Walking in the Wards - Ward 1 - Downtown Carthage MO

Entries on This Tour

1. Kaut-Reith Shoe Company (former), 200 South River Street (later Steadley Company; now Leggett & Platt)

This factory building was originally built in 1914 for $30,000 for use by the Kaut-Reith Shoe Company based in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was the first of many shoe manufacturers in Carthage, Missouri, during the 1910s and 1920s when the Carthage Chamber of Commerce was encouraging that particular industry. Juvenile Shoe Corporation moved to this building by 1919-20 and operated a few years before adding another plant at 100 South Main. All Juvenile Shoe operations in Carthage ceased around 1926. In Carthage, this factory is more commonly known as the Steadley factory from the building's history as a bed springs manufacturer. This association began shortly after the death of F. W. Steadley when his son Kent reorganized the Carthage Superior Bed Spring Manufacturing plant formerly located on North Main and moved into this River Street facility under the name of the Steadley Company. This company operated for many decades before being acquired by Leggett and Platt, Inc., in 1996.

2. Carter Park, 602 South River Street

Carter Park is located between a creek and the former Saint Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad tracks and East Chestnut street on the south and South River Street on the west. The initial park property was donated by Dr. J. A. Carter whose home sits atop the bluff that forms the eastern edge of the original property. (This eastern-most portion of the former park property is now developed into the Battle of Carthage State Historic Site, see Clio entry for same on East Chestnut Street.) Originally the property was called Carter's Park in honor of the former property owner and park's donor to the City of Carthage.

3. Lincoln School #2, 609 South River Street (no longer standing)

With heavy enrollment in the old Lincoln School located on Tiger Hill at the north end of Garrison Avenue, the Carthage Board of Education determined a new building was needed for its African-American students. In 1914 voters approved a $10,000 bond issue to finance a new school located at the corner of River and Sixth Streets across the street from the Tourist Park (now part of Carter Park on the east side of River Street, see Clio entry for Carter Park). Constructed of brick and local limestone, the first school term opened in 1915 but two years later, the structure burned. Lincoln students were sent to the old Ward One/Washington School that was vacant with the opening of the new Eugene Field School for white students (See Clio entry for Eugene Field School).

4. Eugene Field Elementary School (former), 613 East Chestnut

During the 1916-1917 school session, the Carthage Board of Education approved the construction of two new schools including this brick and limestone structure. (Mark Twain Elementary School on South Main Street was the other school; see Clio entry for that school's history.) Eugene Field was built on Chestnut Street between Fulton and Orchard Streets. The new structure replaced older ward schools of Washington and Irving that served the surrounding neighborhoods. The choice of the school's name was to honor Missouri poet and journalist Eugene Field as a sign of respect for literature in education which was considered important at the time.

5. Carthage High School (former), 714 South Main (now Sixth Grade Center)

Carthage's first public school built after the Civil War was constructed on the site of the former Carthage Academy (1855 - 1861) that was destroyed during the war. Both were located on the eastside of the 700 block of South Main Street. This post-war school (no longer standing) was built in 1870 and the two-story brick school served all levels of education including grammar school and high school although the first high school class did not graduate until 1878. When a new high school building was built further south near Chestnut Street in 1890, the earlier structure became home to elementary grades and was known as Central School. In short order another high school building was needed and in 1906 a new Carthage High School was opened next door to the 1870 school building. It was built of Carthage limestone by local contractor Ellis Jackson. While serving the longest as the high school facility for the community, for the past few years, this structure served as the Carthage Junior High School. Beginning in 2019, it has become the Sixth Grade Center.

6. Platt Plow Works (former), 201 East Fifth Street (later Lanpher Auto Works)

C. D. Platt Plow Works was established in 1873 to manufacture plows with equipment brought to Carthage from another plow manufacturer in Des Monies, Iowa, and by 1880, about 200 plows were made a month. However C. D. Platt's son Cornelius B. Platt, business man and Blacksmith, teamed up with J. P. Leggett, a mold specialist, and began production of bed springs. It is from this location at 5th and Grant Streets that Leggett-Platt Combination Spring Bed factory started in 1883. The manufacturer soon out grew this facility and by 1892 moved to a new factory located on Second Street between Maple and Lyon. Production continued there until the mid-1920s when the plant was moved to Central Avenue. Today's Leggett & Platt, Inc., "produces a diverse array of products that can be found in most homes, vehicles, and offices" (1). It is "made up of seventeen business units, has 21,00 employee-partners, and 130 facilities in nineteen countries" (2).

