Novinger Historical District - Coal Mining History

Novinger History: from "A Book of Adair County History"

Novinger history began at the time when the Pacific Railroad was extending westward from Kirksville.  John C. Novinger, who owned the farm across which the railroad was to run. At first he objected to it's crossing his farm, but by a compromise with the officials of the railroad he agreed that it could do so, provided a depot would be built on his land and be called "Novinger."  The station was soon to become more than a stop on the map.  Forestry was the first industry of the Novinger area.  Railroad ties, and other timber products were loaded on the trains at Novinger and shipped out by the trainload for several years.  Small stores, a blacksmith shop and other business ventures soon were opened in the town.   On January 7, 1879, Novinger was named a United Sates post office.  Novinger was incorporated as a city of the 4th class on April 5, 1901.

     O.K. Mining Co. was organized in 1890 to open up a coal mine on a hill adjacent to the western edge of Novinger.  After successful operation of this mine several other mines came to the vicinity.  These mines operated almost at capacity until about 1910-1912, when the coal business suffered from the competition from other coal fields.  Each of these companies had built several houses at each coal mine where the workers might live.  At one time when the coal business was at its peak, the Novinger Commercial Club boasted of a population of 5,000 persons, and 27 developed coal mines, four churches, two railroads, two banks, two newspapers, a good school, and numerous retail stores.
     In 1914, when the war in Europe began, the coal business suddenly became active again.  These were operated until after World War II ending in the 1940's, again the mines became unprofitable and by the early 1950's nearly all of them closed.  The O.K. Railroad was built through Novinger in 1878-1879.  The Iowa & St. Louis Railroad was built in 1900-1901.  At one time several coal trains loaded with tons and tons of coal left Novinger each day to markets all over the mid-west.  The financial benefits from the sale of this coal was a major part of the prosperity of the whole area for years. 
List of Coal Miners

Several limekilns were built to supply lime for use with the brick and stone used in the vicinity.  Much of the lime employed in the construction of the original buildings of the Kirksville Normal School was produced in the hills just south of Novinger.

     Several of the better buildings of the town were built by breweries, and designed expressly for saloons.  Liquor was shipped actually by carload lots and stored in large iced storage rooms until it was sold.  Only a minority of the people however, were dinkers and trouble-makers.  The majority were peace-loving and good citizens, living religious lives, and were active in promoting community projects.  It was this better element of Novinger's citizens that helped to build the town, its churches, schools, and lodges.

     No churches were built in the city limits of Novinger before 1902.  In the spring of 1902, a bright shiny Chapel Car named the "Messenger of Peace" was placed on a siding across from the depot.  This was the only one of a score or more such cars that were sent out over the country by the Baptist Missionary Society of Pennsylvania.  It stayed in Novinger for several months during which time it caused a great interest to be taken in religious matters.  The care was under the direction of the Reverend Joe Jacobs and his wife, who had living quarters in one end of the car.    The other end of the car was arranged as a chapel, and would seat several dozen persons at a time.  In it was a musical instrument and at that time very much a curiosity, an Edison talking machine with a large horn.  It was used to play religious records, songs, etc.  The first night services were held, the chapel was crowded and several stood on the outside.  On the second night arrangements were made to have the meeting in the opera house that was located on the ground floor of the Knights of Pythias Hall on the main street of the town.  The nightly meetings continued to attract more and more people. Very much interest was generated, and soon plans were on foot for the construction of several churches in Novinger.  The first one , of course, was a Baptist Church, but it  an indirect way this service was the cause of the building of the Methodist Church, a Catholic Church, and the organization of several groups of persons of other denominations who did not have sufficient funds to build a church for their own members.  Prior to this time the only churches in the vicinity were located outside of town.  

One was at the cemetery, north of town, and another one about a mile south of town.  Church services had been held at different times in lodge halls, or empty store rooms, and even homes.  At different times, church groups would send missionaries to try to recruit members for their churches.  About 1915-1916, a small church building at Connelsville was brought to a location in Novinger two blocks west of the Union Depot.  It was known as the Church of Christ, and was attended by members for several years.   In the 1930's the attendance dwindled to just a few members, most of whom lived in Kirksville, so it was decided to move the building to Kirksville.  The building was torn down, board by board, and hauled to Kirksville, where it was again erected, and is still in use there.

The Methodist Church in Novinger as it appeared in 1976.
The building was constructed in 1904.

