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Day Tripping - Captivating Clarksville

By Christy Marshall
Photography by Frank Di Piazza

If the tale of Brigadoon were cast in Missouri, the hamlet would be Clarksville. Luckily, we don't have to live by the legend and wait 100 years for the town to rise from the mist. It's there 24/7, 365. To find it, simply cruise west down Interstate 70, get off on Highway 79 and 45 miles (and a few speed traps) later, you will land in this picturesque village, founded in 1817. In the fall, you'll see eagles nesting; all year long, you can find artists creating wares and promoting each other. In the window of one is the work of another, and in the other, the work of another and so on.

As soon as you pass the city limits sign, make a hard left into the parking lot of the Clarksville Antique Center. Plan on whiling away the next couple of hours at least. Among the 70 dealers is Marianne Allison, of Marianna's Fine Arts Design and West End Gallery in the Central West End. Captivated by the country life, she moved to Clarksville and there she stays, with ever fewer trips to the city. Browsing the aisles, my traveling companion and I uncovered a couple of majolica dishes, some great furniture, wonderful old linens and unique odds and ends.

From there, we headed into town, which touts itself as the last downtown in Missouri to face the Mississippi. Considering the population is a mere 490, shopping choices are substantial. Before we even got downtown, we stopped at Howard Hughes and Harlequin Antiques, right next door to the Greenwall Furniture Maker. Then we wandered on to North First Street, where we found the superb Comfort Home Furnishings, a wonderful home accessories shop packed with great linens, gifts, tchotchkes and more. We mushed on to the Clarksville Glassworks and watched owner Gary Rice and his apprentice blow beautiful cobalt blue glasses, then we headed to Brentwood Furniture, where the artist-in-residence makes twig furniture and fabulous twig wallscapes while his wife weaves beautiful baskets. Then there is the ASL Pewter Foundry, where you can buy everything from porridge bowls to candlesticks. It goes on and on. And one cannot leave without a stop at the Little Dixie Boat Works, where canoes are built by hand, or the Stoney Creek Woodworks, yet another furniture maker and antique shop.

After a perfect day of shopping and wandering the streets of this delightful and carefully restored town, we headed back, first stopping at the Clarksville Station, a restaurant and shop owned and operated by Nathalie Pettus, a St. Louisan who is also an owner of the new St. Louis in eatery, Savor. We then loaded up the back of the car with plants from Forrest Keeling, a nursery in the nearby town of Elsberry (with prices approximately one-third of local nurseries). By the end of the trip, our hearts (and wallets) were as light and airy as tunes about a town in Scotland that only appears once in a very long while.

Clarksville Facts & Figures

Founded: 1817

Origin of name: William Clark
(of Lewis & Clark fame and gov-
ernor of Missouri from 1813 to
1820) or his brother, Gen. George
Rogers Clark, frontiersman and
Revolutionary war leader.

Population: 490*

Elevation: 480 feet

County: Pike

Land area: 0.82 square miles

Housing units: 278

Median resident age: 36 years

Median household income:
$23,611*

Median house value: $58,400*

Its heyday: 1800s (when it was a
busy riverport).

Its worst days: 1980s (most of
the downtown was boarded up
by 1987).

Today: A thriving artists communi-
ty, Clarksville is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Special Events: Big River Days,
September 17–18; Antiques Show & Sale, September 24–25; 50 Mile Art Studio Tour, November 5–6
and April 29–30, 2006; Christmas
Along the Mississippi, December
10 & 11; Eagle Watching Days,
January 28–29, 2006.
(* According to 1990 census)