Westward, Ho! Day 18: Paris, then and now....a covered bridge....a river crossing whoopsie

This morning, I drove to Paris.  Paris, MO that is.  Named by one of the founders whose hometown was Paris, KY.  Paris seems to be a popular name in the Midwest, I remind you Martha and I had lunch in Paris, TN a few weeks ago.

Anyways, my reason to go was to see if I could match any of the historical pictures I found of buildings in Paris, MO to what still stands today.  The pickings, were slim I'm afraid.

The easy one was the courthouse, as Paris is apparently the county seat for Monroe County:

img src: courthousehistory.com

I had several historical pics of Main Street but the only one I matched was this one:

img src: monroe.mogenweb.org

So, what made Paris (besides its name) a tourist destination for me?  Well, its claim to fame or what "put it on the map" so to speak was a Norman Rockwell painting:

img src: stltoday.com

Rockwell's painting depicts a visit by the artist (he's the one on the far right coming in the door) to see the editor in his office.  Apparently, the older gentleman at the typewriter was Jack Blanton a well known editor of the Monroe County Appeal newspaper.  

img src: stltoday.com

11.5 million, that's a nice chunk of change!

I couldn't find any evidence of the Monroe County Appeal's offices, though google maps stated it was 230 Main Street in Paris, MO.  This, near as I can figure it, is that address:

The newspaper is apparently now part of the Monroe-Ralls newspaper.  (It's a rather slow website to load)

Failing to find anything else in the small town worth exploring, I headed west about six miles to the Union Covered Bridge Historical Site.  It's one of only four remaining covered bridges in Missouri:

I know what you're thinking, that looks like quite the doable river crossing.  In fact, as I was taking the above picture, a four door sedan cruised slowly across, no issues.

So I went back to the Sammy, drove across and then set up the camera in video mode to record the Sammy crossing over.

First though, a couple of motorcycle riders decided, shortly after I'd set up the camera unbeknownst to them, to do the crossing as well:

Then, it was the Sammy's turn to be on camera:

Drove back to camp, stopping at the local restaurant for some home made fudge!  Finally, the cravings can be addressed.  I got the chocolate/peanut butter version, half a pound.  Yummy and so far, no upset stomach from the one piece I had with lunch.

My last Missouri sunset for a while:

As I type this, the campground has become much less crowded since the weekenders have gone home.  I'd say its back to about 30% of capacity.

I plan on being in Kansas tomorrow afternoon.....