7. Smith Brothers Manufacturing (former), 526 South Howard Street

Historically, this was the location of the Big Smith overall plant, after it moved from its original location at 4th and Garrison in the former Hall Livery building in April 1917. Founded by Clayton and E. O. Smith, Smith Brothers Manufacturing operated in Carthage until 2000. The complex of buildings either side of Howard Street is currently owned and operated by Leggett and Platt.

8. Drake Hotel (former), now Drake Hotel Apartments, 406 Howard Street

Named after early Carthage settler and long-time hardware dealer A. M. Drake, this four story former hotel building also included a restaurant, beauty parlor, barber shop and office spaces that were used by the Carthage Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. Designed by Kansas City architectural firm Shepard and Wiser, the hotel cost $200,000 to construct over the course of 1920-22. Marian Wright Powers wrote her daughter, Marian Louisa Powers on October 11, 1920, that "today was the cornerstone laying of the new hotel, The Drake, and of course they had a big to do, and a good crowd... they had a clear, warm day, and nice weather." (Letter in collection of Powers Museum Archives.)

9. Logan Building (aka Gas Company Building), 301 East Fourth Street

In the late 19th century, Thomas Hennessey purchased ACME gas company and formed the Gas Works Company in Carthage, Missouri. Hennessey owned a patent for "the new system" of delivering gas and used two generators powered by coal oil to generate 130,000 cubit feet of gas per day. Within ten days of the company's opening, local businesses were placing orders to have gas connected. This building is within the Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District of the National Register of Historic Places (see link below).

10. Crane Theater (former), 219 East Third Street

The Crane Theater opened July 19, 1922. Its architect for the original building (now hidden under the limestone panels and steel slats) was Joplin, Missouri, architect A. C. Michaelis. At first the theater presented silent movies and live shows including old fiddler's contests, fashion shows for local clothing shops and history pageants for school children. Talking movies came to the theater in late 1929 and occasional live shows continued through the 1940s. In 1955 the building was remodeled by Samuel W. Bihr and renamed the Fox Theater but the film business only operated a four more years at this location before the building was switched to other forms of entertainment and leisure activities.

11. Carthage City Hall (former), now Carthage Civil War Museum, 205 South Grant Street

Construction began in early 1883 for this $7,000 multiple purpose structure that included city offices, fire and police departments and jail (then called the calaboose and located behind this structure). The building also held engine rooms for the early municipal water works. Horses that pulled fire department equipment were housed across the street at Crandall Livery (building now gone). The structure was remodeled in the early 20th century and continued to serve the City of Carthage as a fire station and in many other capacities including the long-time Civil Defense storage facility as directed by Opal Johnson from offices in Memorial Hall. In the 1980s this structure was converted by the City of Carthage for use as a museum dedicated to the history of the Battle of Carthage (July 5, 1861; see Battle of Carthage State Historic Site Clio entry, East Chestnut Street). The property is within the National Register of Historic Places Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District (see link below).

12. Carthage Shoe Manufacturing Company (former), later H. E. Williams Products, 106 South Main Street

In 1919 another Carthage shoe company was organized under the name Carthage Shoe Manufacturing Company by Henry Meuhling, Wallis Wallingford, John Bailey and John Marrs as officers. A two-story brick building was constructed and production began in spring of 1920. At construction, it was thought a third floor would be added to this structure at some point but it never was. According to Carthage city directories, this particular shoe company did not operate long and at this point it is unknown if it might have reorganized into Carmo Shoe Manufacturing in the 1930s that occupied another shoe factory at Oak and Garrison (see Clio entry for company). However it is documented that Juvenile Shoe Corporation moved into this building and produced a variety of shoes until it closed all Carthage production around 1926 and moved operations to its Aurora, Missouri, factory. While operating in this location, Sanborn maps indicate that Juvenile continued operations at its River Street plant (original Kaut-Reith Shoe factory, see Clio entry for 200 South River Street) along with a third plant at 4th and Maple Streets (former United Wood Heel Company building).

