Copies of Bicentennial book still available

Posted

Perry County is rich in history and that history is available to be read and kept for generations to come. The Perry County Historical Society produced and published the “Perry County Bicentennial” book.
“A lot of the images and research that we did is from the newspaper,” Perry County Historical Society Director Bill Hart said. “People love it because its stories and information about the stores, taverns, or county schools they used to go to.”
The book was published in Nov. 2021 and has plenty of information and interesting facts about Perry County from the last 200 years. The county celebrated Perry County’s anniversary with a Bicentennial Concert was held on August 8, 2021 at the Seminary Picnic Grounds featuring headliner, Perry County native, Chris Janson.
“There’s information on the last train robbery in Perry County, which happened in Whittenburg,” Hart said. “There’s things about the different movie theaters and entertainment, and other interesting information on a variety of different topics.”
The book was completed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Perry County.
“Perry County was formed in 1821 by a subdivision called the Ste. Genevieve District,” Hart said. “It was a whole section of Missouri that was chopped up and divided into other counties.”
Hart noted that similar project was completed to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of Perry County. The bicentennial book focused more on the last 100 years, post 1921.

“Since that information was already put together, we decided to focus on the last century because the 1921 book has been available and we have been reprinting it for some time now.”
Hart said the newest version is a “snapshot” of some of the vital pieces of Perry County.
“We wanted to focus on different things such as institutions, transportation, and other basic parts of the history of Perry County,” Hart said. “We did a section on natural disasters because we have had a number of tornados in the county. We also wanted to put emphasis on different places around the county, not just Perryville. We have stories about places in Perry County, some of which don’t exist anymore, like the town of Birmingham or Schumer Springs, that used to be vibrant communities.”
Hart noted the book has interesting facts that even he didn’t know.
“At one time the county had 63 school districts in Perry County,” Hart said. “I came in on the project at the tail end and a lot of the groundwork had already been done. There were certain challenges because the book was put together during the pandemic.”
There have been 200 books sold so far since the volume has went on sale. There are several hundreds more in current supply. The book is $49.95 and can be purchased at several businesses in the county such as Roziers Mercantile, Incredible Edibles, Perry County Heritage Tourism, Perry County Museum, Perryville Area Chamber of Commerce, and The Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum in Altenburg.
Hart also noted that the book can be shipped through the historical society itself and will be available at the Seminary Gift Shop during the Christmas County Church Tour.