Valles Mines, Missouri

I first heard of this when a paranormal group 3 girls in the dark advertised an overnight ghost hunt here. of course, found this the DAY of the hunt. like when they were posting that they were there setting up. (confession: I had just found THEM, as well....) then I see something from Critter Lane Petting Zoo on my newsfeed....and I am intrigued. time to google how far away this magical place is! and the answer is-----5 h 4 min (317.2 mi) via US-36 E. down past St. Louis.

Here's the full article from 1998: $10 A YEAR TO CAMP IN MO. Property owner hopes to retain wilderness aura of 4,700 acres Monday, September 14, 1998 By Joan Little Of The Post-Dispatch John Valle Harrison has a dream. Whether it comes true remains to be seen. Harrison plans to sell what he calls "no-hunting permits," to attract people from the St. Louis area to a 4,700-acre wilderness around the former mining town of Valles Mines in extreme southern Jefferson County and northern St. Francois County. Harrison and his relatives own controlling interest in the land, which has been in Harrison's family for generations, perhaps as far back as the 1700s. Now a ghost town, Valles Mines was once a thriving area in the 1800s, when lead and later zinc were mined there by Harrison's ancestors, who owned the Valle Mining Co. Even until 1950, Valles Mines had a population of about 175. All that's left now is a general store built in 1885, a much older house that was originally a log cabin and the paymaster's shack. Built before 1840, it still has iron bars and a front door driven with hundreds of nails to discourage robbers from blowing it in. Harrison believes the property will be appealing to the public because it's an animal-release site for a St. Louis-area wildlife-rehabilitation clinic. The land has had raccoons, opossums and mink released in the past year. Harrison says people who buy no-hunting permits for $10 a year can hike, bicycle, picnic or camp on the acreage. About the only thing they cannot do is hunt or disturb the wildlife. As Harrison sees it, the property has a lot of potential. But he wants people to know that visiting the area today will be a primitive experience because there are no amenities. There are no utility hookups or running water, although the property does have clear, cold water running constantly from an artesian well. It feeds a nearby, crystal-clear stream. A paved road runs through the property, but otherwise the roads are rough gravel. The property has miles and miles of old logging trails, mining trails and abandoned county roads, but they are not maintained. It also has two lakes available for fishing, for $3.50 a day. "It's primitive camping; we make no bones about it," said Harrison. "It's basically untouched wilderness." People who buy permits will not be allowed on the property for about two weeks in the late fall and two weeks in spring, when Harrison allows hunting on all but two protected areas of the acreage. Harrison says he wants to try selling the permits because he doesn't want to see the land developed for housing. Jefferson County property taxes on the property are more than $6,000 a year, and he's looking for some way to use the land without destroying its natural beauty. The property has been logged in the past, as recently as 1986, but Harrison says he doesn't want logging operations anymore. "We're an endangered species ourselves," he said. "The developers want to turn this into subdivisions. They definitely want to buy this place." For all its rustic setting, Valles Mines is not far from St. Louis. Harrison says it's a 47-minute drive from the Gateway Arch. Motorists take Interstate 55 to Highway 67 to Route V. Harrison says he doesn't know whether his idea will become popular. He is printing handbills and plans to leave them at outdoor-type stores. Beyond its natural beauty, Valles Mines also has historical value. Harrison would like to restore the few remaining buildings and eventually give tours that would include six remaining mine shafts of the Valle Mining Co. The company won a silver medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair for its pig lead. Inside what was once the general store, Harrison has dozens of ledger books from Valle Mining Co., from as far back as 1819. A state archivist visited the store recently to make copies of the ledgers for a state record-preservation program. According to local lore, the general store was the scene of a Civil War shootout between Union soldiers and a local resident who was a Confederate sympathizer. The paymaster's shack, where miners got their paychecks, was robbed frequently, says Steve Frazier, a fifth-generation resident who knows a lot of the old stories about Valles Mines. Frazier's ancestors were former superintendents of the mining company. As the property's current superintendent, Frazier says he would like to see the huge tract of wilderness stay undeveloped. For information, call 586-3680 or 771-8844 or write to John Harrison, 401 Valles Mines School Road, Valles Mines, Mo. 63087. Copyright (c) 1998, St. Louis Post-Dispatch _________________ "If you get hung up on everybody else's hang-ups, then the whole world's going to be nothing more than one huge gallows." Richard Brautigan ...

The Lost History Museum preserves and displays local artifacts from Valles Mines, one of Missouri's oldest settlements. Tours by appointment (573-631-6875). Please call ahead as our hours vary. Walk down mainstreet of this ghost town and visit the general store, payroll office, smelter, furnace tender's cabin, or other historic sites. The museum itself is housed in the 1749 settlement house of Francois Vallee. Inside is an extensive collection of photos, miniatures, and primitives from a mining mining town that has come back again and again over the centuries*. Exhibit: The Paymaster's Shack, a small building with a big history. Jesse James blew the safe once. His hideout cave lies a few miles due East.

ok. Jesse James. I am all in on this one!