VALHALLA
Located in Jackson Township, Section 5, Township 39 N, Range 24 W.
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The State of Missouri, in 1904, p. 501:
Valhalla was nine miles east of Lowry City, Section 5, Township 39 N, Range 24
W.
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Lowry City Quasquicentennial Book 1871-1996:
“Valhalla was in Norse mythology the great hall of Odin into which the souls of
heroes killed in battle were borne by the Valkyries, who were maidens riding
through the air and choosing heroes from among those slain, carrying them to
Odin in Valhalla and there attending them at banquets.”
Not knowing the very beginning of this community the writer hopes that
information will come forth to shed light on its origin. It is known, however,
that McClellan Ray Hemphill and his wife, Amelia, had a store in Valhalla
selling everything, dry goods, shoes, hardware and groceries. There was also a
post office in the front of the store. In 1910 Mr. Hemphill published the first
copy of “The Valhalla Agitator and whittlers Vindicator”, explaining that an
agitator causes things to be done while whittlers accomplished nothing but
sitting on a box discussing what should have been done. Mr. Hemphill was a
merchant before his time, staging pictures of his store to be used in his paper
for business advertising. They traded the store and house and moved to Wyoming
in 1913.
Valhalla was located in Jackson Township, Section 6, a short distance south of
the present-day Wright’s Creek School/Church and cemetery. When approaching the
site of Valhalla from the west, the terrain seems relatively flat, but from the
east as seen from a boat on the lake, across the land cleared a long the west
bank of the Osage and along Wright’s Creek, a rise appears as a bump on the
horizon.