Life in small town just fine for Enon residents

ENON, Mo. - Just slightly off the beaten path but equal distance from Jefferson City and Lake of the Ozarks sits a quiet community where visitors don't frequent, but residents adore.

Long-time Enon resident Don Wyss recalls when his hometown was a bustling community with more than 100 residents and his father was the mail carrier.

“He carried the mail out here for 45 years. He started at the age of 19 and delivered until he retired in 1968 at the age of 65,” Wyss said. “When he started he used a mail hack and horse and it took him all day to go around the route and he always had a lot of stories to tell.”

After his father's retirement, the Enon post office closed and the mail merged with the nearby Russellville post office.

“I can remember when stamps were one-cent and it cost three-cents to send a post card,” Wyss said. “Things have sure changed a great deal since those days.”

According to Wyss, Enon carries quite an illustrious history.

“One of the things that always intrigued me was back in 1901 there was a mining development in a little place called Tatesville,” he said. “At one time there were about 800 people living in tents there. It was like a tent city of sorts.”

Tatesville was located just west of Enon on a small hill. The mining brought several people to the area for work, which caused the population to increase by several hundred.

“They shipped a lot of lead out of there during World War II,” he said. “That old mine hole is still there, but it's filled with water now.”

Before taking on the name Enon, the area was known as Pull Tight because it took a team to plow the ground.

The name Enon, Wyss said, was adopted from the biblical name Aenon, which means “a place of many waters.”

“I've heard stories over the years that Enon got its name because it's “none” spelled backwards,” he said. “I'm not sure I believe that or that the story amounts to a whole lot. I've always known the town named as Enon.”

If so, the town is properly named because it is surrounded by water stemming from the Moreau River and Rock Enon Creek, both of which have been known to flood from time to time.

“In 1923, my dad bought a Model T Ford that he used to deliver the mail with and one day he went to cross the creek with it and it was flooded and that old truck got stuck in some gravel,” he said. “My dad tied it to a tree with a rope and when the water went down he went back and got it. He had to have it overhauled after that because of the damage the water caused. That story has stuck with me for many years.”

According to Wyss, the area was settled in the mid-1800s and in 1885, the Bagnell Branch Railroad was built through Enon and the materials used to build the Bagnell Dam were hauled through Enon.

“My mother, Fay, lived here all of her life and she used to tell stories about how she would ride the train to Olean on Monday mornings, where she would board all week so she could attend a two-year high school they had over there. She would come back to Enon by train on Friday nights,” Wyss said. “The railroad closed in 1960, but it was the main means of transportation around here for many years.”

The Enon Baptist Church celebrated its centennial in 2004 and now serves more than 100 members from the area.

“Growing up in a small community taught me a lot of things that I never learned in school and I have learned a lot from the people who live out here,” Wyss said. “Enon is a close-knit community and the church is one of the last things left here and this community revolves a lot around it.”

Quick Facts about Enon

* Enon is located in the southeastern portion of Moniteau County near the Cole County border and adjacent to the Miller County border.

* Equal miles from Jefferson City and Lake of the Ozarks, Enon is also only 10 miles from High Point, 11 miles from Eldon, five miles from Olean and six miles from Russellville.

* Three miles from Enon sits the Rock Enon Church. The rock building was built during the civil war by slaves and it collapsed about six months ago. The church merged with the Enon Baptist Church in 1961 and the building has been empty since.

* At one time there were five stores, a bank, a garage, a blacksmith shop, two produce houses and a post office in Enon.

Located on Route A, just south of High Point, Enon is nestled in the southern portion of Moniteau County closely bordering Cole and Miller counties. (Ra'Vae Edwards/News Tribune photo)