By Emily Younker
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
The Walter Woods Conservation Area next year will celebrate its 80th anniversary of being used for conservation purposes.
Amy Juhala, a naturalist with the Joplin office of the Missouri Department of Conservation, said she wants to create an exhibit for the park, located just south of Joplin, “so that people who use it understand its history and why it’s being used the way it is.”
But she has run into a snag: Photos from park’s early years are scarce and, for Juhala, nearly impossible to find.
Learn more about the Walter Woods Conservation Area.
Photo search
She said that by looking through Spiva Library at Missouri Southern State University and through the Globe’s archives, she has found a handful of photos from recent years. She’s now calling on the community for help in locating photos from Walter Woods from the 1930s and 1940s.
“If folks from around here have albums from their parents or grandparents, I’m hoping that somebody has photographs from Walter Woods,” Juhala said. “I’m really wanting some of the older stuff, if we can find it. If (the local conservation group) had over 300 members at one time, it was a big deal, and I know there have to be photographs out there.”
Juhala said she also would be interested in recording oral history if an individual has a Walter Woods story from the early years to share. She said she also would like to talk to people who knew either Dr. Otto Walter, the original buyer of the land, or his longtime nurse, Cordelia Price, who died in 1984.
Beginning
Walter, who had moved to Missouri for health reasons, purchased 28 acres in 1931. He had started a sportsmen’s club in the 1920s, and he began using the land for the club’s meetings and activities. The club eventually boasted more than 300 members and became the 31st chapter of the Izaak Walton League, the oldest conservation organization in the country.
During the early years, Juhala said, the chapter built several ponds and picnic tables in the conservation area, and used fish from the ponds to stock local streams and lakes. Membership wasn’t strict, so the public usually could use the area for picnicking and other activities, she said. The Works Progress Administration during the 1930s was responsible for the construction of a stone clubhouse, a stone wall, several picnic tables and a pond.
When Walter died in 1946, he donated the land to the league and asked that it be given to the Fish and Game Commission, later the Department of Conservation, if the chapter ever dissolved. The chapter began to fade during the 1950s and ’60s, and despite a revival effort during the 1970s, the department acquired the land in December 1985.
Caretaker
Jerry Hickenbottom, a former caretaker of the property, was introduced to Walter Woods around 1976 when two of his professors at Missouri Southern State University tried to revive the Izaak Walton League chapter. He lived in a small house on the property from 1978 until 1985. He said he saw the “resurrection” of the chapter, and its ultimate closing because of low interest and financial strains.
Juhala has tapped Hickenbottom for help in her research because of his familiarity with Walter Woods. He said he visits the conservation area at least once or twice each month.
“I enjoyed living there,” he said. “I could tell people I didn’t have much of a house, but I had a hell of a front yard.”
The property, now 68 acres, is used for conservation education as Walter would have wanted, Juhala said. The local Conservation Department office sponsors about six programs each month, some of which are conducted at Walter Woods. Most recently, park officials led people on a hike along the trails and talked to them about what is edible in the wild. A free fishing program for families is scheduled for May 21.
“I love doing programs out there, and I love that it’s available for conservation education,” Juhala said. “I’m sure that makes (Walter) happy.”
To help
Anyone with photographs or information about the Walter Woods Conservation Area may call naturalist Amy Juhala at 417-629-3423 or e-mail her at Amy.Juhala@mdc.mo.gov.
