Later a community center and meeting place was constructed for various activities, including school and religious gatherings. The school was of subscription type, with the teacher being paid by the parents of those attending. Mr. Pease was a major contributor to the school as he was a great supporter of education.
Church was held in the same building with a Circuit Riding preacher providing the community with their spiritual needs by conducting religious services each Saturday night and Sunday. One weekend it would be a Methodist minister and maybe the next would be a Baptist or 'Campbellite'. New converts were baptized in the nearby river, just below the mill dam.
The entire village of Richville was owned and managed by Mr. Pease. According to an article published in the West Plains Quill in 1895, by Myron M. Pease, son of Miles Pease, an eye witness, "Richville was once the greatest business point in South Missouri. It was not uncommon to see 15 to 20 wagons camped there overnight waiting for their lumber or the grinding of their grain. Grain was brought from Wright, Howell, Texas, Ozark and Douglas Counties and some from Arkansas."
The community continued to thrive and after many requests to Washington, D. C., a post office was granted to the village on July 20, 1870.
George Pease, oldest son of Miles Pease, was appointed Postmaster. About once a week one of the younger sons made the trip to Vera Cruz, to fetch the mail for the new and thriving community. This continued for about four years, when again, after much communication with Washington, D. C., a route was established from West Plains to Ava with service twice a week.
It took six days with horse and buggy to make the two trips, with stops also at Siloam Springs, Buckhart and Vera Cruz.
About 1883 a mighty flood came down The North Fork and destroyed the entire village of Richville, the sawmill, the cotton gin....everything! Miles Pease's dream had just washed away. He had no desire to rebuild the village. The flood had changed the channel of the river which made it almost impossible to harness the free energy, again.
The Post Office was moved to the home of Lasrus Maness. At this new office a Mail Carrier's horse was stolen during the overnight layover. As soon as the loss was discovered, a posse of vigilantes was formed, the thief was hunted down, caught and shot on the spot. He was buried on what is known as Dobners Ridge, in an unmarked grave, known only to few.
In mid 1896, the Post Office was moved farther west to the home of James C. Chambers, where it changed administrators several times until discontinuation on June 15, 1905. The closing was only temporary, to facilitate the move to new quarters at the new Richville Store.
Absalum Wheat was appointed Postmaster on June 27, 1905 and the new site would be at what is now the junction of State Highway 14 and Route W.
There, Richville began to flourish again. With a new building built by Absalum Wheat and Ben Harris the store became the center of a large trade area. There were no other trading centers in the area for several miles. The nearest was Buckhart on the west, Dora on the south, Vanzant to the north and Hebron to the east.
The store and Post Office were dependant on each other and when the Postmasters appointment was terminated, which was quite often under the old political spoils system, the store management was usually sold to the new Postmaster, or vice versa.
In 1920, Ed and Edith Gentry purchased the Richville store from Martin Russell and on December 15 of that year Edith was appointed Postmaster. Edith held the position longer than any other previous Postmaster, but on March 15, 1933, after some 63 years of service, the Richville Post Office was closed by the Roosevelt administration, and the community was, and is still, served from the Dora office.
The Gentrys kept the store and remained in the mercantile business. Their business continued to prosper despite the stock market crash of 1929, and the ensuing depression years. In order to accommodate the local patrons, a grist mill and blacksmith shop was constructed.
Ed contracted with his brother John Gentry to operate the blacksmith shop and the ring of John's hammer, on the anvil, could be heard from early morning to dusk each day.
John was a hard worker and proficient as a blacksmith. He could repair a wagon to near new condition and when he re-tired a wagon wheel with an iron rim, it was heated and forced on the wheel with such precision that when it cooled it was impossible to remove. As a farrier, it was said, a horse was never too big or mean for John to shoe.
As automobiles became more numerous, gasoline pumps were installed and Richville became a full service store. Everything from groceries and clothing to harness and hardware were exchanged for cream and eggs and other farm products.
The Gentry's were the first in the area to own a radio. It was installed for the convenience of the customers to listen to the noon news from KWTO and the Grand Ole Opry from Nashville's WSM on Saturday Nights.
On Saturday evenings, the entire community would gather around to hear the Solemn Old Judge blow his horn, at 8:00 o'clock sharp, signaling the beginning of the show, followed by entertainers such as Roy Acuff, Uncle Dave Macon and of course, Minnie Pearl. This tradition was carried on for many years, but as others began to get their own radios, the Saturday evening crowds subsided.
In the early thirties, Highway 14, from Ava to West Plains, was completed. Richville was on a main highway! Fine new concrete bridges were constructed over Spring Creek, North Fork, Fox Creek, Brush Creek and Bryant!
This was an asset for the community, as the only means of conveyance to the County Seats had been over county roads which were, at times, almost impassable. This meant that no matter what the weather, we could make it to Ava or West Plains, even in the rainy season when the swollen creeks were out of their banks. And to think, we could make it to either town and return in one day!
In the early 40s the Richville store began to change management quite often. Some of the different owners were, Bert Teeple, Ervin Coble, E.T. Stout and William Kistner. A second store was built across W highway from the original site, with the late John Dickinson as owner/manager.
In the 50s came the hard surfacing of Highway 14. This was even better yet...no more dust or chipped windshields from flying gravels. But the boom years for Richville were slowly fading.
With the coming of the better roads and faster transportation, came the demise of Richville. It was now so much easier to hop in a nice car or pickup and drive into town for the family's weekly shopping needs, afterwards attending a movie or other forms of entertainment, and return in the same evening.
This was affecting the economic stability of Richville. Soon, both stores were forced to close their doors. The old store building is now torn down and nothing remains except the foundation. The "Dickinson" building is still standing but business hasn't been conducted there for several years.
Where once was the center of the Richville community and a beehive of activity on Saturday afternoons, such as horse shoe pitching, arm wrestling, whittling, sitting on a nail keg waiting your turn to get a haircut...is now nothing more than an intersection of two highways, with only a lot of fond memories being reminisced each time area old timers drive by.
Oh...for a bottle of that good old Grapette or Orange Crush and a nickel bag of chocolate drops almost too much for one person to eat! Time marches on, and as this generation passes so will memories of Richville!