Valles Mines, Missouri, U S A
Founded in 1749 by Francois Valle years. 274 years later as The Valle Mining Company, his 4000+
acre property every year absorbs 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide and puts out 14,000 tons of oxygen, enough
to meet the needs of 63,000 people. [USDA Forest Facts]
Site Map
The Old Church House
The church house stood at the beginning of Valles
Mines School Road until being burnt by arson in 1975. The foundation
still remains as does its well and many people remember the acoustics
of the building with its tall ceiling and windows.
It's congregation
built it in sight of A.P. Rowe General Store and Post Office.
Mrs. Pete Snyder, PostMistress of Valles Mines for 37 years, met
her husband at a social the church held while serving up water
from the Romance Spring, locally known for love at first sight.
"He was older and with someone else and I was busy and just
looked up and then our eyes met. That was it and there's a lot
of folks around here who had an experience like we did."
Across the
road the church faced a park which was destroyed in order to make
room for an ore processing plant for the war effort during World
War II. Local people ran the mill that reclaimed 25% lead ore
dumped as waste by early mining that was then refinable because
of technology improvements. The restoration of the site began
7 years ago and several hundred thousand tons of crushed rock
have been removed and the trees of the former park thinned. The
foot trail from behind the church house led 3/4 of a mile along
the ridge opposite the General Store and looks down on the Artesian
Well.