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Trees
Tour of Midco
Registration is Closed

LOCATION & SCHEDULE
Meeting on: Located at:
Start Time End Time
Twin Pines Conservation Education Center
20086 Hwy 60
Winona, MO 65588
(573) 325-1381
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Additional Information: Instructed by:
Be taken back in time with a guided historic tour around Midco, once the largest town in Carter County, and one of the state’s largest industrial developments before it was hit by the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic. Midco’s existence came about by a group of Kansas City investors looking for cheap land and timber that was plentiful in the rural Ozarks and named their business the Mid-Continent Iron Company. Midco’s chemical plant and iron foundry included a large charcoal blast furnace, the world’s second largest in operation at the time. It could refine up to 100 tons of iron per day by burning 180 cords of wood cut from more than 24,000 acres across a multiple counties of southern Missouri. When the United States entered World War I, Midco’s chemical plant was one of eight facilities around the country the U.S. Army contracted with for methanol (wood alcohol) and acetate to produce airplane dope, a thick varnish-like solvent used to coat the canvas wings of aircraft used during that time. Unfortunately, the Spanish flu sealed the demise of Midco as it struggled to find buyers for its products in the post-war economy, and by 1921, closed its doors for good. Not much remains of this once booming town except the impressive 165-feet tall smokestack, concrete walls and foundations covered by lichen, moss, and vines, and a cemetery. Participants will meet at Twin Pines Conservation Education Center at 12:30 pm, then caravan over to the Midco site to begin the tour. Wendy Lott
Cancellation Policies:

You must cancel your registration before Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Age Policy:

All registrants for this event must be a minimum age of 16 years old by 3/3/2022.