Hopewell, Washington County, Missouri

Hopewell is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Missouri, United States. It lies at an elevation of 850 feet (259 m).

References

• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hopewell, Washington County, Missouri

Hopewell isn’t a town but simply a collection of homes that stretches along a bumpy, narrow, asphalt road leading down into an intersecting valley. Hopewell is located in Washington County, Missouri which is mostly rural, heavily wooded and rich with various mineral resources. Washington County is approximately 65 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri and is divided into eleven townships: Belgrade, Belleview, Breton, Concord, Harmony, Johnson, Kingston, Liberty, Richwoods, Union and Walton.

Hopewell was founded by John Evans and originally named Hopewell Furnace, home to large smelting furnaces along the historic Iron Mountain Railroad. Hopewell is located within the Breton Township just off of state highway 8 between Potosi and Leadwood, Missouri. Its location is along one of the routes of the infamous Cherokee Trail of Tears. Historically, Hopewell was the site of various Civil War events and continues to offer visitors with a glimpse into the American past.

When you leave the main highway you have to carefully navigate along Hopewell Road. This little road is in places nearly too narrow for two cars to pass each other and continuously sweeps back and forth around sharp curves with heavy foliage and deep drainage ditches on either side. Occasionally there are clearings in the trees that revel a breathtaking view of the Ozark Mountains rolling majestically out into the distance.

As you continue down the road, deeper and deeper into the valley, the beauty of the wooded countryside gives way to a realization that times are hard for some of Hopewell’s residents. While there are some beautiful homes with manicured yards, there are often rundown little houses and mobile homes with trash, remnants of old cars and packs of mixed breed dogs in the yards. It’s here, that you realize that there is another part of America that the politicians in Washington D.C. and the big city newspapers don’t talk much about. Out here in the backwoods of Missouri, like in other rural parts of America, time has continued to move more slowly.

Hopewell General Store

Once you near the bottom of the valley the road crosses a set of railroad tracks that were once part of the historic Iron Mountain Railroad, then Missouri Pacific Railroad and is now used by Union Pacific and Amtrak. Just past the railroad tracks on the right is the former home to the Hopewell Church of God. As you near the bottom of the valley the road curves slightly to the right and comes to a three way intersection. At the Intersection there is an old General store. Just to the left the road crosses a small creek and continues on. If you take the road to the right (straight ahead) you are on now New Diggins Road which takes a more adventurous route back through Springtown and towards Potosi. From this intersection there are an assortment small gravel driveways providing access residential properties.

Back at the intersection, if you turn left and cross the little creek there is a large natural spring on the left that has supplied the community with fresh drinking water for many years. This bubbling spring yields the best tasting, ice cold water that you’ll likely to find anywhere. The spring is fed from the hill above that we called "Bean Hill" which naturally filters and holds water at a constant, near freezing temperature year round. As the water from the spring drains off towards the creek there is at times a seemingly endless growth of tangy, wild watercress and a powerful natural peppermint along its banks.

Near the spring is a large white building that once housed a local roller skating rink but is now used as a warehouse for a local building contractor. It’s gone now but there used to be an abandoned house half way up Bean Hill in the edge of the woods above the spring. As kids my sisters and I along with other neighborhood kids used to climb up the hill and tell ghost stories. When the wind blew, the doors and shutters would slam or moan which would send our young minds racing, wandering if its previous inhabitants still haunted it. Most of the time a single noise would send us all running and screaming to the bottom of the hill. We’ve all grown up now and the old house is long since gone but back then we were all convinced there were ghost residing there.

Hopewell Union Church

Hopewell Union Church Cemetary

Atop Bean Hill stands a majestic white two-story Union Church that dates back to around the time of the Civil War. The church is of French design and is constructed using wood from the surrounding forest with a large steeple on its top. Local records tell that the construction of this church began just before the Civil War and was not completed until sometime after the war ended. It was designed to be a school on the top floor and church on the bottom. The building is in some disrepair now but is still used for an occasional wedding or other special event. This old church has no running water and no inside facilities. On the ground outside the church are the remnants of old "men's" and "women's" outhouses. Behind the church there is a large, beautiful graveyard with weathered headstones dating back to the 1700s. I always thought it was neat to have such history surrounding us and as children we used to go there to show people who would come to visit.

Back in the valley is the general store and the Hopewell Elementary School which has now been closed. Hopewell General Store doesn’t have a lot of anything but it has always had candy which was important to me. It also has a meat and cheese counter, soda box, chips and an assortment of groceries. When I was a child I remember the local men coming in to the store at lunch time for a sandwich, chips and a coke. Most of them would have a bologna sandwich and would sit around on old boxes or stools while they ate. Some of the men would pour a small bag of salted peanuts into their coke bottle. I never understood this practice but they seemed to enjoy it. In the back of the store there was a pool hall and the store owner’s residence. Out on the front porch you could often find local boys playing bottle caps. The guys would take turns seeing who could flip the bottle cap closest to the wall. I guess it was kind of like shuffle board. At times there was a room in the back of the store with pool tables and pin ball machines that offered a distraction for the daily routine.

Like all of the kids from our community I attended my first few years of school at Hopewell Elementary. This little school only had four rooms but at one time taught kids in grades one through six. Since there were only four classrooms a couple grades were held in the same classroom and had the same teacher. Originally there was no cafeteria or gym but these facilities were added later. Once you graduated from Hopewell Elementary you had to take a very long bus ride to schools in Potosi. Potosi is the Washington County seat where kids were bused in from various small communities around the county.

In the old days the little Hopewell elementary school was more than just a school to the residents of this community it was the center of our community. Other than church, activities at the school including such activities as Christmas pageants, PTA Meetings or Cakewalks offered our only social opportunities. For this reason, events at the school always had a good turnout. I can still vaguely recall wearing home-made costumes and performing in school programs and carnivals. These carnivals didn’t have rides but included cake walks, musical chairs, fishing for prizes, etc. The school also had a small playground and most importantly it had two softball fields. Back then, kids enjoyed playing pickup softball games as much as kids today are addicted to playing video games.

Hopewell continues to be a place where you can find fresh air but some of the mystique of the past is now nearly gone. The days of kids running through thousands of fireflies playing tag on a freshly mowed yard is pretty much gone. While there are still a few fireflies left even these kids of this community have turned to video games. While this used to be a safe-haven for children parents now have to be more vigil to ensure there children are protected.

Still, Hopewell offers some wonderful historic treasures of a slower, simpler way of life. So, if you are ever in the area take this little trip down Hopewell Road, experience the history and image what a wonderful place this could be. Hopewell might be a place lost in time but it represents a simpler more grounded time in America.