Hitching
posts were the parking spaces of the early 19th century in Poplar
Bluff. A number of hitching posts still stand.
These are in front of homes in the parkway between the sidewalk and
street. No doubt everyone had a hitching post in those early days,
but few remain. In the downtown areas there were once hitching posts,
also a hitching racks... this for lack of a proper word was a kind
of fence as seen now in western movies in front of buildings. Several
horses could be tied to these.
One mounting block also is left standing in the city. A mounting
block was to the rider what a running board is to the modern SUV,
a means of getting abroad if your legs are not quite long enough to
step into the stirrup or to get into the car. Mounting blocks were
very prevalent just as were the hitching posts in those early days.
The hitching posts pictured
may not be the only ones still standing in this city, but they are
the ones found so far by local historians and they are authentic.
Several have been added to properties in the city and though they
may be genuine hitching posts they are not included on the list of
historical posts.
The post was used to secure or “park” the saddle horse,
horse and buggy or horse and wagon while the rider visited his neighbor,
shopped or rested from his ride. When he left his horse he tied the
reins which were attached to the horse’s bridle to the post with
a hitch.
A hitch is a quick, easy way to tie a rope to a post and is very
secure. There are several kinds of hitches. The clove hitch is the
said to be easiest and quickest to tie, so it probably was used extensively
by riders. However, the rolling or magnus hitch was probably used
by the person who drove a buggy or wagon. This hitch was similar to
the clove hitch but was less likely to slip. The whole idea was to
prevent the horse from wandering away.
