Editing West Plains, Missouri (section)

==History==
The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell County is named) created the first settlement in the region known as Howell Valley. West Plains was so named because the settlement was on a prairie in a westerly direction from the nearest town, [[Thomasville, Missouri|Thomasville]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n72 175]}}</ref>

The [[Courthouse Square Historic District (West Plains, Missouri)|Courthouse Square Historic District]], [[Elledge Arcade Buildings]], [[International Shoe Company Building (West Plains, Missouri)|International Shoe Company Building]], [[Mount Zion Lodge Masonic Temple]], [[W. J. and Ed Smith Building]], and [[West Plains Bank Building]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

===The American Civil War===
The location of West Plains led to nearly constant conflict due to the proximity to what was then the border between the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. West Plains was largely burned to the ground, and Howell County as a whole was devastated. No major battles occurred in West Plains or Howell County, but much of the devastation came from constant guerrilla warfare.<ref>{{cite web |title=Howell County, Missouri |url=http://ozarkscivilwar.org/regions/howell |website=Community & Conflict: The Impact of the Civil War in the Ozarks |publisher=Springfield-Greene County Library District |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

Confederate Brigadier General [[James H. McBride|James Haggin McBride]] gave residents an ultimatum to either join the Confederate army or to flee the area. An overwhelming majority of Howell County residents chose to flee, and over 90% of the population had fled by the time the war was over.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ozarkscivilwar.org/regions/howell |title=Ozarks Civil War article on Howell County |access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref> Many, however, also chose to fight for the Confederacy, as McBride promised to protect his soldiers' property and loved ones. Men who spoke out against the Confederacy were arrested, as martial law had been declared by McBride.

South Carolina native, and West Plains resident, William Monks, was a scout for the "North" (Union army) and recounted his tales of the Civil War in his 1907 book "A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas." In that memoir, Monks recounts many depredations that occurred during the war and how the Confederates referred to those faithful to the Union as "lopeared Dutch" (many Missourians who were "Union men" were German).

===20th century===
In 1903, African Americans were driven out of West Plains under threat of violence.<ref>{{cite news|title=How They Depopulated 'Coontown'|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|location=St. Louis|date=September 20, 1903|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4936039/depopulated_wp_sept_20_1903/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===The Great Depression era===
As was the case with many other locations, the [[Great Depression]] hit West Plains in the 1930s. Citizens had little knowledge of what was going on with the national scene, except for what Neathery says in his book, "every place was a boom town, [but] in some places things were going bust as well." The first bank to fail in West Plains was the Farmers Savings Bank in West Plains circa 1926, and the lack of the present-day [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] meant that some people initially lost whatever wealth was deposited.

====West Plains Dance Hall explosion====
On April 13, 1928,<ref name="WPDQ Explosion">{{cite news| title = 37 KILLED IN MYSTERY BLAST; 22 INJURED | work = West Plains Weekly Quill | location = West Plains, Missouri | page = 1 | date = April 19, 1928 }}</ref> for reasons still unknown, a violent explosion occurred in downtown West Plains. About 60 people had gathered in the Bond Dance Hall, which was on the second floor of a building on East Main Street. The explosion was reported to be felt for miles, even in [[Pomona, Missouri|Pomona]], which is approximately ten miles from West Plains. Windows were shattered throughout the block, and cars were also warped on the street. The explosion also damaged the nearby Howell County Courthouse so badly that it was vacated and left until late 1933, when it was demolished by the [[Civil Works Administration]].<ref name="WP 1930-1970">{{cite book |title=West Plains: 1930 to 1970 |last=Aid |first=Toney |author2=Jerry Womack |year=2010|publisher=Arcadia Publishing}}</ref> Thirty-seven people were killed in the explosion, and 22 people were injured. Twenty of those killed were never positively identified, but buried in a mass grave at Oak Lawn Cemetery in the southeast part of town. They are memorialized by the Rock of Ages monument, erected on October 6, 1929.<ref name="Waymark">{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM23KY |title=Waymark entry for memorial |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref> The explosion has also been remembered in a folk song recorded 30 years later.<ref name="Explosion Song">{{cite web|url=http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=113 |title=The West Plains Explosion (song) |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref>

