Near Dillard in Crawford County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Fish Raceway

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, July 21, 2024

1. Fish Raceway Marker

Inscription. The ruin is part of the hatchery raceway for holding and growing small fish. It was built by Lester Klemme, owner and operator of a modest resort and recreation business named Old Mill Lodge. The raceway provided minnows for the lodge's guests to use as bait as they fished for smallmouth bass and other fish in the millpond and nearby streams. The cool water in this spring kept the minnows healthy and active.

The millpond had acquired a reputation among anglers long before this hatchery was built. Writing in 1915 of his fishing encounter with the Mischke family, owners of the mill, A.W. Schwieder noted, “The miller and his sister, being typical Ozarkians, hardly stirred from the shaded doorway or window of the mill as they watched us ‘windlass’ them in and load them in our purposely lengthened net.”

[Captions]
Left: Sign for Lester Klemme's Old Mill Lodge
Right: Millpond at Dillard Mill

Erected by Missouri State Parks.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Parks & Recreational Areas • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1915.

Location. 37° 43.214′ N,

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91° 12.37′ W. Marker is near Dillard, Missouri, in Crawford County. It can be reached from Dillard Mill Road (County Road 811) 1.6 miles south of State Highway 49, on the left when traveling south. Marker is in Dillard Mill State Historic Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 142 Dillard Mill Rd, Davisville MO 65456, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Missouri. It is also in the American Ozarks,

in the Lewis & Clark Corridor,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Old Mill Lodge (within shouting distance of this marker); Dillard (within shouting distance of this marker); Dillard Store and Post Office (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Old Dillard Cemetery (about 400 feet away);

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, July 21, 2024

2. Fish Raceway Marker

Turning Water into Power (about 400 feet away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 10.2 miles away).

Credits. This page was last revised on August 27, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 23, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 124 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 23, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.