Institution

The Perkins family also had a "country house" located west of Carthage on what is now Fairview Road just west of Interstate 49. In his autobiography, Marlin Perkins described the farm as "a great place for kids and particularly for me because it was full of all kinds of animals. I'd follow the hired hand when he was plowing and watch the creatures that were uncovered by the plow. Grubs, earthworms, beetles, a nest of baby mice, thousand leggers, and once a toad. Many of them went into my pockets (1)."  Back in town, it was not uncommon for snakes to be in his pockets to the surprise of school mates and other acquaintances.

Marlin Perkins seen outside 902 South Main, circa 1917-18.

Digitization on CLIO is part of Powers Museum's "Digital Carthage" project in honor of Carthage's 175th Anniversary Celebration (March 28, 2017 through March 27, 2018). 

Funding for the Walking in the Wards tour was made possible by a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Spring 2017. 

St. Louis Zoo tribute to R. Marlin Perkins

Website

Find-a-grave entry for Joseph Perkins, Marlin's father. From this entry you will also find a link for Marlin's mother Mynta Mae Miller.

Carthage Hall of Heroes (at the Fair Acres YMCA) honor for R. Marlin Perkins.

Lawyer, judge, and Jasper County official, Joseph D. Perkins purchased this house for $3,300 around 1900 for his wife Mynta Mae Miller and his sons. His last son, born in 1905, was Richard Marlin Perkins who most Americans would come to know as zoologist Marlin Perkins of the Mutual of Omaha television series "Wild Kingdom" (1963 to 1985). This is the home Marlin grew up in when he was not with relatives in nearby Pittsburg, Kansas, or away at the Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri. Marlin would graduate from Carthage High School just a block from his home in 1923 (712 South Main Street; see Clio entry for same). Throughout his life he kept close ties to Carthage attending class reunions, visiting former classmates, and participating in several community events such as Maple Leaf Festival.

Judge Perkins, who lost two wives, continued to live in this house until the late 1920s when he began traveling and boarded is smaller homes. He died in 1934. Today this home continues to be a private residence.

Perkins Home, 902 South Main Street

Director

This tour features selected addresses in and around Central Park. Many of the addresses featured here (along with the remaining structures extending southward from Central Park) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places Carthage Residential District and citations to those nominations are cited as links in the Clio listings.

The buildings or sites in this tour were selected because they were the locations of objects displayed (whether manufactured, sold and/or used at a particular location) in the Powers Museum's 2017 exhibit focusing on businesses and industries of Carthage (including educational institutions as employers). It was the intent of the original project to create a vehicle that could show the exhibited objects as they related to a physical location that current residents and tourists can view by walking or driving by today.

The digital sites on this Clio app were originally created by a special grant project funded by the Missouri Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2017-18 as part of the Powers Museum's observation of Carthage's 175th anniversary. This tour has taken addresses from Carthage's voting wards 1 and 2 (Main Street addresses are in Ward 1 while remaining addresses are in Ward 2).

NOTE:  Other addresses to this tour may be added in the future by museum volunteers. Contact the Powers Museum for further information. www.powersmuseum.org

Central Park was landscaped in the 1890s by Kansas City, Missouri, landscape architect George Kessler, but in 1917, additional tree plantings were done by several of the women’s clubs in Carthage. Among their work was the planting of crocus bulbs that have spread throughout the western part of the park and provide a delightful show in late winter. The Reed Wading Pool and Carthage limestone bathhouse with pergola was a gift to Carthage in 1930 from the Reed family of Neosho, Missouri. It was one of several other similar pools in this region donated by this family. Among local contributors to the project were Carthage Marble Corporation, Kellogg Marble Company, American Legion and Carthage Rotary Club, a men’s service organization still active today. The central feature of the historic park is the limestone fish basin and water fountain, the latter provided by efforts of the Carthage Federation of Women’s Clubs. The Missouri Vietnam War Memorial is located on the southern edge of the park (Chestnut Street). Finally, on the western side of the park facing Garrison Avenue, is Bill Snow and Bob Tommey’s sculpture of R. Marlin Perkins who lived nearby (902 South Main Street) and graduated from Carthage High School in 1923 (school formerly at 714 South Main). The work was created in 1988 and dedicated by Perkins’ wife Carol. Associated with several zoos over his career (Buffalo NY, Chicago IL and St. Louis MO) Perkins may be remembered best for his television work with the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom series (1963 to 1985).

