|
History of the "Yellow Rock Barn"
|
In the early 1900's the Yellow Rock Barn flourished under the ownership of Dr. and Mrs. Kelly Harrison who had quite a large chicken farm. With Mrs. Harrison's love for cooking, and her amiable personality, the home soon became the famous "Harrison Restaurant"
Every Sunday Mrs. Harrison would get up early to cook her famous chicken dinners, which consisted of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy, cooked vegetables, picked fresh from the garden that morning, home made biscuits, with hand churned butter and for desert she would make up one of her famous apple pies, with apples picked fresh from the orchard.
Customers came from all over the country side to visit with Mrs. Harrison while she worked in the kitchen, prepared their meals, and told her stories. They would even ask her for advice on matters of finance or family troubles.
One of the most famous person to visit was judge Harry S. Truman of the Jackson County Court he was one of her most frequent customers to the farm, which became a famous eating place of prominent businessmen, including the Waggoner family of the "Waggoner Gates Milling Company"
In 1925, Mrs. Harrison put two of her hired hands , who where stone masons, to work building the Stone house, and the Rock barn. The Johnson brothers cut and laid each stone by hand from the farms own rock quarry. The carpentry work was done by Mr. Ed Fetter from Raytown. Together they built what is now know as the "Yellow Rock Barn", and is one of the few rock barns still standing in the Midwest.
Friends and family loved the barn so much, that it so became one of the largest "Square Dancing" barns in the area. People would gather on a Saturday night to enjoy a family picnic and dancing till dark.
In 1942 Mrs. Harrison decided to retire. And with that came a new era. A trace of the old "Harrison Chicken Dinner Farm has managed to survive through the once famous "Stephenson Apple Farm Restaurant". Loyd & Les Stephenson came to Mrs. Harrison and ask for receipts, and though that generosity they were able to carry on that timeless tradition of "Southern Hospitality"
|
|
