of Keytesville, it features a fascinating array of
artifacts, memorabilia and collections.
One of the period exhibits is of a parlor setting in the 1860’s,
complete with a square grand piano.
United
Built
in 1904, this brick building features beautiful stained glass windows,
particularly in its polygonal bay on the southeast corner.
Keytesville
Christian Church
The
building retains most of its 1896 features such as the double leaf entrance in
its two-story bell tower. The Gothic
arched windows are of classic balanced design.
This
fine bronze statue was dedicated to the memory of General Price by the State of
The
oldest section, built in 1882, can be viewed on the east and the north gable
end. Twentieth century alterations included
a large addition, wide siding and columns on the west façade.
Keytesville
Presbyterian Church
Listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, this Classic-Revival style
building dates from 1853. Its vestibule
with 45-foot steeple tower and semi-octagonal gabled extension in the east wall
were added in 1900. The church no longer
houses regular services, but is carefully maintained and opened for viewing
during Sterling Price Day.
Log
Cabin logs donated by Ernest Bentley, Sr.
This
hewn log house was constructed from logs salvaged from two early Keytesville
residences. Friends of Keytesville
received a gift of logs from a house owned by Ernest Bentley, Jr., and acquired
additional logs from the Jack Dameron house, some of which date from 1840. These acquisitions allowed work to begin on
an authentic one-room log house. The 16
x 16 foot single-pen structure with loft includes a lean-to addition and porch. Building practices were kept as authentic as
possible.
Hill
This
house, of Georgian architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. The original east section dates
from 1832 and was built by William R. Redding.
His daughter Elizabeth married William E. Hill and this union saw
additions of a large parlor, hall and front porch in 1866. Finally, in 1870, the upper story balconies,
captains walk and tower were added.
Embellishments of filigreed wrought iron and wooden gingerbread unite
the additions.
Located
at the northwest corner of town, one of the cemetery’s most interesting
elements is the Hill-Redding plot just inside the gates. Therein stands the monument of young Willie
Hill, age 15, son of William and Elizabeth.
A statue of the boy, with his likeness fashioned from his death mask,
tops the monument.
Old
Jail & Sheriff’s Quarters
Trail of Death marker
This boulder in
115 E.
Tuesday - Saturday
E-mail: Museum
Web site: www.cvalley.net/~museum
The Chariton County
Historical Society was organized in 1956.
The museum is operated by the people of the county, helping to serve
educational and cultural needs and to preserve the history of Chariton
County. As visitors enter the nearly
16,000 square feet of the museum they are welcomed by displays and exhibits
which contain a growing history of the area.
Memorabilia of Judge Jordan Bentley, one of the founders of the museum,
and Judge Salisbury, founder of
Maxwell
Taylor Park
Keytesville
has a beautiful park, which is named after General Maxwell Taylor who was born
here on August 26, 1901. Although the
Taylor family moved from Keytesville, he will forever be remembered. On July 2, 1976, General Taylor returned to
Keytesville for a Maxwell Taylor Day to dedicate a city park in honor of
him. General Taylor died in 1986 at the
age of 85 from Lou Gehrig’s disease.