Ride to the Devil

The Great Flood of 1993 pushed the Grand River into the streets and homes of Pattonsburg and residents moved up the hill to form a new Pattonsburg. They left behind beautiful buildings like the old Methodist Church.

When Ang Lee was scouting locations for his movie Ride with the Devil–the story of the burning of Lawrence, Kansas–he found the perfect set in the abandoned Pattonsburg. The production brought millions of dollars into the area. And the future looked bright for old Pattonsburg. As a movie set it could dress up to look like the 1870s or the 1930s. But local leaders said no, they preferred to raze the empty town, citing too much cost to patrol the area to keep vagrants and partiers out.

Yeah, a $10 million infusion from the next movie production couldn’t possibly buy enough patrol cars.

Share this Post

8 Comments on “Ride to the Devil”

    1. My story was from traveling to Pattonsburg. Not sure of a complete history of this sequence of events beyond my research. Try the artist whose great paintings were displayed for a while in the Old Memories Cafe. Her name is in my book.

  1. I have a decorative, antique dinner plate with a picture of that Methodist church when it was beautiful and new. It’s amazing to see the difference. The plate is in
    pristine condition.

  2. I have a decorative, antique dinner plate with a picture of that Methodist church when it was beautiful and new. It’s amazing to see the difference. The plate is in
    pristine condition.

  3. Just looking up old town of pattansburg Missouri an come up with old. Hurch filmed the movie ride with the devil,an first saw the methodist church I fell in landed on the organ on the alter.met so many nice people on that journey of my life.Maybe gotta go back for a visit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *