Sherwood Forest

White Oak.

I grew up in Sherwood Forest, but probably not the one you know about. My Sherwood Forest was a forest on the southwest side of Springfield, Missouri, the Queen City of the Ozarks. It's best known to the world for two things.

The first thing was the Springfield Medical Prison, where they sent all the prisoners too sick or crazy for other prisons. People like John Gotti and the Birdman of Alcatraz and Larry Flint would be kept there.

Interesting neighbors, right?

Flint was there when I lived there. I remember the protesters outside with their handmade signs.

Us kids were told by the older kids that Leather Face was kept there too, and every Halloween he would somehow escape. I was relieved when I finally learned that Leather Face wasn't a real person, but I was just a little disappointed too, I have to admit.

The second thing Sherwood Forest was known for was the Young Brothers' Massacre. The Young Brothers' Massacre was a police standoff in 1932 with some depression era bank robbers that ended with a shocking six police officers killed, a record that stood untouched until the terrorist attack on 911.

In the middle of Sherwood Forest was my trailer park, appropriately called Sherwood Forest Trailer Park. It had about a hundred trailers going up and down four roads. I found out later that each street was named after a tree. Ours was White Oak, and we were on the first row when you came in.

Sherwood Forest Trailer Park was surrounded by about a half dozen smaller trailer parks. Ours was at the top of an old abandoned rock quarry where I would break my arm playing Indiana Jones. A couple of the trailers had yards that ended in 80 ft drops.

At the bottom of the quarry was Wilson's Creek. Down Wilson's Creek was a little cave about the size of a car. Across the creek from the cave was an old flat deer stand, which we used for a treehouse.

To get in and out of Sherwood Forest you used Golden Street, which bordered my yard. Going South on Golden you came to Frank's Market, where we went to play video games and buy our parents cigarettes.

Next to Frank's was a flea market with a back room full of horror books, comics, and Playboys. These were from the seventies, the golden age for all three. We used to read the books and comics when the owner walked by, then hit the Playboys once he was gone.

Past the flea market was a Surplus City, with a big church on one side and adult book store on the other. This was on Sunshine, which took you to the prison going one way, and to the Walmart going the other.

Up and down Sunshine was about four or five strip clubs, and a grade school with a fence around it.

Going down the hill the other way on Golden was the Holler, where we were told to never go. The Holler was where our neighbors made meth. Past the Holler was Dog Patch, where people from Springfield went to buy the meth that was made in the Holler.

Sherwood Forest was a pretty wild place to grow up, but to us kids it was home.