Featured Stories: 170
Stories
Chillicothe Missouri Graham's Mill and Bridge
James Graham was born on September 27, 1828, in White County, Illinois to John H. Graham from Pennsylvania and Rebecca Graham of Virginia, who died when James was only eight years old. The couple later moved to Illinois where James took up…
Marble Hill: Trail of Tears
The early 19th century marked a change in the American landscape, most notably that the population was booming and more and more settlers wanted to expand West. To fulfill this desire of ‘manifest destiny,’ President Andrew Jackson signed a bill…
Marble Hill: Cat Ranch
Smalltown America isn’t just a place where you can find lots of history, but also culture. Marble Hill, in fact, is home to a developing local art scene. At the Cat Ranch Art Guild, local artists have established an encouraging community in a…
Marble Hill: Marble Hill Cemetery
There is another interesting cemetery to be noted in this tour, but this one has a more pleasant history than the last. The Marble Hill Cemetery is the town’s first official public cemetery, and it is additionally one of the first public…
Marble Hill: Discovery of Dinosaurs
Tucked away in the Ozarks, one might be surprised to hear that long ago, dinosaurs roamed the area that is now Marble Hill. Because the region is on a major fault line, there have been shifting layers of the earth that have exposed secrets…
Marble Hill: Will Mayfield College
The Will Mayfield College was the center for education in Marble Hill from 1880 to 1934. The co-educational school's enrollment peaked in the 1920s when it had over 200 enrolled students.
William Mayfield, a local doctor, and H. J. Smith,…
Marble Hill: Mineral Well
Even though Marble Hill is surrounded by creeks, the town had a long history of contaminated water supplies. There were few wells in the area, and what did exist usually caused sickness, including typhoid. Many citizens dug their own cisterns to…
Marble Hill: Bollinger County Courthouse
Marble Hill, being in the center of Bollinger County, was officially selected as the county seat in the 1850s. This role required the town to house the county’s courthouse. Now people from all over the county traveled to Marble Hill to settle…
Marble Hill: Burfordville Covered Bridge
Just 15 minutes outside of downtown Marble Hill and on the grounds of Bollinger Mill lies the Burfordville Covered Bridge. This landmark is Missouri’s oldest still-standing covered bridge, looming over the Whitewater River. Construction first…
Marble Hill: Bollinger Mill
We begin our tour of Marble Hill with the location that arguably brought the town to life. The Bollinger Mill sits just on the outskirts of the city and is older than Marble Hill itself, having stood for over 200 years. George F. Bollinger began…
Marble Hill Missouri Tour
In southeast Missouri lies Bollinger County -- 618 square miles of Ozark Highlands once occupied by the Shawnee, Delaware, and Osage indigenous nations. The county was named after George F. Bollinger, the leader of a group of Swiss-German pioneers…
Bothwell Lodge State Historic Site East Wing
The site began in 1896 with the purchase of the original 55 acres by Mr. John Homer Bothwell. In 1897, a seven-room “English style” stone cottage was constructed for John Bothwell and his friends and family to use as a warm weather retreat. In…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Eblon Theater
Homer Eblon constructed the Eblon Theater as a vaudeville and motion picture theater in 1923. It had a seating capacity of one thousand and included restrooms, uniformed ushers, and an overhead cooling system. It was home to the Eblon Orchestra,…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Mutual Musicians Foundation
Perhaps one of the most well-known aspects of the 18th and Vine District is its significant role in the development of Kansas City's jazz scene. 18th and Vine was the home for many nightclubs, music halls, theaters, and restaurants where jazz…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
In 1869, J. Milton Turner, a Black resident of Boonville, Missouri, was tasked by the Western Sanitary Commission and the American Missionary Association with funding from the Freedmen's Bureau to begin efforts to educate Black children in Missouri.…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
Pennytown was established as an autonomous township and historic Black hamlet located southeast of Marshall, Missouri in Saline County. This hamlet was extremely unique for the time period. Most of its residents were previously enslaved, and its…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
The Sappington African American Cemetery is located on Route AA, southwest of the town of Arrow Rock in Saline County, Missouri. In 1856, Dr. John B. Sappington of Arrow Rock provided this small lot to bury enslaved people who had died. As was…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
Brown's Chapel Free Will Baptist Church was constructed around 1869 in the north part of town by the Black members of Arrow Rock. The first minister was John Brown, for whom the chapel was named along with the fraternal lodge down the road. In…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Paseo YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was formed in England in 1844. The YMCA sought to improve opportunities for young men by stressing spiritual, social, and physical development. By 1851, the YMCA started forming branches in the…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Lincoln High School
"The Kansas City Call" was very significant in the fight for equal rights for African American citizens. It was a strong voice for change in society and within their community. Chester Franklin and Roy Wilkins fought hard for the black…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Attucks School
In 1867, a census revealed there were 250 black school-aged children living in Kansas City. Over the course of twenty-six years, multiple schools were built to house and educate African American children. In 1893, Attucks School was founded and…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
Brown's Lodge #22 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons was one of four lodge halls that were built by the African American community in Arrow Rock around 1887. The lodge was named for the first minister to lead the African American Baptists…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Roberts Building
The black business community was very prosperous between 1910 and 1930. Second to the Lincoln Building, the Roberts Building was the site of the first black-owned automobile dealership in America. It was constructed in 1923 by businessman Homer…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine Lincoln Building
Following World War I until around 1930, the 18th and Vine area experienced a significant building boom. During these years, the district increased its reputation as a center for black commerce and entertainment and the black population increased by…
Kansas City Missouri 18th & Vine The Call
"The Kansas City Call," or simply, "The Call," was one of twenty-two newspapers published by Kansas City's African American community. It was founded by Chester A. Franklin and published on May 6, 1919, as a small four-page…
Kansas City Missouri 18th and Vine District
Before the Civil War in 1860, the population of Kansas City was 4,418, which included 190 enslaved residents. Once freed, blacks were forced into segregated areas in the city. Between 1860 and 1870 many former slaves came to the city looking for…
Concordia Missouri Topsy's Diner
Diners are something many people think of when they think of rural America. Topsy's in Concordia is the quintessential small-town diner. The diner was opened in 1912 by E. H. "Topsy" and Emma Oetting who operated the business until…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
Oak Grove, also known as the George A. Murrell House, is located in Saline County, Missouri, just outside the city of Napton. It is a traditional home in the Greek Revival style, constructed in 1854. The outbuildings that once surrounded the house,…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
Prairie Park, also known as the William B. Sappington Plantation, is located off Route TT southwest of Arrow Rock, Missouri. The main house is a Greek Revival style mansion including a roof observation deck often utilized by white overseers to watch…
Missouri's Little Dixie African American History Tour
As William Clark put it back in 1804, the location where Arrow Rock would eventually be founded would be a "handsome spot for a town." In 1829, sitting on the bluff of the Missouri River, the town of Arrow Rock was born. Migration to the…