(1885 - 1925)
Surprise was once a
thriving village on Eleven Point River at Turner's Mill. The postmaster
was John (or James according to a different source) Fletcher Clay Turner,
and his assistant was Art Green. Clay said, "I was surprised to see
this place with the spring and all its potential, so I sent in that name
for the post office." He was also surprised when the post office
was commissioned.
Historic Turners' Mill
was acquired by the Forestry Service in the 1970s. Suprise School
was on the National Historic Register; therefore, it was saved for posterity.
Of the rest, only the rustic over-shot wheel in the spring branch escaped
the demolition. The wheel, which was brought in pieces from the Fremont
Depot in 1915, was installed by carpenters, John A. Brown and Bill Stewart.
The mill at Surprise
was powered by a spring that flowed out of a cave. A shoot was built
out of native rock to carry the water to the wheel which was connected
to a turbine. Part of the shoot can still be found near the mouth
of the cave and the spring water still flows clear and cold. Many
families from the surrounding area traveled by horse, wagon, and on foot
to take their corn to be ground or their wheat to be milled. Many
times the families camped near the river for a few days until their meal
was ready.
Ozark Land and Lumber
Company built a rock dam across the river to catch and hold logs for the
mill. A tram was built from Winona to Wilderness (another community),
so that the steam-powered train could haul out logs and lumber.
Several families lived
in Suprise and worked at the mill. There was a company store with
a branch post office to serve the mill workers, and a traveling doctor
rode in by train periodically to treat patients.
Turners Mill was self-sustaining.
Crops of grain were grown, milled, and baked into bread or used as fodder
for farm animals. Sorghum cane was raised and boiled into molasses
in the fall. The tobacco crop was harvested and hung in drying sheds
and later twisted for chewing or smoking in their corn cob pipes.