Hiking at Old Greenville Recreation Area includes a ghost town, retracing the steps of the Trail of Tears, and seeing a memorial to an unknown Civil War soldier nearby.

Old Greenville Recreation Area

At Old Greenville Recreation Area you can walk around the remains of a 1940s era ghost town.

Greenville had to be relocated to higher ground following the construction of the dam in 1941 for Wappapello Lake. Many of the homes and buildings were removed leaving the foundations in place to explore.

It is an easy hike in the flat terrain around the remnants of the town.

Starting the 1-Mile Memory Lane Trail

I parked in the picnic area nearest the entrance to the campground.

Here you will find a gazebo with information on the former town and the history of the area. Photos help you visualize what once was here.

From here I walk towards a set of stairs and sidewalk that I try to imagine once led to a house near the picnic grounds. 

Nearby was another foundation that now had a tree growing in it. These were two sites here.

Into the Former Town

I head from the parking area on Timmons Street. This was one of the few streets still left. Along this street, there are street signs with no streets and sidewalks that go into fields and trees.

Gas Station

Along this main road is a large foundation for a former filling station. The sign out front gave me a sense of the place with old photos of the people and even nearby buildings.

Going further

Another sign along the way showed how some homes were moved and past flooding of one of the houses.

 A sign talked about hotels and tourist cabins that were once here.

I looked for black poles with information tablets on them scattered through this area. The smaller black poles information is missing.

Traffic Control

A concrete block in the campground area once stood as traffic control in the center of the former downtown. It was embedded out in the T-intersection where Timmons Street met old State Route 23.

By convention, drivers entering this busy intersection knew to yield to through traffic on Route 23 and to keep to the right side of the monument when turning either right or left from Timmons Street and Route 23.

That system of traffic control may seem a bit confusing now, but it functioned much like a roundabout does today.

Large Mound

A large mound in the camping area near the gatehouse for camping was once where the courthouse was located.

The last Wayne County Courthouse to be built here was constructed in 1926 after two previous ones had caught fire. This building was designed with a concrete basement to elevate it above floods that frequently plagued old Greenville.

A new courthouse was built in 1940 at the new location of Greenville above flood stages.

Alice Curtis Moyer

In the picnic area, you can find an interpretive panel on Alice Curtis Moyer. She championed the right for women to vote in the Ozarks. She would ride on her horse Labelle across the Ozarks championing this issue.

Moyer was also the first woman in Missouri to lead a state department in the 1920s.  

Her book A Romance of the Road is a manifesto of the suffragist argument.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t walk down all the sidewalks and check out all the streets, but you can spend some time here looking for the remains of the town. It is an open space so it might be best to do this on a cooler day.

One Last Note

Yearly the Old Greenville Blackpowder Rendezvous takes place at the recreation area where you can relive history as you see tepees, lodges, and traders with hand-crafted items.

DETAILS

Drive: Old Greenville Recreation Area is about two hours south of St. Louis. Take Interstate 55 south out of St. Louis. Then take exit 174B to US-67 S toward Bonne Terre/Farmington for 54 miles. Turn left onto Business 67 with another right following signs for Old Greenville Recreation Area.

Hours: Camping is available

Admission: Free

Address: Greenville, MO 63944

Other Sites Nearby

Trail of Tears Marker

By the boat ramp at Old Greenville Recreation Area, you will find more information panels. One is on the Trail of Tears, which was a series of forced relocations of approximately 60,000 Native Americans in the United States from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to the Indian Territory which is now the state of Oklahoma.

The area by the boat ramp had been known as a Bettis Ford, a place to cross the St. Francis River.

A brown sign shows that Fort Payne Alabama is 430 miles away and Stilwell, Oklahoma is 140 miles away, giving you a sense of how far they walked.

You can also see informational panels on the different nearby bridges that have been built and the flood history of Old Greenville.

A bike trail extends from this area to the campground at Old Greenville Recreation Area.

Lonesome Pine – Civil War Unknown Soldier

A small stone monument for an unknown Civil War soldier can be seen along US 67.

The story goes that a group of soldiers was escorting a wagon with a wounded soldier through the area. 

They approached a nearby farm and the farmer brought the soldier some milk and then he died a short time after. 

He was buried there with a large rock marking his grave.

The family left town and when they got back a new white marker was there. Who placed it there remains a mystery.

Drive from the Recreation Area: After crossing the St. Francis River on US 61 going south on your left you will see parking for the Ozark Trail along with a pine tree and a small cement stone. Although, you’ll have to go up to where a road crosses both lanes of traffic then turn down the northbound lane to reach the turn-off.

I didn’t have time to visit but saw the Lonesome Pine from the highway.

Address: 370519 County Road 6, Princeton, MO 55371

More Halloween Hikes

Halloween Hikes: Robertsville State Park Cemetery Walk

Views of the Meramec River and walk through spicebush and lush forests and creeks can be found at Robertsville State Park along with a trip to an electrified cemetery.

Halloween Hikes: Route 66 State Park

Hiking along a former street in a ghost town near the skeletal remains of a Route 66 bridge across the Meramec River was my destination. This area has a lot of history, from once being a resort town to becoming contaminated by the dangerous chemical of dioxin.

Halloween Hikes: Fort Belle Fontaine

Grounds of a former 19th century U.S. Military installation and ruins of a popular summer retreat in the 1930s can be explored at Fort Belle Fontaine County Park in North St. Louis County.

Rumors are this place is haunted by soldiers and it does have an eerie vibe to it with all the ruins.

Halloween Hikes: Abandoned Sanatorium at Welch Spring

The stone-cut walls of a barred and locked sanatorium next to Welch Spring are what I found on my journey to Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Halloween Hikes are hikes that I spotlight in October that fit the spirit of Halloween. Feel free to share suggestions for hikes to do in the future. Also, post any questions you might have on the hikes!