Images of America — Osage Beach

Description

By Dwight Weaver
Osage Beach, Missouri
In 1886, the railroad-tie industry spawned the village of Zebra at the confluence of the Osage and Grand Glaize Rivers in the Ozark region of south central Missouri. Forty-five years later, when the Lake of the Ozarks was created by the construction of Bagnell Dam, the water inundated Zebra, and village was reborn as Osage Beach. At its core, the bridge linked land, water, and people, roadside businesses, and lake side resorts featured in this book were among the pioneers who made it all possible. The story begins with the construction of the Grand Glaize bridge, which became known as the “upside down bridge”. US Highway 54 passes through Osage Beach, and this book follows the growth of the town as it spread east and west along the shoulders of the highway and out onto the peninsulas and shorelines of the lake.