Black History Month ride to Pennytown
Learning about a piece of Missouri’s Black history
After nearly a month of snow storms and icy roads, today the weather finally broke. With a forecast high of 72 degrees, and clear blue skies, it would have been a waste to stay inside. Fortunately, I finished up all my homework early so that I could spend the entire afternoon on two wheels. Unfortunately, my expected riding companion was not able to join me so it turned into a solo outing at the last minute.
In honor of Black History Month, I chose the former community of Pennytown as my destination. Pennytown is a ghost town in Saline County, just south of Marshall. Founded in 1871 by Joe Penny, a formerly enslaved man from Kentucky, who bought a farm and by 1879 eleven other formerly enslaved families had moved to this part of the county. For many years it was the largest Black-only settlement in the area.
Although the town eventually faded as people moved away, the Pennytown Free Will Baptist Church remains and was named as a national historic landmark in 1988. There is a historical society that works to preserve the legacy of Pennytown and hosts an annual homecoming every year in August. You can learn more about the church and community on the organization’s website or Facebook page.
The route to Pennytown took me through Boonville and was mostly two lane blacktop, which turned into gravel a few miles from the church. Due to the somewhat slimy road conditions, I was very grateful I had chosen to make the trip on the CFMoto 650 Adventura instead of my Honda 750 Nighthawk. After exploring the Pennytown site, I headed a few miles west to the Finnish Creek cemetery where most of the people of Pennytown were buried. Although the grave of former pastor of the church Rev. R.A. Lewis and his wife Julia is still easily found, many of the graves are no longer properly marked due to age and decay.
Arrow Rock: a stop on the Santa Fe trail
After paying my respects and learning a little more about the history of the area I stopped in Marshall for a late lunch at Dairy Queen. Properly sugared up, it was time to make my way toward the second destination of the trip, Arrow Rock, a tiny historic community on the banks of the Missouri River. Arrow Rock was founded by Native Americans as a quarry for stone arrowheads. Following European settlement it became a stop over for river travelers, as well as those making their way west on the Santa Fe Trail.
Several old buildings remain. Historic preservation began in 1923 and in 1963 the entire community was designated a national historic landmark. The community is home to bed and breakfasts, historic shops, and a state park. I took a brief riding tour of the town before heading back to Boonville on Arrow Rock Road, a gravel road that runs along the southwest bank of the Missouri River.
Eventually I crossed the river at Boonville and made my way back to Columbia. 140 miles later I returned to Columbia tired, a little muddy, somewhat more knowledgeable about local history, and more relaxed than I have been in a long time. Not a bad way to spend a day, especially since they’re talking snow two days from now.