The cause of the explosion is still a topic of controversy nearly a century after the blast. Numerous causes for the explosion have been offered, but a definitive story has never been proven to be true. The most widely accepted theory is that the explosion somehow originated from leaking gasoline in a garage owned by J. W. Wiser, which happened to be on the floor below. Because Wiser was at the garage at the time, some have speculated that the blast was intentionally caused by Wiser as a suicide attempt, which his wife reportedly refused to acknowledge. In addition, the late West Plains native Robert Neathery explained in his 1994 book, ''[[West Plains As I Knew It]]'', that a truck containing dynamite parked in the garage may have been the cause, indirectly part of a crime in which someone shot Wiser and set a fire to cover up the crime, and the dynamite exploded.<ref>{{cite book |title=West Plains as I Knew It |last=Cisco |first=Marideth |year=1994 |publisher=Yarnspinner Press |location=[[Willow Springs, Missouri]] |pages=77–83 }}</ref>

The event is fictionalized in the short novel ''The Maid's Version'' by [[Daniel Woodrell]], which is about a similar dance hall explosion in the fictional town of West Table.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smokymountainnews.com/component/k2/item/11954-a-writer-s-writer-delves-into-1929-explosion|title=A 'writer's writer' delves into 1929 explosion|first=Gary|last=Carden|website=smokymountainnews.com|access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref>

===West Plains Badgers===
In 1936, West Plains gained its own Minor League Baseball team named the [[Batesville Pilots|West Plains Badgers]] within the [[Northeast Arkansas League]]. They would move the same year to [[Caruthersville, Missouri]] where they became the '''Caruthersville Pilots'''. In 1940, they would move to [[Batesville, Arkansas]], where they were known as the '''Batesville Pilots'''. The team disbanded in 1941.

===After the Depression===
In 1954, following ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', city leaders voted unanimously to [[Desegregation|desegregate]] the school system. The Lincoln School, a [[one-room school]] for African-Americans closed down, and its students were transferred elsewhere. The building itself was given to the city. A local couple, Crockett and Tonya Oaks III, bought the building in 2023 and restored it, partnering with the [[Missouri Historical Society]] and [[Missouri History Museum]] and commissioning art from local artist Heather Legler and Nigerian muralist Dr. Bolaji Ogunwo.<ref name="Walser-Summer-2024">{{cite news |last1=Walser |first1=Lauren |title=Reviving a Missouri Schoolhouse With Ties to Black History |url=https://savingplaces.org/stories/reviving-a-missouri-schoolhouse-with-ties-to-black-history |work=Preservation Magazine |publisher=National Trust for Historic Preservation |date=Summer 2024}}</ref>

On the evening of [[Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1982|April 2, 1982]], a long-track [[Fujita Scale|F4]] tornado struck the West Plains area, beginning in Ozark County and ending near what was the airport at the time. Many homes and businesses were significantly damaged or leveled by the tornado, which killed three and injured at least 28 as it hit the West Plains Country Club and nearby homes, as well as businesses located on [[U.S. Route 63 in Missouri|U.S. Route 63]].<ref name="WPDQ 1982 Tornado">{{cite news| title = Tornado: 4/2/82 | work = West Plains Daily Quill | location = West Plains, Missouri | page = 1 | date = April 5, 1982 }}</ref><ref name="April Tornadoes">{{cite web|url=http://severeplains.com/2012/03/30/april-tornadoes-missouri-1950-2011/ |title=April Tornadoes in Missouri |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref>

The downtown area of West Plains, namely Court Square, was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on July 17, 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20030725.htm |title=National Register of Historic Places Listings July 25, 2003 |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref> The Downtown Revitalization Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Act also opened up funding for renovations and improvements for certain downtown buildings.