Central Park extends two blocks east from Garrison Avenue to Lyon Street and is located between Seventh Street and Chestnut Street.  This area originally was Carthage's public cemetery in the 1840s to the 1860s and was used for burials after the Battle of Carthage on July 5, 1861. In 1869 the City of Carthage decided the property should become a park and remains were removed to other locations in town and Springfield, Missouri’s National Cemetery.

The property was re-dedicated for park use and continues to be used as such today. Central Park is home to a and water fountain and water basin, playground equipment, bandstand, Reed Wading Pool, Missouri Vietnam War Monument, Marlin Perkins Statue and other smaller memorials throughout the grounds.


Central Park, 700 South Garrison Avenue

Over the years numerous alterations have been made to the original structure. In 2003 with a need for more space, plans were submitted for a major expansion. An addition of 13,486 square feet was added to the north side of the original building. A ballot for a 3/16th cent tax was presented to the public and passed. The tax generated 2.5 million dollars that was paired with 2 million dollars raised from private donors. R. E. Smith Construction built the new addition and it opened May 29, 2007. The 1905 library building that faces Seventh Street, still retains its original oak woodwork and a stained glass and plaster decorated dome over what was once the original check out counter. Now the area is used for displays of historic collections and the local history/reference section of the library. To the east of the library is the E. L. Dale garden that hosts a sculpture of “Alice in Wonderland” by local artist Bill Snow. The garden grounds are neat and maintained by the Ozark Gateway Master Gardeners. Many other memorials are found throughout the garden area and a fountain at the eastern edge of the property has the names of many of the donors to the library's expansion project. This entry was written by Duane Griffith, Missouri Southern State University Volunteer, Summer 2017.

Prior to 1870 the only libraries in Carthage were private affairs, owned by local individuals such as doctors or lawyers. In January of 1870 the first public library was opened, located above the local newspaper office of the Carthage Banner. Over the next few years the library was bounced around to several different locations in town. By 1890 the need for a permanent library had become apparent.  An application was submitted to Andrew Carnegie for funding and a search for a suitable site began. The location selected was at the southeast corner of 7th Street and Garrison Avenue. One half of the site was donated by Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Hall in memory of their daughter Ruth. The other half of the property was purchased by a group of local concerned citizens. With an estimated overall cost of $45,000 dollars, $25,000 was contributed from Andrew Carnegie and the balance was raised by concerned citizens of Carthage.

Built in a French Renaissance style with a touch of Greek influence, the library was opened on February 2, 1905. The opening ceremonies lasted three days with the main address given by William King Caffee, who was the President of the library's Board of Trustees. The initial inventory of books numbered 3,000 and the first book checked out was Ben Hur by Lew Wallace.
     

Carthage Public Library, 612 South Garrison Avenue

Prior to the 1906 high school, other high school buildings did not have auditoriums so all classes prior to the Class of 1906 held their graduation ceremonies at the Burlingame and Chafee Opera House (136 East Third Street; see Clio entry for same). The Class of 1906 was the first group to graduate from the actual school students attended. Additions to the original 1906 structure have included a gymnasium on the south side (1951, in the approximate location of the former 1890 Carthage High School later known as the Manual Arts Building) and an east wing in 1966 and a new auditorium on the north side in 1988. The latter construction project used the final supply of local limestone quarried for building purposes from Carthage Marble Corporation (now Americold off North Francis Street). The auditorium's lobby featured a school history mural by artist Andy Thomas.

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.








Central Park Area (Wards 1 & 2) - Neighborhood History Project

Perkins Home, 902 South Main Street

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information