Tornado damage to Ritchey Mansion described

Neosho Daily News reporter Todd Higdon describes the tornado damage done to the historic Ritchey Mansion, which served as a hospital during a portion of the Civil War in an article posted on the Neosho Daily News website:

Other damage included cars with trees on them, broken windshields, broken windows, and even a part of Newtonia’s Civil War history was damaged – the two-story Ritchey Mansion, located in the center of town on Mill Street. The mansion, which was used as both headquarters and a working hospital during the 1862 and 1864 battles suffered damage to the roof, including a sizeable hole in the west part. Ironically, late Thursday, President George Bush signed into law Public Law 110-229. That law authorizes a study by the National Park Service to determine the feasibility of either creating a new Civil War battlefield at Newtonia or bringing those battlefield lands under the management of the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near Springfield.