Sparkling in the sun like jewels in a necklace, spring-fed Indian Creek meanders through the fields of southeast Newton County in Missouri.  Stella lies cradled on the north bank of Indian Creek, tucked away in a protective weave of hills.  The story of Stella begins in the lives of the Indians camping there long before the first settlers set foot in the area.  Their legacy unfolds in discovered artifacts left behind along the banks of the creek, arrowheads dug out of the ground from over 200 years ago.

Indian Creek offered a clean and reliable water source and good fishing, and the land beckoned to the strong-knit Scotch-Irish, English and Germanic pioneering families.  Around the 1820’s, the Henry Taylor family built a log cabin near the present location of Stella.  In 1884, the Moses Eagle family arrived in the area, acquired the log house and 8,000 acres of land.  Other families accompanying him included the log house and 8,000 acres of land.  Other families accompanying him included the Culp, Hodge, Kirk and Lentz families.  During Stella’s infancy, the Civil War and dangerous bushwhackers threatened the developing town’s very existence, but this time of dread and uncertainty soon gave way to the optimism and determination at the turn of the century.

1. The old wooden footbridge was a familiar landmark up to 1920. The bridge led the traveler over Indian Creek south to the picnic grounds of City Park.  The Fourth of July was the most popular yearly celebration. In the mural, the newly built bridge is a meeting point between two Osage Indians paddling a canoe to shore, and a young settler traveling back home to his farm and family.

2. The late 1800’s opened the technology door to new ideas and inventions that continues to shape our society today.  On March 10, 1876, a detached voice beckoned to assistant Thomas Watson on an unusual looking mechanical device, these words:  “Mr. Watson – Come here – I want to see you.”  The voice belonged to 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell, (1857-1922), inventor of the telephone.  The Age of Communication rippled the airwaves with sound!

3. What little girl could resist such innovation?  Stella On Line is the name for this mural, and as you can see, Stella may be small, but she stays on top of all that happens!  How did this unique little town receive such a name?  Moses Eagle and Calvin Lentz wanted to open a post office in the new town, and Moses’ granddaughter happened to be at the right place at the right time.  Around 1900, Stella Eagle unselfishly donated the use of her first name for the pioneer town, once known as “The Village of Springs.”

4. Hardworking families pooled resources and abilities together for a surprising variety of services and stores for such a small population in the early 1900’s.  James Carter and J.G. Lentz established a general store in 1890, known as the Lentz and Carter General Merchandise store.  The post office and the Bank of Stella opened their doors around 1900.  During the history of Stella’s many years, residents had access to:  Chase’s Millinery Shop, two hotels, the Shepherd and Lentz Drugstore, Charles Stamp’s Barbershop, Stella Livery Stable, two mills, three churches, and G.A. Pogue’s services as funeral director and undertaker.  The town had a somewhat unpleasant reminder of his presence in the building called the “Casket House” which had stored Mr. Pogue’s funeral equipment.  Stella enjoyed having Joe Pogue’s Nurseries, the availability of professional portrait photographer, Z. J. Gold, Wescott Café, and Stella Dairy.  When things didn’t go so well, there was the reliable Cardwell Hospital.

5. Back to Stella on Line!  When you see the spunk of Stella, you see people who live in a rural community who also desire to stay on the cutting edge of technology.  Around 1910-1920’s, the Lentz and Carter General Merchandise store offered the first public telephone in Stella.  A young Miss Hatie Kearney is speechless, listening to the odd looking wooden box with an ear extension and mouthpiece.  A curious old man resembling Ol’ Moses Eagle stands in the background, straining to hear what’s going on. An elegant woman stands by him with mouth opened in unbelief and a sneeze, her head mounted with the latest stylish hat designed by Pearl Chase from the Chase’s Millinery Shop.  A gaggle of kids gawk and squawk, wanting to take their turns to listen to the exciting new device.

