Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds links growers and gardens through more than 1,300 varieties of rare seeds it sells. The Ozarks-based company with global impact also connects people through its annual festivals, a tradition that in 2026 returns through three gatherings at its headquarters — a farm near…
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You might say that Grant Kendall shapes history by cutting hair at his small Springfield barber shop along Route 66. “This is really just an old-fashioned barber shop like it was in the ‘40s,” Kendall says. “Everything is all the same – all this stuff is original.” “Except his prices,” one…
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Bud Perry’s chair still sits next to the counter. He started the Springfield tire-and-wheel shop back in 1958, a time when cars and racing were big. Things have changed since the shop’s start. Local racing’s heyday zoomed into the past. Route 66 – where the shop has sat for decades – wandered to…
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Springfield’s Gillioz Theatre is built with bricks and the stories of generations. It was 1926 – 100 years ago, and the same year when Route 66 was “born” just steps away – when the downtown Springfield landmark came to be. “The opening of the new Gillioz Theatre, one of the most magnificent…
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Fame came to Springfield’s Rockwood Motor Court by way of Route 66. It’s long been known to Route 66 travelers, many who hail from across the country and around the globe, but a new level of light is shining on the vintage motor court: In November, it was added to Historic Hotels of America, a…
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The Shrine Mosque has been an Ozarks landmark since 1923. That year, work was complete on the towering downtown Springfield structure, which was — and is — home for the Abou Ben Adhem Shriners. Despite its name, the mosque has no religious affiliation, but was built as part of a national movement…
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Since her famed “Little House” books were published nearly a century ago, the stories of pioneer life have brought new-yet-old worlds to readers whose own memories are linked by their pages. Wilder’s influence was so great that the State Historical Society of Missouri calls her “one of the most…
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For visitors, those moments come through family time and shared experiences at the flower-filled farm, complete with fruit – like apples and berries – and games for kids and moments to remember. It’s also true for the family that runs the farm. The Gradinariu family, immigrants from the eastern…
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The past remains part of the present at Gray/Campbell Farmstead, a tucked-away Springfield park that features vintage buildings representing Ozarks history. The public is welcome to come visit the park where a variety of vintage buildings teach about the past. There’s a barn and log kitchen, both…
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Springfield’s Commercial Street has always been about journeys. The railroad was what prompted the area’s growth in the late 1800s when the train rolled through the now historic district, back when it was part of a separate town from Springfield proper. In more recent years, as economic changes…
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