Springfield History and Museums

Step back in time to explore a city where the Civil War landed some major and decisive battles and where America's most famous highway got its start there nearly a century ago. Take a step back to a time with visits to Springfield's historical museums and blast-from-the-past landmarks.

Civil War Battlegrounds

March back into history over the crest of Bloody Hill and the fields, houses and cannon emplacements that marked the site of the 1861 Battle of Wilson's Creek, the second major battle of the Civil War. At the visitor's center, you can view a half-hour film and exhibits of photographs, weapons and memorabilia. Walking trails to Bloody Hill, along with a living history tableau at the John Ray House that survived the battle, give this chapter from history a sense of immediacy. Finish your tour at Springfield National Cemetery, where the deceased from both sides of the battle are buried.

History Museum on the Square

Springfield collects its varied historic narratives under one roof in the History Museum on the Square, a downtown exhibition space that once held the Fox Theatre, the town's movie house. See what the Ozarks are famous for, from motor racing to homesteading to the divided loyalties that added to the sorrow of the Civil War. Take a mini-tour of American history with the permanent exhibits that cover life from pioneer days in 1830 through the tumultuous 20th century. Then step out to the square for an audio re-enactment of Wild Bill Hickok's famous 1865 quick-draw duel over a gambling debt. Travel along the nine markers to hear eyewitness testimony from the spots where the good citizens of Springfield were standing when the shootout happened.

Smallin Civil War Cave

Stand in awe of the Smallin Civil War Cave's 55-foot-high, 100-foot-wide mouth—the largest cave opening in Missouri. Inside, giant calcite-rimmed pools of mineral water hold blind crayfish, and a 350-million-year-old shark spine and Ice Age mastodon teeth share space with bats and ancient graffiti. Click on a headlamp and wade through chilly water a mile into the heart of the cave to view chert stone outcroppings where Osage and Cherokee chipped arrowheads. A Civil War legend is that Union soldiers hid arms, supplies and ammunition in the cave and rode into its massive entry on horseback. Numerous short tours for all ages, and deep explorations—ages 12 and up—are available, some seasonally themed complete with traditional meals and campfires

Gray-Campbell Farmstead

Leave the smartphones in the car when you immerse yourself in the Gray-Campbell Farmstead, a hands-on living history museum. The 1860s house has an outdoor kitchen and outhouse, a two-crib barn and granary, family cemetery, fresh-water well and a one-room schoolhouse. The museum is open on an unfixed weekend schedule from April to October, so check ahead for times. On the third weekend in September, the Farmstead hosts an 1860s Lifestyle Expo, with admission by donation; tours of all the buildings; apple butter and apple cider making; leather crafting; music; open-hearth cooking; storytelling; and a homemade apple pie contest. In early December, help decorate a just-felled evergreen with handmade vintage ornaments, and share some cookies and hot chocolate prepared on the hearth.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home

In Mansfield, 45 miles west of Springfield on Highway 60, the "Little House on the Prairie" welcomes you from March through November. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, the real setting for the "Little House" books, is a white clapboard house with a stone chimney called Rocky Ridge Farm. It still holds Laura's study, writing desk, handwritten manuscripts and furnishings, all exactly as she left them. You'll see Ingalls family photographs, Pa's famous fiddle and the Rock House—the stone-faced cottage where Laura wrote the first four of the books. Children under six enter free. Scheduled events include free Christmas admission and Wilder Days in the fall, with rare tours of upstairs rooms and some lively tunes on Pa's fiddle.

On the Road—Birthplace of Route 66

Springfield is the officially recognized birthplace of historic Route 66. The road stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles and was one of the original U.S. highways, which opened in 1926 for a newly car-mad nation. It inspired Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, a popular TV show and writers Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck. Journey into nostalgia at the Springfield Visitors Center with cold glass bottles of Coca-Cola and replicas of a '50s-era gas station and diner. In August, the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival revs up the town for three days of classic car parades, fun runs, concerts, a drive-in movie and a car and motorcycle show. Today Route 66 exists only in the imagination—and in Springfield, where it all began.

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