Did you know that the land on which our Courthouse and county jail, and the old jail museum are situated was once a big pond? And that includes the beautiful county health center where I had my first job and which is no longer there due to progress. You see, back in 1869, there was a big flurry of interest among Lebanon citizens about the railroad that was being built from Arlington to Lebanon. People who had money hurried to buy up the land in and around the city. Several of them bought land about three-quarters of a mile from town where the Frisco railroad would have to pass when it was extended on to Springfield. Mrs. Martha Harrison, on the advice of her attorney, bought 200 acres which turned out to be the exact spot where the new town was eventually located. As the story goes, railroad officials asked the city fathers to give them free land on which to build the station. The City Council refused and the railroad told them they would take their marbles and go home, i.e. the