Newspapers of days past, even the ads, are a window into our community’s soul

By Linda Emley The year was 1917 and a new machine was changing the way Ray County farmers took care of business. This was in The Richmond Missourian May 17,…

Mother lode of Alexander Doniphan stories discovered in Liberty

By Linda Emley I had a friend tell me they heard a story about Alexander Doniphan getting married in his later years. I was excited to hear this because I…

A wrong turn in the country leads to a forgotten piece of Ray County history

By Linda Emley If anyone had handed me this picture yesterday, I would have been shocked when they told me it was an old railroad bridge in Ray County. But…

Mormons wrote a significant chapter in the history of Ray County

By Linda Emley Tonight (Thursday, Jan. 10), Keith Bowen will be guest speaker at the Annual Ray County Historical Society meeting. Keith lives in Excelsior Springs and is an interesting…

It pays to advertise, for history’s sake, too

By Linda Emley I have an old wooden trunk that I use to store my collection of local treasures. This past summer I decided to bring my treasure chest to…

Noted Richmond photographer forever linked to museum building

By Linda Emley The Ray County Museum has 17 original Orval Hixon photographs that are signed by the man himself. These pictures are valuable because of each is a work…

Photographer’s life in Richmond included some good advice on advertising

By Linda Emley (Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a three-part series Linda Emley’s providing on photographer Orvil Hixon. The first two sections – the first story was…

By Linda Emley (Editor’s note: Linda is running this previously published story to set the stage for her upcoming The Rest of the Story.) In Weston, there’s a shop called…

Need a boost for the Christmas spirit? Try Ray County in 1965

By Linda Emley The year was 1965 and L.B.J. was our President. The war in Vietnam was heating up when 3,500 U.S. Marines arrived in South Vietnam March 8 and…