13. Damon Building (former R.H. Rose Mercantile), 101 East Third Street

This property's early owner, Robert McFarland, sold this parcel in 1851 to John Shirley who eventually owned most of the property that comprised the north side of the square. He operated a hotel and livery stable until he and his family, including daughter Myra Belle Shirley (later known as Belle Starr), left town for Texas during the Civil War. (A marker in the sidewalk further down the block at 119 East 3rd, notes Shirley's ownership of the square's north side.) R. H. Rose was one of the Carthage's early settlers after the Civil War and opened a dry goods store. His first location was one of the storefronts below the Burlingame & Chaffee Opera House (136 East 4th Street, see Clio entry for address). A few years later, H. G. Damon began construction of a new commercial building across the Carthage square at Third and Main Street and R. H. Rose moved to that location. His store was a large establishment and had over thirty employees.Through good marketing and managing, Rose and son G. A. Rose after him, managed to survive the fierce competition of Carthage dry goods stores (at any one time numbering at least a half a dozen similar stores) and continued operations until the early years of the Depression. The building is in the Carthage Courthouse Square National Register Historic District.

14. Deutsch Clothing Co. and Whitsett Clothing Co. (former), 141 East Third Street

Another example of older commercial buildings built in the 19th century being updated in the 20th century with a new "modern" facade treatment. Two 1880s commercial storefronts were united with a new brick facade after a fire in late 1917. The left store was the long-time home to A. B. Deutsch's Clothing Company and the right store was an even older establishment belonging to J. M. Whitsett's Dry Goods Company. Both Deutsch and Whitsett served the public into the 1920s. In 1922 Whitsett claimed to have "shipped the first car load of merchandise ever sent west of Springfield on the new [rail]road." (1) The goods were "bought from Samuel C. Davis, the oldest wholesale dry goods merchant in St. Louis. Carthage was a small town then, but a prosperous and growing one." (2) This was in 1870. His store at the time was at this location but in a frame building. This structure is within the National Register of Historic Places Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District (see link below).

15. Central National Bank (former), 149 East Third Street

Central National Bank received its charter July 1, 1890, and opened for business on October 14. Founders were Dr. Amos H. Caffee [druggist], President; J. P. Newell, Sr., Vice-President; J. E. Lang, cashier. In 1906, the bank put a local limestone stone front on its 1880s brick building and extended the stone around the Grant Street side of the building as it appears today. The interior was remodeled at this time, too. On December 11, 1933, the Carthage Evening Press reported that a CWS (Civil Works Service) project would employ 52 women "on the Carthage relief roles (1)." The women were to make "comforts [bedding] (2)." The factory was located in the Central Bank building at the northeast corner of the square. The paper refers to the building as the "former" bank building and reported that it had been housing Red Cross supplies. This building is within the National Register of Historic Places Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District (see link below). Introduction text written by Dr. Megan Bever, Powers Museum Board Member and Missouri Southern State University Professor, summer 2017. .

16. Central National Bank Building (former), now United Missouri Bank, 300 South Grant Street

This corner has been been home to a succession of banks including the current United Missouri Bank (UMB), Central National Bank (CNB), and First National Bank (latter established at this site in 1872). First National's 1891 building was torn down in 1963, along with other historic commercial buildings to the south, to make way for a new facility for CNB that had bought out 1st National Bank operations in 1931 (CNB formerly located at 149 East Third Street - see Clio entry for that address). This structure is within the Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Although this Mid-century Modern building was a non-conforming structure when the district was first added to the National Register, it now is well over fifty years old itself.

17. Carthage City Hall, 326 Grant Street (former site of Myers-Garland Building, no longer standing)

After being located within the Jasper County Courthouse since 1895, the current Carthage City Hall was built after the former Myers and Garland building (built in 1892) and two other adjacent smaller historic buildings were destroyed by fire May 29, 1988. (Note: Myers and Garland names were used interchangeably throughout this structure's history.) Today's City Hall lobby contains a unique display of ancient Carthage, Tunisia, artifacts from a former sister city relationship in the 1960s. Also on display is a series of works by Carthage artist Andy Thomas comparing ancient Carthage to Carthage, Missouri, during different periods of time.

18. Steadley Building, 336 - 342 Grant Street

This building began as several wooden commerical structures constructed in the 1870s and early 1880s. These were destroyed by fire in 1892 and Walter Smith announced construction of two adjacent brick buildings on the site. Early occupants were The When Shoe Store and Smith's own drug store. An additional building was built next to Smith's structures by Alonzo Parkell for his tailoring company. Multiple stores came and went through the three storefronts and second story offices until Frederick W. Steadley bought all these properties by 1927. A year after his death in 1928, the three buildings were refaced in buff brick for a unified facade and the structure was renamed the Steadley building in honor of the one-time Carthage jeweler, limestone quarry owner, spring bed manufacturer (under name of Carthage Bed Spring Company, later Steadley Manufacturing) and one of the town's largest real estate investors. This building in within the Carthage Courthouse Square District of the National Register of Historic Places.

