Hurley High School - Tiger Yearbook (Hurley, MO)

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HUFILEY, MISSOURI Hurley, a village in northern Stone County, Missouri, whose present population is listed as 148, owes its existence to Spring Creek This stream of water, which divides the town, is just one of countless numbers of streams so named because of the springs which feed In the case of Hur1ey's Spring Creek, some twenty clear running springs have, over a period of a century and more, kept the stream running, sometimes bank full, other times little more than a spring branch itself in places. Its over all length is approximately seven miles. For half a century the present settlement of Hurley was called the Spring Creek. Settlement. Or, just Spring Creek Valley. Even today old-timers call it that. Who the first settlers were no one know. Coming here from the South - Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, the Cumberland Moutain area - were the Shorts, Scotts, Steeles, Reynolds, Wrlghts, Rapps, - all familiar names today. But the early members of these families arrived prior to the 1840's. The two most important factors in settling this area were: an abundance of good water for man and beast, and to furnish power to run grist mills. And, cheap land. Spring Creek Valley offered both. Railroad land could be bought for 51.25 'per acre and, following the Civil War, some was available for homesteading. In the years prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, two mills on Spring Creek were going concerns. One, a mile north of Spring Creek Settlement, was owned by Henry Reynolds and called by his surname. The other was the Byrd Mill, sometimes called the Campbell Mill for it was jointly owned by Byrd and Campbell. It was located just past the junction of Spring and Crane creeks, about three miles south of town. Both were destroyed by fire, by bushwhackers, early in the conflict. Neither was ever rebuilt. In the early 1890s two old bachelors - James Reynolds and Pryor Sanders - began building a mill at the present site of Hurley. They figured that the stream's power could be harnessed and the result would run a mill, now badly needed by Valley folks. My father, the late E,R, Scott, hired out to work for them as a carpenter. No sooner was the mill put into operation till the bachelors quarreled and sold the mill. But settlers kept moving into the Valley and to put bread on their tables one first had to have the stuff bread was made out of. After a few cha.nges, E,R. Scott became the mill's owner. And he, with my Grand ' Pap Short, owned- a store as well. Mail for mill patrons was brought from Marionville on the Frisco, andfor from School, Missouri, a Post Office north of Spring Creek Valley. On July 25, 1898, a Post Office was established in the one store in Spring Creek Valley with my father as postmaster. 'Ihe name Hurley, came about in this way: when the postmaster was asked to subm it a nam e, he gave the logical one - Spring Creek Post Office. However, when the inspector came, accompanied by his daughter, he said the: name was too long, that it cou1dn't be used on the cancelling stamp. The daughter, engaged to a young man whose surname was Hurley, suggested the new office be named in his honor. And so it was. But it was an unwise choice for there are half a dozen other Hurleys in the United States and during the World War two mail came to our office that had been forwarded from all of the other Hurleys! My father served as Postmaster for three years. When he checked out the postal department sent him a warrant on the U.S. treasury for seven cents due him. He never did cash the warrant. Around 1904, surveyors and workmen were busy with operations for a branch railroad of the Missouri Pacific which would connect Crane with Springfield, Missouri. It was one of the most important events in Hurley's history when, on a morning in April of 1907, the first engine pulling a few cars puffed its way over the steel rails. And it was, indeed, a sad time for Hurley when, on Election Day in November, 1972, the rails were taken up and our Missouri Pacific railroad through Hurley was a part of the past. I saw the railroad come into Spring Creek Valley, a.nd I saw it go out. It marked the end of an era, Hur1ey's best days were the years between 1910 and 1930. Growing tomatoes in new ground farmers found they could add to the family income. A cannery located on Spring Creek did a good business well into the late 1930s. Strawberries, grown on hill land, were shipped via the Frisco from Marionville. Eventually cattle raising and dairying took over. In 1927, some twenty Hurley businesses, including a bank, were listed in a booklet put out by Stone County businessmen. Hurley's sons marched off to war, in World War one, World War two, the Korean conflict and Vietnam, just as their fore- bears did in the War Between the States. Some were brought home for burial in Short Cemetery and others in the area. Some are buried on foreign soil. All served their Country with distinction, making us proud to be Americans. Good roads in and out of Spring Creek Valley make it possible for workers to live here and work miles from home, commuting daily. Our school system has come a long way since the Hurley School District was organized in 1909. The Re-Organized School District is Number One in Stone County. By that I mean it was the first to re-organize, just as it was the first to consolidate. There are four churches here: Southern Baptist, Church of God, Primitive Baptist and United Methodist. All are well kept. Modern homes are the rule, rather than the exception. One hundred forty-eight citizens - men, women and cl1ildren - will tell you that Hurley, Missouri, is a good place to live! Mary scott Hair November 6, 1975 Spring Creek Valley Hurley, Mo. 65675

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The Spirit CN '76 Index Graduates, . . Undergrads . . . Administration . Athletics ..... Clubs .... Favorites . . .

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WE DEDICATE THE 1976 YEARBOGK TO ERNEST AND IVIAFIY HAIR PICTURED here are Ernest and Mary Hair. Ernest Hair, born February 23, 1892, at Brown's Spring, Missouri. Mary Scott, born December 23, 1902, at Hurley, Missouri. Ernest and Mary were mar- ried July 31, 1932 in Hurley. They' ve lived in the same house since December 6, 1920.