In response to requests for more human interest stories, the  Lawrence County Historical Quarterly interviewed Mr. Charles  Penny of Black Rock, who has an interest in history and a wealth  of stories to share about the past.  This article tells of  life as it  was in Black Rock in the early 1900's and along the Black River as  Mr. Penny recalls it.

  "You'll have to just ask me questions," said Mr. Penny.  "I can  tell a story about most anything."   "When I was a child," he said when asked about life along the  river, "they had 15 or 20 regular packets, and they ran mostly  from here (Black Rock) to Newport and Pocahontas and on up to  Poplar Bluff sometimes.  Most of the packets were log boats or  cross tie boats.  They also hauled cotton, corn, and brought in  building supplies.  That was even after the railroads started  (1883).  Before the railroads came in, everything came in by
steamboat...all building materials.  This building (the old drug  store) was built around 1900.  Railroads didn't just come in and  start hauling everything all at one time."

  According to Mr. Penny, there were also excursion boats which  probably quit running about 1912.  They would run from Black  Rock to Clover Bend and back...just a small excursion. The boats  had entertainment on them, and there was a little dance floor and  food was served.  Mr. Penny said some of the mothers tried to
keep their children away from the dance area.  The charge was  probably not over SOc or a dollar.

  Some of the boats carried groceries, and people living along the  river would meet the boats when they docked and buy their  groceries from them.

  "We used to have a river taxi service that ran from here to  Powhatan," he continued.  He told of the trains...two each way  every day...that would bring attorneys over from Walnut Ridge to  attend court. There were no connecting roads into Powhatan, the county seat,  so the attorneys would take their clients,  and witnesses to Powhatan in speed boats provided for that purpose. There were several speed boats with onboard motors which made the 21/2 to three mile trip several times each day.  The Angle family owned taxi boats.

 "A lot of people made their living on the river," said Mr. Penny  "digging up shells. There were a lot of pearls found."
 On the walls of Mr. Penny's building are three pictures of huge catfish caught between Black Rock and Powhatan.  The smallest weighed 49 pounds; another 56; and the largest, 73 pounds.  The father-in-law of Mr. Penny, Drew Rice, owned a livery stable. Drummers would come in by train and hire a hack at the stable to transport them and their big trunk containing their  wares. They would make a loop through Powhatan, Eaton, Lynn, Saffell, Strawberry, Cave City, Smithville, Denton, sometimes Imboden, and back to Black Rock.  Around 1908 there were five hotels in Black Rock...the Cottage, the Commercial, the Ozark, the Frisco, and the Southern.  Of these the Southern was the largest, boasting 25 or 30 rooms.

 Mr. Penny remembers visiting Bonita Spring, a resort, when he was a child.  The medicinal spring was about a mile and a half past the cemetery, and people went there for water and to stay at the big hotel there.

 When asked about a woman dentist, who had practiced at Black Rock, Mr. Penny laughed and said he remembered her well.  He still boasts a tooth that was replaced by Dr. Donna Inman after he knocked his tooth out one night when he fell while running with a bunch of boys.  He believes her family were steamboat people
who came in during this era.  "She was good one," he recalls, "the kind that didn't just tear your head off."
Mr. Penny values his collection of old newspapers from the early twentieth century.  They carry many poems, stories, personal items, advertisements, but few news stories as we know them today.

 Around 1908 the population was given as 1400, and during this time there were three newspapers located in the town...the Blade, the Democrat, and the Lawrence County Telephone.  The March 26,1908 edition of the Black Rock Democrat carried a column of River News.

 The steamer, Minnehaha left this morning for down the river.  The river is down to  a  10 ft.  rise'.  The  steamer,  Columbia is tied up at Newport for repairs. The little  launches are busy towing barges loaded with logs for  the mills. The steamer, Minnehaha is at the wharf here  having some slight repairs made. The steamer, George Pope is below on lower river work.

 The B. F., Weir is an all around boat. It has great  power for towing.

 The ferry at this place is running and teams can get  out to Portia.  The steamer, Columbia came up Tuesday night and  took on coal and will go out today.  The steamer, Columbia left last night for down river  ports.

 The steamer, Pocahontas with Captain Huff in charge  came up Monday night, and as it passed Powhatan
 ferry, it found the wire rope up and ran into it and  finally cut it in the middle of the river.  In the same issue there was a column of Imboden news:  Several parties from the county report having planted  corn.

 The river has gone down and Dr. Ketcham and a  number of others are preparing to snare a lot of red  horse as they come up on the gravel bars.

 It is said that John Hill may run for sheriff. Well, he  will have plenty of time to make a canvas between
 deposits. (Mr. Hill was connected with an Imboden  Bank. Editor) To one who has lost his money, it looks
 like the same old game.   We miss the many persons that formerly came to mill  here, but it has burned.

    The bank suspended and politics have not gone  wholly right and with it all it is dull here and most  everyone is out of humor.

  Echoes of the recent bank failure still sounds in the air  and that some mad men come to our town is saying it
mildly, for they come by the dozens with blood in their  eyes, and if they were certain that they could get hold of
the right parties more blood would be visible.    Things have already been bad enough, but on next   Friday Judge Maxey is to be here in the interest of the   depositors and it is feared there may be serious trouble.

  Henry Kelley, left, lived all his life near and in Black Rock. He is   past 90 and now living in a nursing home in Walnut Ridge. Clay   Sloan, now deceased, contributed much to the development of   Black Rock and Lawrence County.

  "Peter Todd agent for the Southern Nursery Company at powhatan oldest and most reliable nursery in the country.  Trees are sold as labeled. See Mr. Todd."  This reminded Mr. Penny of a large peach orchard that used to be located on a hill about a mile south of town. There were 40,000 peach trees in this orchard and he said this was really a beautiful sight when they were in bloom.  The peaches were hauled into town in wagons and then loaded into railroad cars to be shipped to market. He expressed the opinion that if this could be done then,
raising  peaches  could  again  be  profitable  using  modern techniques for the care of the trees and their fruit.
 An amusing incident that Mr. Penny recalls  concerns Mr. J. Krone who owned a store.  One day a woman called and asked Mr. Krone to deliver a lamp wick.  Lamp wicks were selling two for a nickel, but she wanted only one.

 Indeed Mr. Penny is an interesting person and, as he said, he can tell a story about most anything.