Photo byT. Carneal/NRHP Nomination Form.

The Possum Walk Hotel is a historic hotel building near Burlington Junction, Missouri (Nodaway County). The above image was taken in 1980. A more recent image is displayed below which shows the building in disrepair.

This two-story brick hotel building was constructed between 1873 and 1875 by Theodore Scott. The architectural style was Italianate. On the L-portion of the building, there's a long shed room porch. On the portion of the building with the main entrance, a balcony is above a small porch.

This historic building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1983.

This image is within the last two years.Photo byGoogle Maps screenshot.

Backstory

This old hotel is in a rural agricultural area. Back in time, it used to be the center of the small community of Lamar Station. The property around the hotel is farmland. Lamar Station is named after the Lamar family who operated the Possum Walk Hotel.

Another variant of Lamar Station, was Possum Walk, which was unincorporated in northwest Nodaway County. This small community is on the west side of the Nodaway River floodplain a couple of miles southeast of Elmo. About 3.5 miles to the southeast is Burlington Junction.

The front of the hotel building faces east onto a county road which used to be Main Street when it was Lamar Station. At the time the building was nominated for the National Register, it was vacant and used as storage for antique furniture. The condition of the hotel building appears to have been in better shape in the 1980s.

On December 1, 1848, in compliance with the Military Bounty Land Warrant Act of 1847, 160 acres of land was patented to Franklin Hutson, and this would later be part of Lamar Station.

Lamar Station, or Possum Walk, became a thriving town. The state and mail route between Savannah, Missouri, and Blanchard, Iowa stopped at the Possum Walk Hotel.

In town, there was a school, a general store, a Methodist Church, a blacksmith shop, a doctor, and two drug stores. In 1879, the railroad was built but it bypassed Lamar Station about two miles away. In those days, if the railroad came to your town, it was a big deal and it many cases, it contributed to the growth of the community.

Within two years, Lamar Station was taken down and relocated to new railroad communities of Elmos and Dawsonville. Because the Possum Walk Hotel was made of brick, it stayed in its location.

As stories go when they're passed down, the name of Possum Walk allegedly started from an early settler who drank too much corn juice at Hallsa's Ferry. Maybe it as corn alcohol. After having too much, his gait was said to have resembled that of an opossum.

It's believed the Possum Walk Hotel was constructed between 1873 and 1875. The lots surrounding the hotel were sold to Theodore Scott in 1873 and mortgaged in 1875. Scott also ran a drugstore in Lamar Station during that time.

By 1884, after the railroad came to Elmo, the hotel property was on the delinquent tax list and went to Louisa Martin. Once Lamar Station had become dismantled, the hotel building became a private residence and possibly acquired by Martin.

There were various owners of the property until 1905 when Robert Lamar became the owner. It continued to pass through the Lamar family. In 1957, it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Cowden who were the parents of who was the current owner at the time the building was nominated for the National Register.

There were attempts to restore the building to convert it into a museum but that doesn't appear to be the case today.

Lamar Station, which is now only a name, was platted in January, 1871, by John Lamar. But with the change of route and the building of the Burlington Junction and Elmo, or 'Ebony' as it was then called, the hamlet of Lamar Station lapsed into decay. Most of the buildings were moved to nearby towns while others weathered the storms for years, finally being torn down and used for fuel. (Source.)

Thanks for reading.