Steve Pokin

SPOKIN@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Naked people once frolicked on these rolling 50 acres near Fair Grove.

I stand near a chained gate that blocks the gravel drive to a house on the far side. I don't see any naked people. They are long gone.

And try as you might, you could never see them from the road anyway.

Instead, I see Marilyn Smith, 72. She is a Fair Grove historian. She tells me that the nudist colony was called Cedar Crest Ranch, and it is off Farm Road 52.

Marilyn, who writes a history column for the Buffalo Reflex, has lived a mile away for about 40 years.

Based on my research, the nudist colony opened in the late 1950s and closed in 1979. But the property was neglected after that and wasn't sold until 1987 — to a Baptist preacher, of all people. He was not a nudist.

Of course, Marilyn tells me, everyone in Fair Grove knew back then about the nakedness at the outskirts of town.

"In a little town like Fair Grove, the word spreads," she says.

And nobody in Fair Grove really got their undies in a wad.

In large part, she says, that was because the area was far more secluded back then.

And nothing bad or embarrassing ever happened.

"This group of people — apparently, from what I've been told — never bothered anybody."

Looking for naked people

The nudist colony was an attractive mystery for young people, Marilyn says. It drew them like the word "naked" in a headline lures online readers.

"They would sneak in there or at least attempt to sneak in there to see what was going on," she says. "And none of my friends ever saw anything."

You mean they never saw naked bodies?

Yes, she says.

Her son Tim, 46, happens to be mayor of Fair Grove.

Between the ages of 7 and 15, he says, he rode the school bus past the place and each and every day dreamed of the possibility of seeing nudity.

Alas, no such luck.

"I never saw anybody from the school bus getting their Vitamin D," he says. "The only thing I saw was oak scrub."

Over time, he says, a favorite prank among young people was to direct pilgrims in search of the nudist colony farther down the road to a large parcel of land — a Roman Catholic retreat where fully clothed nuns stayed during summer months.

The Rev. Mitchell D. Wright, now living in Republic, bought the former nudist colony and its acreage in 1987. He renovated the clubhouse into his family's home.

He lived there 11 years while pastor of the Bass Chapel Baptist Church. During that time he filled in the outdoor pool — where swimsuits were once forbidden — with concrete; it was in disrepair.

Occasionally, Wright says, he had to crush the dreams of the lost souls who arrived at his door.

No, he'd say, this is not a nudist colony.

Once he moved to Seymour, he says, he rented the place until selling it in January.

"I'm 68 years old and retired and I don't want the hassle of dealing with tenants anymore," he says.

The story behind the news

According to records on file with the Greene County Assessor, the nudist colony was owned by Katherine H. Winslow, of Springfield. A woman of that name who lived in Springfield died in 2009 at age 87. The other owner was Edward E. Winslow.

I contacted an Edward E. Winslow who lives in this area and did not hear back.

In 1966, the News-Leader sent a reporter and photographer to the nudist colony.

The reporter was Larry Hazelrigg and the reluctant photographer was the legendary Betty Love, who is in the Missouri Photographers Hall of Fame. Both are now deceased.

The story and photos ran June 5, 1966.

The newspaper granted anonymity and identified the owner only as "F." It was a he.

The headline was a quote from the anonymous F: "Nudists are just people."

Love's photos capture naked people doing things like riding a lawn mower while still respecting our family-newspaper standing.

Several Springfield-area families had belonged to Hickory Hollow Sun Club in Joplin in 1956. They decided they wanted their own place closer to home.

Cedar Crest Ranch had a swimming pool with slide and a children's wading pool. The story states that swimming suits were forbidden.

Some of the visiting nudists stayed in tents, some in motor homes. People played volleyball, badminton, shuffleboard and croquet.

The story states that the colony had three rules.

Only first names.

No inappropriate physical contact.

And no alcohol — although owner F stated in a photo caption that "no alcohol" actually meant "no alcohol out in the open."

In addition, the owner said he checked the "character and sincerity" of those applying for membership. Not everyone made the grade, he says.

During winter months, according to the story, members visited in each other's homes.

In other words, I would say, the colony was clothed for the winter.

(Thank you.)

In working this story, I contacted former News-Leader columnist Mike O'Brien, who this month was inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame.

O'Brien is the one who mentioned the 1966 story to me. But he also offered this behind-the-news-story tidbit.

Apparently, photographer Love was not fond of the assignment. She balked at taking pictures at a nudist colony.

But her editor was steadfast. Love refused and she either walked off the job or was fired, depending on who you talk to, O'Brien says.

Fortunately, a week later she was back, camera in hand, at the Cedar Crest Ranch taking photos of posterio — I mean — taking photos for posterity.

These are the views of Steve Pokin, the News-Leader's columnist. Pokin has been at the paper five years and over the course of his career has covered just about everything — from courts and cops to features and fitness. He can be reached at 836-1253, spokin@gannett.com, on Twitter @stevepokinNL or by mail at 651 N. Boonville, Springfield, MO 65806.