The Four O’Clock Hill House got its rare and fitting name from travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. When wagon trains would leave Independence on their long and arduous journey, they would reach the area of the home around 4:00 in the afternoon.
Stubbins Watts once said of Watts Mill, “It’s pretty here; they say there’s no prettier bit of scenery in Missouri.” Also know for his fiddling and storytelling, Watts made the area a popular gathering spot after the Civil War.
It’s no secret that towns such as Martin City were created after the railroad was laid out and settlement followed. Due to this progression, other towns, including New Santa Fe in Jackson Co., were all but deserted due to this new economic feat.
New Santa Fe was created out of the precursor to the railroad: the Santa Fe Trail.
It is said Hiram Young manufactured as many as 50,000 oxen yoke per year at $1.25 each.
