THE ROADS LESS TRAVELED

Below: The Robert Barber home on Highway D near Seventy Six Conservation Area in Perry County was owned by descendants of Brazeau's founding families. Despite its vacancy, the house retains some of its Victorian charm.

Tower Rock Nature Area makes a great stopover for a view of the Mississippi River. It sits across from Grand Tower Chute.

Visitors to Saxon Lutheran Memorial near Frohna can peer through antique window panes for a view of several restored log cabins, which line a gravel lane.

If you want to get there quickly, take the interstate.

If you have time for a leisurely drive through the hills and valleys of Southeast Missouri, there are hundreds of destination choices.

All across the nation, there are highways -- once major thoroughfares -- that are now nearly desolate.

U.S. Highway 61, once the main thoroughfare in the region, has lost some of its luster in an era when people rush along Interstate 55 to reach their destinations.

Small towns along the two-lane highway that once thrived with filling stations, restaurants and shops are now struggling to stay together.

Many of the small towns in the region have a wealth of history to offer and are filled with great stories and friendly people.

The Southeast Missourian set out to find out what life was like along the roads less traveled. What we discovered were communities rich in history, antiques and even a little mystery.

Most of the towns we visited were in East Perry County. But there are other, similar places along the southern route of U.S. 61.

Our first stop after leaving Interstate 55 at Fruitland was in Altenburg. We then traveled to Wittenberg and Tower Rock, north on a county road to Brazeau and then west to Frohna and the Saxon Lutheran Memorial.

Altenburg

Tric's Restaurant seems to be the town's gathering place for the lunch crowd. The restaurant offers home-cooked foods at reasonable prices, and plenty of places to chat with neighbors and old friends. Weekend buffets feature German fare also.

If you didn't get your fill at the restaurant, the West End Tavern and Grocery offers an eat-in restaurant and a fully-stocked grocery store.

Gary Scholl has been operating the business since the early 1970s, but it's been in his family since 1954.

Recently, Scholl has been concentrating more on the restaurant aspect of the business than on the grocery store. But, "it's a convenience for people in the area," he said.

Wittenberg

The town, which barely exists after years of flooding, is rumored to be the home of the area's first brewery. Caves still stand where the brewery was located. As the story goes, an Anheuser of Anheuser-Busch brewery fame was one of the original brewery founders, but left the area after a fight with his business partner.

Not much remains of Wittenberg except for historical markers that tell the town's story. A marker designates the spot of the Saxon Lutheran landing site in Perry County.

From Wittenberg it is just a short drive, albeit a bumpy one, to Tower Rock Natural Area and National Landmark. Tower Rock Natural Area is operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation and serves as an excellent vantage point for viewing the Mississippi river.

Brazeau

There isn't a huge population in Brazeau -- not even enough to list on a population sign. But the community is full of history.

It was settled in 1797 and was named after a French family that lived in the area. The community has strong roots within the Presbyterian Church, which remains at the center of town.

The Rev. Thomas Bass, who also heads the Presbyterian church in Perryville, said the congregation meets each week as it has done since 1819.

The upstairs area of the church now holds a kitchenette and an office area, but it was once used for slave seating. The church also has a cemetery with gravestones dating back to 1835.

An old schoolhouse has been converted to a museum and is open during scenic tour weekends offered in the spring and fall. The Brazeau Hall was built as a community center and is now owned by the cemetery association.

Across the street from the church sits the old general store, a restored bank and blacksmith shop and the town's Post Office.

Postmaster Arnold "Pat" Luehrs has been sorting mail for residents since 1990. The post office was moved to its current site in the 1900s but established in 1879.

Most of the town's residents keep a post office box just to make sure the post office stays open, Luehrs said. Many don't have the time to gossip and visit like they did in the past.

The town's lone unsolved mystery involved a burglary at the post office in 1910, Luehrs said. Footprints were found around the building, but the $150 missing from the cash drawer was never recovered.

Frohna

Just outside of Frohna is the Saxon Lutheran Memorial, a historic site devoted to the history of the German Saxon settlers.

The 30-acre site includes a museum, visitors' center and restored log cabins. Each year, its annual fall festival draws crowds to taste the apple butter and German foods.

Log cabins on the campus have been restored with pioneer furnishings and utensils to help show the lifestyle of the early settlers in East Perry County. The Saxons left Germany in 1838 and settled in Perry County about a year later.

The museum houses much of their belongings, from Bibles to baptism gowns.

The site opens for the season again March 1. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours can be arranged by calling (573) 824-5404.

The site is owned by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and operated by the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis.