Connie Yen - Springfield

POSTCARD HISTORY SERIES

Springfield

War Dads Canteen was located at the Frisco railroad station and operated during World War II. The Springfield location of War Dads was associated with OReilly Military Hospital. This card is postmarked April 1945 and contains a message from a Fort Leonard Wood soldier to his family in Ohio. (Authors collection.)

ON THE FRONT: When Springfield founder John Polk Campbell donated 50 acres of land to the town, two acres were designated for a public square. The square has since been the scene of business activities, town fairs, Civil War skirmishes, and even gunfights. During the Civil War, the square was held by both Confederate and Union forces, and in 1862 the Battle of Springfield was fought near the square. In 1865, Dave Tutt won James Butler Wild Bill Hickoks gold watch in a card game and was warned not to wear it in public. Tutt failed to heed the warning, and on July 21 Wild Bill shot and killed him in a shoot-out on the Public Square. (Courtesy of the Springfield-Greene County Library District.)

ON THE BACK: College Street, one of the original streets connected to the Public Square, later gained fame as part of Route 66. Completed in 1938, Route 66 entered Springfield at Kearney Street and then made its way down Glenstone Avenue to St. Louis Street, where it crossed the Public Square to continue on College Street. Originally named Fulbright Road (later West Street), the name was changed to College Street due to the 1848 construction of Carlton College, located on the corner of College and Main Streets. Carlton College was a school for women that closed in 1861. (Authors collection.)

POSTCARD HISTORY SERIES

Springfield

Connie Yen

Copyright 2014 by Connie Yen
ISBN 978-1-4671-1289-5
Ebook ISBN 9781439648377

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest thanks are extended to the Library Center for the generous use of their postcard collection. Special thanks to Robert Neumann of the Greene County Archives and Records Center for sharing his postcard collection and for sharing his limitless knowledge of Springfield history. Finally, thanks to my husband, Jimmy, for his support of this project.

Unless otherwise noted, all images appear courtesy of the Springfield-Greene County Library District.

INTRODUCTION

Springfield is called the Queen City of the Ozarks, and since its founding it has been the cultural and business center of the Ozarks. Springfield was founded in 1829 when John P. Campbell and his brother Madison visited the area and claimed the land near what would later be called Fulbright Spring. They soon departed for Tennessee to settle their affairs, and in early 1830 John and his brother-in-law John Miller returned to Missouri with their families. While the Campbells were away, brothers John and William Fulbright, along with A.J. Burnett, arrived from Tennessee and settled on the land previously claimed by John and Madison Campbell. In 1830, Burnett built the first log cabin in the area, but he moved on when Campbell returned from Tennessee and proved his prior claim. More settlers arrived throughout 1830 and 1831, including some of the formative names in Springfield history, such as Sidney S. Ingram, Joseph Rountree, and Junius T. Campbell.

When John Campbell arrived on the Springfield prairie, he found several groups of Native Americans in the area. The Delaware had a settlement on the James River in northwestern Christian County, where Wilsons Creek flows into the James. There was also a small group of Kickapoo who had a settlement in present-day Springfield. Newly arrived settlers were dismayed to discover that part of what would become Greene County had been deeded to the Delaware in 1818 and another parcel had been deeded to the Kickapoo in 1819. The Osage, who lived primarily north along the Osage River, still used much of southwest Missouri as hunting grounds, though they had ceded rights to most of the land in the Treaty of Fort Osage in 1808. In 1830, the Delaware and Kickapoo were also forced to relocate. In 1838, thousands of Cherokee men, women, and children walked through Springfield as they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma Territory. Historical signs now mark the route of the Trail of Tears through Springfield.

The Missouri Legislature established Greene County in 1833. The county was initially quite large, encompassing all of southwest Missouri. In 1835, Springfield was designated as the county seat for Greene County. The home of John P. Campbell was initially used for county and circuit court sessions. Campbell donated 50 acres of his land to create Springfield, and two of those acres were used to establish the Public Square, where the new courthouse would soon be housed. Sidney Ingram drew the plans, and the courthouse, made of red brick and topped by a wooden cupola, was built in the center of the square in 1836.

The Civil War had a major impact on Springfield and the Ozarks. The first key Civil War battle west of the Mississippi was fought near Springfield at Wilsons Creek on August 10, 1861. Zagonyis Charge was in October 1861, and on January 8, 1863, the Battle of Springfield was fought in the center of Springfield, not far from the Public Square. Springfield was largely under military rule, alternating between Union and Confederate control, for the duration of the war.

Transportation and communication were important elements in the growth of Springfield. The Butterfield stage line passed through Springfield on its way from St. Louis to California in September 1858. The event was cause for a public celebration and fireworks. The telegraph arrived in Springfield in 1860, and finally in 1870 so did the railroad. Most of Springfield and Greene County attended the public events surrounding the arrival of the first train. Springfield quickly became a railroad hub and connected the Ozarks culturally and financially to Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and points along the East Coast. The advent of the railroad led to the formation of the new town of North Springfield in 1870; the two towns consolidated in 1887. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the San Francisco Railroad built maintenance shops in Springfield and became one of the citys largest employers.

The Ozark Standard, later called the Ozark Eagle, was the first newspaper in Springfield. The paper folded in 1842, but it was followed by many other news sources, such as the Springfield Advertiser in 1844, the Weekly Patriot in 1881, and the Daily News in 1927.

Education has been an important part of Springfield history, and the city is home to a diverse array of educational institutions. Joseph Rountree organized and taught the first school in 1831, in a cabin located on modern-day Mt. Vernon Street. It was followed by Stephens Academy in 1842, the first source of higher education in Springfield, founded by John Andrew Stephens. Carlton College, a school for women, opened in 1848 but closed on the eve of the Civil War. Public schools were established in Springfield in 1867, and students of all ages met in a building on the corner of Olive Street and Jefferson Avenue. The first high school was built in 1893 at Jefferson Avenue and what is now Central Street. Central High School still stands today and continues to serve the community. Springfield College, later Drury College, was founded in 1873. The Catholic Loretto Academy opened in 1878, and St. Agnes Elementary opened in 1906. In 1905, the State Normal School was established in Springfield; it is now known as Missouri State University. The Assemblies of God Central Bible College was formed in 1923, followed by Baptist Bible College in 1950 and Evangel College in 1955.