Birch Tree, Missouri (St. Louis, West Plains, Ozark: relocation, real estate, for sale)

[JudyRae]

We're from the cold, cold state of Wisconsin and want to retire in Southern Missouri. We've listed our farm for sale and are now in the process of trying to find land to build on. Hubby just made a trip down to Moutain View and Cabool and looked at Real Estate. He also went to Northern Arkansas. He found a piece that he's interested in Southern Missouri and the closest town is Birch Tree... He never did get to the town, as the rest of the real estate he looked at went in the other directions... Can anyone tell me a little about this town besides what I found on this City Data site.... Our town that we live in has grown so fast in the years we've been here...double lane highway going right through town. We'd like a smaller town, but still with Medical Facilites. I've tried to get a pen pal from Missouri so I could learn about the southern part...but haven't had any luck..I just found them in the bigger cities like St. Louis. I'd really appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks much.

[sticks_dweller]

hey judyrae, i live about 50 mi. north of birch tree but its been years since i've been there. it's a very small town (700 people) maybe. as i recall it does have a small grocery store etc. but is not too far to west plains which has all the usual amenities and seems to be growing.

[JudyRae]

How about Winona? Is this a bigger town....the property that he is making an offer on is between Birch Tree and Winona? How big is this town? And what kind of stores do they have?

[northbayeric]

Winona, Missouri (MO) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

The city-data website here is so cool because it gives such good profiles of cities and towns throughout the whole U.S. According to the above site, Winona has between 1,300 and 1,400 residents now. I may have driven through this area (or very close) back in spring 2003. Shannon County is a really scenic area of southern Missouri, and my goodness, you would be close to Ozark National Scenic Riverways and Alley Spring, too! Have a look at this: Alley Spring / Alley Mill / Old Red Mill - Eminence Missouri MO The pictures are awesome! Also:

index.html

Winona shopping - Winona, MO - City Guides - Open List

Sure hope this all works out wonderfully for you!

[sticks_dweller]

hey, judyrae,
Winona is just a bit larger than birch tree. it has a small med clinic, gro. store, dollar general, parts store, c-store but not much else, its pretty remote. blue grass music is the entertainment seems everyone plays some sort of stringed instrument. the people are sort of clannish but most are good folks.

[GraniteStater]

That area is the most rural part of MO. You could be in for a fairly big culture shock coming from Wisconsin. Wisconsin can be rural but this part of MO has about 5-10 people per square mile. The people are fairly friendly overall. I would definitely come visit this area for yourself to see if you like it or not.

[JudyRae]

We are going to do as what was suggested and come to Birch Tree and surrounding area's this winter. We have a travel trailer and will camp from place to place and get to know the area and some of the people before we buy land. We did place an offer on land in the Ozarks, but was turned down and not even a counter-offer... I think it was for the best. Instead of just saying we'd like to retire in Southern Missouri...now we will search out what are some of the towns like and the people. When my hubby went down to place an offer on the land, he had met some very nice people. A little laid back from what we have in Wisconsin...but that's what we are looking for.
We loved our town 20 years ago, but now its gotten too big and too impersonal.

Thanks all for the info.

[OA 5599]

Birch Tree is a very small town, around 600 people. As far as medical facilities go, Mountain View has a pretty small hospital about 12 miles to the east. West Plains has a decent sized hospital and it is around 40 miles away. As said above, Shannon County is very scenic, and sparsely populated. Large portions of the county are more or less uninhabited....zero people in quite a few of those square miles! US-60 is currently being improved to 4-lane status from Willow Springs to Van Buren, so you will have a 4-lane highway on the north end of town, although traffic is pretty light (nothing at all like interstate highway traffic). I wouldn't worry about that part of the state growing very much, or becoming impersonal at all. The people are very friendly, and the area is really beautiful.

[myjadie]

We travel through there several times a year to go to Branson. If you want a small town feeling. You got it there. Stopped at the gas station. EVerybody knew everyone. Seemed very friendly.

[jrw2]

Hey, I am from Eminence, Missouri. It is about 15 minutes from Winona and Birch Tree. It is well known for Alley Springs, Jacks Fork and Current River. [MOD CUT]