     Novinger was officially designated as a post office on January 7, 1879.  It is believed that the first postmaster was Aaron Kinyon, who conducted the postalbusiness in his general store.  He and his wife also operated a boarding house just a short distance up the hill from the depot.  The boarding house was considered one of the best eating places along the railroad, and the schedule of the trains was adjusted so that time was allowed for the train crews and passengers to take their meals at the Kinyon House.  This continued until 1901, when the depot was destroyed by fire, and instead of being rebuilt on its old site, a new Union Depot was built at the east edge of Novinger where the "O. K." crossed the tracks of the Iowa & St. Louis, which had just recently been built. 

     Novinger was incorporated as a city of the fourth class on April 5, 1901.  There is no record of its ever having been organized as a village or other civic designation.  The first mayor was John Frank Novinger, the son of the founder of the town.  Other first city officials selected were: Henry C. Truitt and Martin Rabbit, alderman form the south ward, and Emanuel Shoop and Wm. P. Pierson, aldermen form the north ward; Frank W. Closs, marshal, and Frank A Stroup, collector.

     The first school of record in the community was a small log structure located near the cemetery, north of Novinger.  The teacher was a full-blooded Irishman named Robert McAlister.  The next school building was a one-room frame building located on the Hiram Novinger farm, on Pennyroyal Hill about one mile west of Novinger.   After a few years, a new two-room frame building was built near Davis Creek at the foot of t Pennyroyal Hill.  This was about 1898.  This building was used for three or four years, when a new four-room brick building was erected in Novinger, in the northeast part of town.  This building burned during the first year after it was built.  It was then replaced by a newer and larger eight-room brick building on the same site.  This building was used until 1927, when it was torn down and the material, together with new material, was used to build a new structure of a more modern type.  This building was used until 1953, when it burned to the ground.  Several attempts to vote a bond issue for a new school house were turned down by the taxpayers of the district but one was finally approved and a new, larger, and modern building was erected, and is still in use.

     The first high school graduates were given their diplomas in 1912, after which each year the school was enlarged and improved for some time.  The school district became Novinger Consolidated District about 1928.

     In addition to the regularly scheduled eight daily trains-mail, express, and freight, and some mixed- that arrived and departed every 24 hours, extra coal trains were also made up in the yards of Novinger, hauling the output of the mines in all directions from Novinger to markets in different parts of the country.  Most of the Novinger coal was sent to western Missouri and points in Kansas and Nebraska.  Several train crews with their families lived in Novinger.  At one time it required three local switch crews to keep empty cars at the mines and to haul the loaded cars back to the yards, where the coal trains were made up.  Two locomotives were stationed in the yards at these times, and one of the engines was used both day and night for this work.  The care and upkeep of these engines and the other rolling stock of the railroad required several workers, such as mechanics and night watchmen and their supervisory personnel.  Novinger had the best coal chutes on the line, where all the engines could take on their supply of fuel, as well as a near-by water tower for supplying water for the boilers.   One of the engines and its crew each day would make two runs to the coal then home again in the evening.  Because of the necessity of the many side tracks, and switch spurs to the different mines a large number of men was always employed for maintenance of the tracks.

     Novinger was always noted as being a strong "Union" town, and at one time a dozen or more local unions were busy among the workers.  Four or five different United Mine Worker Union locals were active, as well as local unions for other trades and occupations, such as bricklayers, carpenters, concrete workers, painters, paperhangers, stonemasons, and teamsters.  At one time, there was a union meeting each night of the week in one lodge hall.  Some of the workers were quite active in their demands for benefits, so strikes were quite common, especially among the miners.  These caused such loss of wages as well as output at the mines, which was believed by some persons in later years to have been an important factor in the demise of the mining industry in the vicinity.  As activity in the town began to dwindle the unions began to disappear and eventually all  were disbanded.

     During the years of great payrolls from the operation of the coal mines in and around Novinger, most of the pay envelopes were filled with cash, and this became the cause of much concern lest the paying offices be held up by robbers.  Most of the time armed guards were stationed near the paying clerk in order to discourage any attempt at robbery, and this may have been the reason no robbery ever took place at any of the offices.

     One day in the history of Novinger stands out from all others.  It was July 3, 1922, known as the day of the great explosion.  A blast wrecked the drugstore of John Sullivan, occurring as the owner was opening the front door of his store about 7:00 a.m.  The force of the explosion, which was centered inside the drugstore, threw Mr. Sullivan all the way across the street from the store.  It was several hours before he was discovered lying unconscious in the weeds.  He was taken to a hospital, where he died without regaining consciousness.  Several buildings near by were also heavily damaged and glass was broken in practically all windows for several blocks from the drugstore.  The sound of the blast was heard and felt for several miles in all directions from Novinger, and some of the debris was found over a mile distant.  The cause of the explosion was never clearly determined.

