Abandoned Ozarks II: Forgotten Schoolhouses presented by Robert McCormick

A presentation, "Abandoned Ozarks II: Forgotten Schoolhouses" featuring regional photographer and author, Robert McCormick will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at the Garnett Library.

McCormick is is an eighth-generation Ozarks native hailing originally from Aurora, Missouri. His photographs have appeared in a number of regional publications including a featured edition of Ozarks Watch Magazine. His first book "Abandoned Ozarks" was included as part of Font Hill Publishing's series "America Through Time." His work has been recognized for the photographic preservation of abandoned historical and culturally significant structures in the Ozarks region. Robert studied at Southwest Missouri State University and has resided in Forsyth, Missouri for the last twenty-five years.

Abandoned Ozarks II: Forgotten Schoolhouses is another nostalgic trip through time with acclaimed regional photographer and author Robert A. McCormick. In his first book Abandoned Ozarks Southwest Missouri: Preserving the Past, McCormick focused on a wide array of abandoned and decaying structures from farms and rural communities in the mountainous Ozarks region of Southwest Missouri. This time out McCormick centers on abandoned schoolhouses from the entire Ozarks region of Missouri and Arkansas. In this new volume McCormick explores the history of early education in the remote rural areas of the beautiful Ozark Mountain country and the sociological impact of these forgotten gems of early America. McCormick’s research is paired with expertly rendered photographs of these abandoned and mostly forgotten buildings which were once the social centers of far-flung outposts from a time when the roads weren’t paved, electricity was a far-off dream and education was often a luxury for the hardscrabble mountain folk of the Ozarks. In his evocative photos you’ll explore the many different styles of old schoolhouse, from simple log structures to giraffe-stone vernacular to sturdy stone buildings built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.

The event is free and open to all. Light refreshments will be served.

You may also like the following events from Ozarks Heritage Research Center:

• Next month, 19th August, 06:00 pm, Stagecoach Journey in West Plains

Also check out other Arts events in West Plains, Literary Art events in West Plains.