Originally built in 1927 as a church it only held one religious service, the funeral of postmistress Ada Clodfelter. Only the old post office remains standing. Even with the aid of a satellite map we didn’t find it right away despite the fact that the winter season had denuded the trees. The ruins of Garber are a nice hike from the Stonebridge golf course and development. You can read the fascinating story of Garber here and here A little web research provided us a map of the city as it stood in 1919, and some valuable research from the White River Valley Historical Society gave us some great historical background. Both are forever linked in Ozarks folklore. One became famous for its inhabitants who were immortalized in literature, the other for unthinkable tragedy. Both bordered creeks, Turkey Creek in Melva and Roark Creek in Garber. Both had a train station made from a converted rail car. There are striking similarities to these two abandoned towns. An unseasonably warm January day and an opportunity to get off road in my FJ Cruiser led my wife and I to explore the ruins of two area ghost towns here in the Ozarks, Melva and Garber, Missouri. Just as many disappeared seemingly overnight, left to decay and to be seen by only a few curious hikers or historians. West of the Mississippi hundreds of towns sprang up in response to western expansion, gold strikes, water sources and railroads. Ghost towns are not all that uncommon and can be found in all fifty states and around the world.
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