CAPLINGER MILLS ON THE SAC RIVER

The first utilization of the Osage River system to produce hydropower was at Caplinger Mills on the Sac River. While the mill is gone, the shell of the small power plant remains, as does the dam and the 1895 iron bridge. A couple of stores supply necessary items for fishermen, hunters, canoers, campers and other recreationalists.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and there is a wonderful, detailed history of the place on the application: www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/930... . The place is historically interesting and esthetically attractive in equal measure.
Waders and swimmers need to be aware, however, that the Army Corps of Engineers releases huge slugs of water periodically to power the oversize hydroelectric generator at Stockton Dam. Due to Corps miscalculation of the Sac River's channel capacity, these periods of power generation have caused flooding, badly eroded the river banks, and there have been a number of drownings at the park.
Adapted from the new book, Damming the Osage www.dammingtheosage.com/

[@claudeswager8654]

Lived 1 mile from Stockton on the road to caplinger mills

[@MCookseyTex]

From a native of the area...It is pronounced Cap -ling-er, the g is soft, not a "j" sound. Also, the river is pronounced "sock", not "sack".

[@claudeswager8654]

Thanks for the corrections, that's just the way it is , I fished there with my dad in the late 1960's. a place where one could forget about the modern world and its problems... Sat out at night and the stars looks as if one could reach out touch them. I remember moving out of the way for a school bus that crossing the bridge.

[@smileynoir]

@@claudeswager8654 Did you know a Austin family member here ?