The crisp morning air surrounds me, and the sun slowly begins to kiss the earth in a beautiful haze.
    
My journey through our small town of Ozark, Missouri, begins at the abandoned Old Ozark Mill.

Just beside the mill runs the Finley River. With just a short walk over the bridge, I look to my right and see the dam, looking almost like a giant mirror reflecting everything around it.

Along the other side of the river, in our park, I look over at the bridge and the view is breathtaking.

Walking along the river, I take in the calm environment of the early morning; turning to look through a gap in the trees, I see a perfect view of the bridge, and mill.

Tired of walking, my friend and I take a quick break sitting on the edge of a wall over the river.
 

Then we notice something: a stone with a spray painted R.I.P. on it. We begin making jokes about it, and the rock begins to grow on me.

As we are about to leave the park, this large under road drainage catches my eye. Not for the thing itself though; if you look closely, you can see hundreds of tiny children’s hand prints painted on the inside walls.

Finally we are off to the town square!

Our little town square isn’t much, just filled with old brick buildings and quaint shops. But it is a hidden diamond in a coal mine. As we walk around the square, we see a few historical monuments.

This one in particular caught my eye. Back in 1883-1889, during the Civil War era, Bald Knobbers ran rampant in South West Missouri, particularly in our area of Christian County. This group of vigilantes went to extremes to defend the law and what they believed was right, even if that meant breaking a few laws themselves. The monument states: "This marker is not to commemorate the violent acts resulting in many deaths, including those hanged here. It has been erected so that we will remember what happened, so it does not happen again. We would like to forget this part of our past, but must not."

Lastly, we decide to visit Ben’s On the Square, one of my favorite coffee shops before we end our photo adventure.

Carleigh Pierce is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

All photos courtesy and copyright Carleigh Pierce