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History · New Wells

New Wells’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of New Wells. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

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The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Johannisberg was one of the seven colonies established in 1839 in the Saxon Migration to Perry County, Missouri. Johannisberg is said to have been an offshoot of the Dresden settlement. In May 1840, the members of the New York group of Saxon migrants who had arrived in December 1839, and who had been members of C. F. W. Walther's congregation at Dresden, branched off and founded a village seven miles (11 km) away in Cape Girardeau County. It is thought the split was caused by a quarrel over the sale of lots at Wittenberg to the general public. Members of the New York group violently opposed this move, which was proposed because of the failure of Wittenberg to grow as fast as had been hoped. They severed financial connections with the community, and withdrew into a separate settlement, although they continued other connections with the Saxons. Walther continued to serve both Dresden and …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Wells’s history is told.

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By decade

New Wells, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in New Wells is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean New Wells has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Concordia Log Cabin College in Altenburg, 5.7 miles away.

New Wells and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = New Wells. Tap a dot.
Concordia Log Cabin CollegeOld Appleton BridgeChristian A. Bergt FarmTower RockAbraham Byrd HouseGrand Tower Mining, Manufacturing and Transportation Company Site

Closest to New Wells

Concordia Log Cabin CollegeAltenburg · Building5.7miOld Appleton BridgeOld Appleton · Pratt Truss Iron Bridge5.8miChristian A. Bergt FarmFrohna · Building6.3miTower RockAltenburg · Site8.1miAbraham Byrd HouseOak Ridge · I-house8.2mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Concordia Log Cabin College’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in New Wells?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to New Wells’s story, or a memory of it.
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National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Pocahontas📜 Old Appleton📜 Altenburg📜 Frohna
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