The Eldon community gathered Saturday night to celebrate the unveiling of a mural highlighting the town's railroad history.
Railroads that once ran through the town itself are now woven through the town's history. The Missouri Pacific Line and Rock Island Railroad had ties to the community.
During the construction of Bagnell Dam, materials were transported to the site on the rail line that ran right through town.
Linda Bierbower, with the 100 Empowered Women of Eldon and Eldon Community Fund, said the organizations had hoped to donate and have the mural done more than a year ago because of the significance of the railroads to the town.
"If it weren't for the railroad, Eldon wouldn't be here," Bierbower said.
But the groups ended up using the planned funds to replant trees in Rock Island Park after the May 2019 tornado, and the project was pushed back.
But after that delay, the mural was finally unveiled Saturday night. As the Eldon High School marching band filled the air with the school's fight song, the curtain dropped and the community was able to see its new mural for the first time.
The large painting depicts black and white images of a caboose and locomotive, two depot buildings that once stood in the town and a real train conductor who still has family living in the area. The mural was done by Jennifer Avey, an artist from Versailles.
"You are the model that we are following," Avey said of the town's embrace of their history. "We look to you because we love your ideas and we hope you continue on that venture so that we can have such an inspiration and better our community."
The mural hangs on the side of Maple Street Antique Mall, just down the road from the site of the old train depot, which will also soon be the site of something new for Eldon.
The Eldon Chamber of Commerce recently announced plans for a new chamber building and community welcome center on the site of the old train depot.
The project is a partnership between the City of Eldon, the chamber and the Eldon School District, said Mary Oberreither, executive director of the chamber. After receiving the land as a donation from Ameren, the city is leasing the plot to the chamber for the new building.
The train depot that once stood on the lot is gone. It had been in disrepair since the 1980s, and it sustained further damage from the tornado, Oberreither said.
"It was really just not salvageable," Overreither said. "(The new building) will be similar to the original depot that was there, trying to keep with the history."
Students in the school's building trades program will construct the building instead of their usual project of building a house. Oberreither said construction is set to start when school begins, and they hope to have it completed by next spring.
Matt Davis, superintendent of the Eldon School District, said the project is estimated to cost $200,000-$250,000.
Davis said all of the funding for the project is coming from donors including Capital Region Medical Center and the Eldon Community Foundation.
"Our whole goal is to get people to ride the Rock Island Trail, come into Eldon, grab a bite to eat and see the mural," Davis said. "We're just excited about Eldon and our community and where we're going to go, and this kind of builds on where we came from."