[ Museums & Historical Attractions ]
Springfield sits at the crossroads of history!       

Louisiana Purchase -The territory known as Missouri was included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Soon after, the Delaware received treaty land where Springfield’s Sequiota Park and the antique stores of its Galloway Village stand today. To the west, 500 Kickapoo Native Americans built their wickiups on the prairie that still bears their name. Missouri became a state in 1821. 

Founding  -In 1833, the legislature designated most of the southern portion of Missouri a single county. It was named for Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, largely through John Polk Campbell’s campaign to honor a man he admired. A Tennessee homesteader, Campbell was the founder of Springfield, announcing his claim in1829. Springfield was incorporated in 1838.

Trail of Tears - In 1838, the Cherokee were forcibly removed by the U.S. government from their homelands in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia then moved to the “Indian Territory.” The move became known as the Trail of Tears due to the thousands of Cherokee deaths on the journey and those who perished as a result of the relocation. The Trail of Tears traveled through the Springfield area via what is known today as the Old Wire Road. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail auto tour route is along Interstate 44 westward to U.S. 160 (West By-pass in Springfield) and westward along U.S. 60.

Old Wire Road - The Old Wire Road, then known as the Military Road, served until the mid-1840s as a connection between Springfield and the garrison at Fort Smith, Arkansas. By 1858, the Butterfield Overland Stage began utilizing the road offering passage to California. Two years later, the region’s first telegraph line was strung along the road at which time it was dubbed the Telegraph or Wire Road. The road proved vital during the Civil War, and its most historic connection is to the Battle of Pea Ridge. While portions of the road exist today, the most easily accessible is within Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. 

Battle of Wilson’s Creek - With civil war imminent, Springfield was divided in its sentiments. On August 10, 1861, army units clashed near Wilson’s Creek, the site of the first major battle west of the Mississippi River, involving about 5,400 Union troops and 12,000 Confederates.

General Nathaniel Lyon was killed, the first Union general to die in combat. The Confederates were victorious. The battle, however, led to increased military activity in Missouri and set the stage for the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862. The National Park Service, recognizing the significance of the battle, designated Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in 1960. The 1,750-acre battlefield remains greatly unchanged and stands as one of the most historically pristine battle sites in the country. 

Battle of Springfield - For the next two years possession of the city seesawed. Then in January 1863, Confederate forces under General John S. Marmaduke advanced up South Street, shelled the square and seized the town in the Battle of Springfield.

Union troops fell back to Lebanon, then Rolla, and regrouped. When they returned to Springfield, the Confederates had withdrawn. The city would stay under Union control until the end of the war. 

Springfield National Cemetery - Two years after the war ended, the Springfield National Cemetery was created, having the dead of both the North and the South interred, though separated by a low stone wall. 

“Wild Bill” Hickok - In the wake of the Civil War, Springfield helped give birth to the Wild West era. In July 1865, the town square was the site of the nation’s first-recorded shootout. The incident between “Wild Bill” Hickok and Dave Tutt was also significant due to the incredible marksmanship exhibited by “Wild Bill” that made him known worldwide. 

Following a poker game in Kelly Kerr Saloon on Park Central Square, Tutt claimed Hickok owed him money and took his pocket watch as collateral. Tutt claimed he would wear it in public to show that Hickok didn’t pay his debts. 

The next day from 75 yards away, Tutt fired a shot at Hickok, barely missing his head. Hickok fired back and killed Tutt with a bullet through the heart. The event made nationwide news. 

Arrival of the Railroad - On April 21, 1870, the St. Louis-San Francisco line rolled through Springfield, bringing commercial and industrial diversification to the city’s economy. Today visitors can enjoy the view from the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge, peering below to the locomotive path which is still in use 24-hours-a-day. 

Birthplace of Route 66 - Officially recognized as the birthplace of Route 66, it was in Springfield on April 30, 1926, that officials first proposed the name of the new Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway. In 1938, Route 66 became the first completely paved transcontinental highway in America—the “Mother Road”—stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast. 

Traces of the Mother Road are still visible in downtown Springfield and along the city’s northern boundary. Travelers still see traces of history along the famous thoroughfare. In some areas, early gas stations and cafés are still in operation, sitting alongside antique stores and flea markets.

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