Pavement Ends
James Baughn was the webmaster of seMissourian.com and its sister newspapers for 20 years. On the side, he maintained even more sites, including Bridgehunter.com, LandmarkHunter.com, TheCapeRock.com, and Humorix. Baughn passed away in 2020 while doing one of the things he loved most: hiking in Southeast Missouri. Here is an archive of his writing about hiking and nature in our area.
Country Church Tour is turning into a Midwest tourist draw
Posted Saturday, December 19, 2015, at 2:38 PM
Thanks to an effective Facebook campaign and an article in AAA Midwest Traveler magazine, this year's Christmas Country Church Tour brought larger crowds than ever. Greeters at several churches said they were amazed at the number of visitors traveling long distances and spending the night so they could participate both days. Tour buses also followed the route, including a group led by a historical society from the St. Louis suburb of Crestwood.
This annual event has turned into quite the tourism juggernaut. The only lament I heard from greeters is that they are so busy helping each year that they haven't been able to take the tour themselves!
With more churches participating, it's a challenge for tourists to visit them all, especially the remote locations in Bollinger County. But that just means these same tourists will want to come back next year so they can see everything they missed.
Here is a gallery of photos of the churches I was able to visit on Friday.
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