The Old Carollo Turkey Farm

Artist:   Sarah Scheffer 

Website:   follow Sarah on Instagram -  sarahescheffer.art 

Sponsor:   Marcus and Susan Blaskie 

Dedicated to:  Friends and Family

The old Carollo Turkey Farm is quietly tucked away in Stanton, MO. Standing in the yard, it is easy to believe you are in the middle of nowhere. In fact, there is just a thin line of trees and railroad tracks standing between this old house and the historic Route 66.

Those railroad tracks are important to this house’s story. Once, long ago, this house was an inn along the railroad. There are rumors and stories from people whose families have long ties in the area. Once a young German girl traveled from St Louis to the house, an inn at this time, to escape an outbreak of measles or possibly the flu…or some other sickness at the turn of the century. She died, unfortunately. And her ghostly figure is often sighted and blamed for mysterious disappearances inside the house. Many repairmen have been spooked by missing tools or unexplained sounds or movements. Other spooky tales and rumors include an outlaw shootout that allegedly took place on the property (perhaps involving Jesse James?) leaving one man fatally wounded. His ghost can still be seen in the field behind the house. Or so they say.

Before it was an inn, this house was once a smaller, single or two-room home with parts dating before the civil war. It’s hard to be sure. However, in the early 2000s, the house had new siding and other repairs made. There were several layers of old types of siding and hand cut nails found, suggesting truth to the stories of how old this house is.

In the early 1900s, the house became one of the largest turkey farms in the area. The Carolla Turkey Farm was owned and operated by Pete F. Carollo and his wife Norma. There were lots of outbuildings and barns on the property. Only one still stands. It has always been fondly referred to as “The Turkey Shed.” Though it is more than a shed. It is a two story brick building with a bathroom and old kitchen in the lower level and an old refrigeration compartment. It used to be a processing building. 

All while this farm was operating, various local attractions kept the area vibrant with Route 66 tourism. Just down the road from the old Carolla Turkey Farm sits the Stanton Post Office from there you could travel to the Meramec Caverns or the Jesse James Wax Museum and Toy Museum.

In the late 70s and early 80s, plans were underway for a lake in the area called the Meramec Lake Project. Norma closed and sold the farm in the early 1970s. Once the plans for the lake fell through, the farm was broken into smaller properties and sold. Marcus and Susan Blaskie bought the house and 35 acres in 1989. There they raised their three children. The oldest, Sarah, painted this mural.