November 14, 2008 05:37 pm
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By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Some old postcards, photographs of the once operational mines and a history of the town’s first championship sports teams help tell Webb City’s coming-of-age story in the second volume of the town’s history.
The book, “Pictorial History of Webb City, Carterville, Oronogo,” was put together by the Webb City Area Genealogical Society and is being unveiled today after nearly two years of work. A special reception will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Webb City Public Library, 101 S. Liberty St., to sell the book. Patty Freeman, president of the society, said 250 copies of the book have already been pre-sold and those copies can also be picked up during the reception.
Friends of the Webb City Library will serve refreshments during the reception.
The genealogical society published the first volume — “Families and Histories of Webb City, Carterville, Oronogo” — in 2007. That book focused on individual family histories, but Freeman said the number of photos submitted for the volume was too great for just one book.
Many of those unused photos made it into the second volume. Other material for the book came from individual donations from family photo albums, private historic postcard collections and the scrapbook portfolio of a professional photographer who took some promotional photographs for Webb City early in its history.
“Most of this book is large photos,” Freeman said. “We had the opportunity with this one to enlarge the photos. It’s very visual.”
Some of the categories in the second volume include biographies of some of Webb City’s first physicians, a look at its historic homes, photographs of the old mines and a section on the city’s first state champions in all sports. The photographs cover Webb City’s history from 1900 to 1990.
Freeman said the society only printed 600 copies of the 216-page book, and she expects them to be gone by Christmas. She said the books are sought after by historical societies, former Southwest Missouri residents and other genealogical societies.
“We wanted a community keepsake that represented our towns,” she said.
The society is selling Vol. 2 for $30 a book, while Vol. 1 will be available at the reception today for $65. Both books will continue to be for sale in the genealogy room of the Webb City Public Library after Saturday, until all copies are gone.
Society facts
The Webb City Area Genealogical Society has about 100 members all over the U.S. that pay annual dues. Patty Freeman, president of the society, said there are about 15 to 20 active members that meet each month. The group meets at 6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in the Webb City Public Library’s genealogy room. The public is invited to join.
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