A full nine days of entertainers and informational or inspirational speakers were scheduled, all appearing in the big Chautauqua tent, erected about where Columbus School currently stands. The entire west half of what then was known as the "South School lot" was fenced for the occasion, so that access could be controlled. At the time, this was a park-like setting with plenty of shade trees.
"Season"tickets for all the program were available for $2, but most picked and chose, paying perhaps a quarter for admission to the programs that suited their tastes.
Since this was a county-wide affair, the booklet contains advertisements and photographs from all of the major towns in the county --- Chariton, Russell, Derby, Cleveland and Lucas (Williamson hadn't been dreamed of yet).
If I live up to my expectations, I'm going to scan and publish all of those photographs before we're done, but thought I'd start with the Russell images today. The quality is not the best --- these were printed versions of original images. But at least you can get a general idea of what the various featured locations looked like, including the town's imposing First Baptist Church (top), a structure that burned and then was replaced by the current church building.
Next is the Methodist Church and parsonage.
Then the Presbyterian Church and manse.
And finally, the Christian Church.
The south side of Main Street looked like this.
And here's the north side.
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