6. Eagle Moses built the Early Day gristmill in 1867, and it lasted past the World War I days.  The mill’s main purpose was to grind cornmeal and flour.  There’s something about this old mill that you may not have known about.  One year, a tight wirewalker walked from the top window of the mill straight across the creek to the other side … but for the mural, we leave out the tight wirewalker. … The Old Days Mill serves the purpose of becoming the background, tying the Stella of those days to the modern age of communication, represented by …

7. Mr. Leon Millikin, and the Le-Ru (Le=Leon, Ru=Ruth) Telephone Co. Phone service was available through the Stella Phone Company.  On October 3, 1932, the Stella Telephone Company was sold to Ed Jones for $2,000.   The Jones family ran the switchboard from a little house on “Jenk’s Flats” corner, the site of a hotel previously.  After 1945, the company changed hands many times. Leon Millikin was a Southwestern Bell employee for 13 years prior to his purchase of the Stella Telephone Company in the early 1960’s.  During that time, he did everything from brush cutting, lineman work, toll repairman and supervisor.

8. The years of open wire technology … those were the days!  The switchboard was inside the Millikin household.  Ms. Zella Mae Raulsten worked as a reliable switchboard operator for 24-years, beginning in 1941.  Zella had a calm, reassuring voice even during times of fires and emergencies.  It would seem that the calm would be a useful trait for someone who had to field up to 30 people at one time on the party line!  Ms. Zella also had determination.  Although she required the use of crutches to walk, Zella managed to walk to work in good weather (which was several blocks from her home).

9. The Millikin house contained the family owned dial-service phone company from 1962-1967.  Out in the front yard stood a stately and very bright red telephone booth, the public focal point for Stella on Line.

10. (and K.)  Ruth (the Ru of Le-Ru Telephone Co), helped her husband, Leon, during his lineman days on through the switchboard years, and after that, became his number one bookkeeper.  She also raised four lively and bright children who grew up thinking that having a phone company in the back room was a perfectly normal thing to have, and making homemade phones was a great kid thing to do for entertainment! (Shown in the mural from left to right:  Jim, Bob, Rick and Vicki).

1. During the 1920’s-1960’s, the main focus for Le-Ru Telephone Co. was the Cardwell Memorial Hospital’s vital need for phone service.  The old candlestick style phones were the standard equipment throughout the hospital years.  The founder, Dr. Clarence Cardwell (1892-1956), established a two-room office in Stella.  By 1920, a four-room hospital was built on Main Street.  In 1942, a fire in the basement burned up most of the hospital’s wooden frame but it was rebuilt again.  After Dr. Cardwell’s death in 1956, Dr. Silas Fountain and his wife, Dr. Lillian acquired the hospital and reopened it as Cardwell Memorial Hospital on February 11, 1957. (The cars parked out front of the hospital in the mural represent a time span for the hospital in operation. A husband brings his wife in with labor contractions).  By 1972, the facility contained 50 beds and 112 staff members. The tiny town of Stella produced over 30 doctors! It always pays to have a good phone system in place!

13. In the mural, we are moving into the present age, represented by the Le-Ru Telephone Company’s tower. It would take little imagination to picture the early settlers of Stella looking up at such a wonder with awe and shock on their faces.  The leaps and jumps of modern communication technology are still amazing, if you stop to think about it.  But … even in the tiny community of Stella, it’s not difficult to have access to the world’s front and back porch via the Internet.

14. The siblings are all grown up! From left to right: Bob, Rick, Jim and Vicki.  All are currently co-partners and leaders in the Le-Ru Telephone Company.



15. Stella’s future generations are featured in the mural as represented by the Triway Elementary and Junior High School, with around 1,700 students attending the Home of the Patriots.  There is also an interesting history of Stella’s school system.  In the early 1900’s, Professor John Turner Horner desired that the area receive an opportunity for a higher education so he established the first school and it’s moniker became known as The Horner Institute.  Later on, it did become the Stella High School. Fire seems to be a recurring Stella theme because the school burned down twice.  Once it happened in 1935, and again in 1959.  The town recovered from these unfortunate events to build the third school, which exists today.  The Stella Masonic Lodge laid the Cornerstone for the new Tricare District School building on September 6, 1959.

16. Here is a Stella Salute to a faithful Le-Ru employee, Ms. Carolyn Dyer, with over 30-years service to the company.  You’re always on line for Stella, and Stella thanks you!

17. We come full circle in the mural at the lower right corner, featuring the Big Spring. It is one of the many springs providing the sparkling cold water for Indian Creek, and the sparkle in Stella’s eye.  The springs whisper about the past, and sings about the future for a community forged from the strength and character of her people … the people of Stella.

Written by Sherry Pettey

December 4, 2008

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