It’s another Boonville - this time in Missouri. Over seven thousand souls, so expect a bit more than last week's Indiana Boonville, perhaps.

Wikipedia says "The community derives its name from Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, who were the sons of Daniel Boone and established their salt business near the community in the early 1800s, delivering their product from salt licks to St. Louis."

Probably not a lot of salt-lick trade these days.

I have no dates on this, so I don’t know if this is now . . .

I suppose I could go back and look . . . yes, the second one is the most recent.

I’m not a great fan of murals on the sides of buildings, and this is why.

They fade, and look forgotten.

Pink! Why not. At least the remnants of the old window are still there, or at least implied by the wood that inhabits the space once filled with glass.

Why did they take out the glass? Who wants less light?

As basic as they get, but its unadorned style gives it a unique sort of self-possession.

The ancient memorial of things passed and forgotten . . .

Like the Battle of Boonville.

The First Battle of Boonville was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17, 1861, near Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. Although casualties were extremely light, the battle's strategic impact was far greater than one might assume from its limited nature. The Union victory established what would become an unbroken Federal control of the Missouri River, and helped to thwart efforts to bring Missouri into the Confederacy.

I’m sure it was a good idea at the time, a way to make office space out of disused retail space, but it’s clumsy and banal. Fancy doors! Not really.

A bank? Seems likely, given the columns and corner location.

Interesting design decision: two doors instead of one main entrance. Perhaps one door goes upstairs.

The basement entrance has the effect of squeezing the main window, diminishing it.

Nice. Faded, the way they should be. Please, no one restore them.

“Sold Everywhere.” Well, yes, I suppose. Did anyone look at the ad and think “I’d like a Coke, but dang, where’s a fella supposed to get one?” You just knew.

Put that cheating faithless flour right out of business:

"That’s a lot of awning, Bob”

“I want folks to know there’s free shade if they want it, and lots of it.”

I’m guessing it had an automotive function - those look like bays, and the protrusions make it look as if they protected the building from some dang fool running his car into the bay frame.

Oh just paint the whole thing and get it over with already

Original windows on the ground floor, perhaps exposed after a renovation was removed. The side wasn’t bricked up, since those windows look original as well.

It would benefit from some sandblasting, but this will do.

Here’s a peculiar thing, though. This style does not match the rusticated stone.

Is that a face? Some 1920s modern bas relief?

The Corinthian columns don’t look like they belong with the rustication or the two-square ornamentation below the columns’ base. Odd.

Again, we kindly request: leave it alone. Don’t restore it.

This is how it looked when built, I think. Glass blocks and vitrolite for modernity’s sake!

And herein lies a tale, no?

What was the reason for the third floor’s lack of windows? Note also the balcony with the door - an amenity for offices, or part of a meeting hall? Apartments?

I’d love to know the story behind the one on the left, and why it’s so high. Or low. Is it two stories, or three?

If it’s three - and I think it is - why is its neighbor so much taller?

It’s like a name for a 1950s Marvel “Where Creatures Roam” monster. Really!

Its website says:

Herman Zuzak opened  Zuzak's Wonder Store on Main Street in Boonville, MO, early in the 20th century, selling everything from 5 & 10 cent curiosities to home furnishings.  The "dimestore" idea caught on and the building housed a Woolworths for the next 40 years.  One of Sam Walton's Ben Franklin stores followed, as his idea of a mega-dimestore matured into an even larger reality.

Wait, Walton’s Ben Franklin stores? Yes, he ran a string in his early career.

Our last stop is a beaut:

Makes you wonder how many other such storefronts were covered up or denuded.

By the way, this is just half of the Boonville trip. More next week. Will it be better? Worse? We’ll see.