     During the years, Novinger was the victim of numerous fires, some of them destroying a whole city block at a time.  Two different depots were destroyed by fire.  Two schoolhouses burned on the same foundation.  Dozens of homes burned, and in later years some of these fires were strongly suspected of being the result of arson for insurance benefits, but no case was ever brought to court.  The numerous fires did cause some of the fire insurance companies to cancel their policies in the town and not to write policies on other houses.  Several attempts were made to organize a fire department, but none of them ever amounted to very much.  Hence, when a fire occurred, efforts to fight it were practically worthless.  One of the attempts included making dozens of buckets out of  old powder cans from the mines and storing them in various places over the town.  Near by was located a barrel filled with salt water with which the buckets were to be filled in case of fire.  These buckets were made of only painted iron; consequently, they became rusted out and useless within a few weeks.  It was the same with the barrel, which were wooden with steel hoops.  The hoops would rust away and make the barrels useless for storing water.  This was known as the Novinger Bucket Brigade Fighters.  Later a small hand-operated water pump was purchased and stored in a handy location near the city jail.  It was designed to be pulled by hand.  Several men would man the pump handles, which was a very good set-up, but it was never used in an actual fire.  It was finally equipped with a tongue and hitches so that a team of horses could be used to haul the pump to any site of a fire.  But this was used only a few times, and the pump was finally abandoned as unsatisfactory.

     Novinger for several years boasted a very good baseball club which played host to numerous ball clubs from other towns near by in north Missouri and southern Iowa.  The members were practically all employees of the coal mines who spent their spare time in practice to improve their playing ability.  From about 1905 to well into the 1920's the club was sponsored by Emmett Corrigan of the Kansas City-Midland Coal Co., who financed the club,  as well as being one of their best players.  At times when the ball club traveled to their towns to meet other clubs, Mr. Corrigan would charter a special train to carry the club as well as fans who went along to root for the team.  On most of these trips the Novinger Band went along to supply music for the games as well as to give the club encouragement.  Some of the players became very good, and at times would play for other teams for pay.  Some ball players at one time or another would try out for some of the minor leagues which were seeking new players, but none of them was hired on any of the teams.

     For over a quarter of a century Novinger was noted for the fine quality of its concert band.  It was originally organized in the early 1890's, and continued as a talented organization for over twenty-five years.  The members were first a few farm boys who got together and were self-taught to play the various instruments.  As the coal mines began to develop, some of the coal miners would join the group, and at one time the band had thirty or forty players.  About 1903, they hired a director and instructor and recruited new members among the young men and women of the town and vicinity.  In addition to the regular practice meetings several times each week, the band would play for most all of the local events, school activities, at the old opera celebrations, etc., over the northern part of Missouri.  It was the main musical attraction of Chautaquas at Kirksville, Meadville, Cameron, Shelbina, and picnics at Edina, Milan, Green City, Knox City, Newark, and numerous small public gatherings for several years.  Political rallies in this part of the state, of any political party, were supplied with music by the Novinger Band.

     During the decade of the 1920's, when opportunities for employments were lacking in Novinger, many families moved to Kirksville, thus creating a surplus of houses.  Since from the very beginning of the coal industry in the Novinger area houses had been moved from one coal camp to another or from worked-out mines to towns, it is not surprising that several dozen houses were moved to Kirksville.  In the early days rollers made from logs were put under the house to be pulled by horses; later steel wheels and gears were used with the motive power furnished by steam-powered engines, which gave way to gasoline or diesel-powered tractors.  In each of the house-moving operations from Novinger to Kirksville it was necessary to construct special bridges over the Chariton River, for regular public road bridges were not suitable for hauling houses over them.  

     Novinger today, with a population of 547, is in part a left-over from the days when it was one of Missouri's leading coal centers with a population of 1,743.  Many of its citizens are retired coal workers and their families.  Some work in factories, hospitals, and stores in Kirksville, driving each way five or six times a week.  However, Novinger is the community center for Morrow and Nineveh townships; its four churches serve communicants from a wide area; and the Novinger school system is the elementary and secondary education center in western Adair County, serving nearly five hundred students each school day.  With the additions of waterworks and soon a sewer system, together with the prospect of street improvements, Novinger has become in recent years a rather desirable town in which to live.  

Cyrus R. Truitt

House movers at work, 1925-1930.  The photo was taken near Novinger at the time that house moving from coal mining camps to Kirksville and Novinger was common.  Bass House Movers was the company in charge.

In the photo house movers were approaching their temporary bridge over the Chariton River just below the old bridge over State Highway 6.  This particular operation was by the crew of Sam E. Shumate and Sylvester Murphy.