Diggin's celebrates 135 years

Established in1887 the Village of Diggins began with just a simple store owned and operated by the grandfather of Sam Walton. The dry goods store stood originally where the current Diggin’s pavilion is. The mercantile opened in 1886. “It was a dry goods store, it had everything in it,” reflected David Bowers (position). “The reason it was started was because in 1881 the railroad was coming through. Back then they would do a town every 5-6 miles down the railroad.”

“One of the superintendents of the railroad, his last name was Diggins. One of the residents put forth that the village should be named after him,” explained Bowers. “Ironically all of these years we’ve looked for information on Diggins, and up until just a few minutes ago we had no idea where he was at. Come to find out he is actually buried in Springfield, MO at Maple Park Cemetery…We are trying to coordinate and go up and clean the stones.” 

“There aren’t any Diggins family members here that we know of. We’ve been trying to locate some but we haven’t had much luck, except, we do know that somebody is alive. On his sons grave, someone came in the last month or two and put flowers on it. We’ve left a note with the cemetery care taker and she is going to see if she can make contact with someone,” Bowers explained with excitement. 

Bowers has been hard at work the last several months planning the Village of Diggins 135 Founders Day celebration. The celebration will start with a prayer at the north flag pole. “This (gestures to flag) flag was flown over the capital…we are going to fly it for the 135 but after the day is over we will take it down so it will stay fresh…Every year from here on out, we will use that flag for the celebration,” shared Bowers. 

The event takes place on Saturday July 9. “Everybody in this village, our logo is ‘Village of Heart’, everybody pulls together to make it happen. We are just proud to represent and be a part of it,” reflected Bowers. 

There is a full day of fun planned for the event. The food will be free, donations appreciated, along with entertainment from several bands. This is a family friendly event and all are welcome.