19. McDaniel Building, 346 South Grant Street

Many grocery stores have operated from this location since its first occupant, McDaniel and Ruffin, opened a mercantile here after the Civil War. Economy Clothing Company and other dry goods businesses were located here in the 1890-1910 period. In 1915, Union Trust Company, organized in 1913 by J. H. Staley, manager of the McDaniel Milling Company, opened at this address catering to farmers, agricultural interests and other small businesses. Late in 1931 the Bank of Carthage took over Union Trust assets. In subsequent years, various stores have occupied the first floor, while offices have occupied the second floor. Recently, the second floor was converted to apartment use.

20. McCrillis Brothers Building (no longer standing), 146 East Fourth Street

Destroyed by fire in 2013, the former building on this site was built as a hardware store in 1885 although early prints of the building show 1883 on cornice (1). Built by brothers John D. and Frank McCrillis, they had conducted their hardware business on this same corner as early as the 1878 in a two-story frame building. Many other occupants have served this community from this structure including Payne Brothers People's Store, Kearney-Damon Dry Goods, McMurtry's Department Store and others in the first half of the 20th century.

21. Burlingame and Chaffee Opera House (former),136 East Fourth Street

This structure was constructed in 1877 with two storefronts on the first floor and an opera house on the second story (entered from a stairway on the right side of the building, see wooden door). W. L. Burlingame and Dr. J. B Chaffee were the original owners. The opera house opened in February 1878. In 1893 after another opera house opened two blocks to the east, the opera house closed and the second floor was used by Jasper County officials prior to the Jasper County Courthouse being built in 1894-95. This structure is within the National Register of Historic Places Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District (see link below).

22. Griswold Grocery Building (no longer standing), 130 East Fourth Street

Selden B. Griswold operated a long-time grocery business at this location in a brick building that was destroyed by fire in 1972, along with three other structures to the west on the south side of the square. Griswold, a Civil War veteran of the 53rd Illinois Infantry, was one of Carthage earliest merchants as the town rebuilt from its Civil War destruction. He hauled his first store goods himself by wagon from Sedalia, Missouri, the nearest railroad point (1). In 1882 his company focused entirely on the wholesale grocery trade in the region and continued that practice until the late 1920s. (Griswold died in 1918.)

23. Cassaday Block (no longer standing), 120 East Fourth Street

Once a three-story brick and decorated press metal front building, the Cassaday structure served the community in many ways. The first floor storefronts during the 1880s to the early decade of the 20th century housed various stores such as Kurtzeborn and Marker, Palace Dry Goods and the Campbell-Wright Mercantile Company. The second and third floors housed several business schools including the Carthage Business College, professional offices and medical institutions such as the Mattenlee Sanitarium.

24. Jasper County Courthouse, East Third and South Main Street

Constructed in 1894-95, the Jasper County Courthouse is located in Carthage, Missouri in the town's center square. It was designed by M.A. Orlopp in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It is the third courthouse of the county. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Its first floor lobby area houses historical displays, murals painted by local artists, and a Route 66 exhibit modeled after Boots Drive-In (see Clio entry for same on South Garrison Avenue).

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Walking in the Wards - Ward 1 - Downtown Carthage MO

Created by Powers Museum on June 6th 2017, 2:26:27 pm.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

During 2017-18 in honor of the 175th Anniversary of Carthage, Missouri, the Powers Museum created digital sites of some of Carthage's historic sites, stores, industrial buildings, homes, schools, and parks. Ward One's tour is located in the northeast section of town and features a mixed residential, commercial and industrial base along with one Missouri State Historic Site -- the Battle of Carthage SHS. The sites placed on this initial tour were based on selected artifacts that appeared in the 175th Anniversary Exhibit at the Powers Museum during 2017. The purpose was to show where these artifacts were created, used or purchased. The initial debut of "Walking in the Wards -- Ward I -- Downtown" took place during the 2017 Maple Leaf Festival. This project was made possible by a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Entries on This Tour

Walking in the Wards - Ward 1 - Downtown Carthage MO

Description

Share