816.510.4823
Email: contact@Missouri2021.org
State Historical Society of Missouri
605 Elm Street, Columbia, MO 65201
Boone County's most beloved tree took root some 400 years ago in rich fertile socil of the Missouri River bottomland. The Big Burr Oak or "Big Tree," as it is often called, grew to become a healthy, champion tree and the current title holder of Missouri's biggest Burr Oak. Submitted by Beth Pike.
Education, Patriotism, and Historical Preservation. These are three attributes that make a great city. The City of Columbia and the Columbian Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution share a history promoting these same three ideals. The following historiography provides a unique glimpse of the Columbian Chapter’s local traditions in the city of Columbia. From the chapter’s inception to Missouri’s Bicentennial, this snapshot of our organization’s community legacy offers a rich resource for the people of Missouri. Submitted by Kelly Rees.
The mission of the Maplewood Barn Community Theatre is to provide high quality, live community theatre to mid-Missouri audiences in an informal, family friendly, outdoor setting in historic Nifong Park in Columbia, Missouri. The purpose and mission have remained unchanged since the theatre’s founding as a City-sponsored initiative in 1973. Submitted by Mary "Morgan" Dennehy.
Memorial to Captain Raymond Littge of the U.S. Air Force. Died for his country in 1949. A member of the 352nd Fighter Group. Credited with destroying 23 & 1/2 enemy aircraft. Missouri’s top ranking fighter pilot Ace of WWII. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor), the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal with 15 Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Unit Citation and French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Submitted by Brenda Christensen & Connie Hawley.
Although we are part of a National and State Society, we have a local organization with over fifty ladies mostly from Christian County. Membership is a lineage-based service organization for women who are descended from a person involved in the U.S. efforts toward independence. On April 25, 2009, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution appointed Mrs. Marilyn Treptow Dexter as the Organizing Regent for a chapter to be formed in Nixa, Missouri. On October 3, 2009, the Isaac Garrison Chapter was organized with twenty charter supporters. Submitted by Marianne "Dee" Dosch.
First organized in 1830 as a primitive Baptist church, Mt Gilead Church and School located west of Kearney, Missouri, endured decades of change on the Missouri frontier. Services were held in the homes of its members until 1835 when the first rustic log school was built on land donated by Benjamin Riley. It became the Mt. Gilead Christian Church in 1841 with the first building constructed in 1844. Submitted by Elizabeth Gilliam Beckett.
In 1821 Missouri finally was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. One of the main men involved in this process was David Barton who chaired the Constitutional Convention and who wrote the Constitution which was submitted to Congress for the admission of Missouri. Barton County in southwestern Missouri is named for him. He then became the first Senator and represented the new state in the U.S. Congress. When he died, he was buried in Boonville, Missouri. The restoration of his tombstone, lot, and adjacent horse watering tough is an appropriate Missouri Bicentennial Project and was undertaken by the Walnut Grove Cemetery Board and the Hannah Cole Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Submitted by Hannah Cole Chapter, NSDAR.
“All Roads Lead to Stanberry” has been the Fourth of July motto for this small northwest Missouri town for most of its history. Founded as a railroad town in 1979, Stanberry has been hosting Independence Day celebrations almost since its beginning. The July 5, 1899, edition of The Stanberry Headlight described the joy of a victorious baseball game and the disappointment of a cancelled hot-air balloon ascension. As the years passed, all the requirements for a classic home-town holiday were crammed into the multiple-day event: parade, barbecues, music, games, a lemonade stand, concerts, and fireworks. Beauty pageants and baby contests. Carnival rides, ring toss games, and talent shows. You can almost hear "Seventy-six Trombones" playing in the background. Submitted by Judy Jennings.
The Britton House, as it is called today, was built about 1832 by Joseph Cottle on lot number 189 in Troy, Missouri and is one of the longest standing residences in Troy. The house is next to the Great Elm Spring that was near the Sac and Fox village before the town of Troy was platted by Joseph Cottle on 1819. The spring in front of the Britton House was accidentally and permanently disrupted by a dynamite blast in 1929. The spring was used by many farmers who came into the town of Troy just for the water, so the spring was certainly missed by many people. Submitted by Zenda Folta.
The Central West End (CWE) is considered St. Louis’s original gayborhood. From the 1960s into the 1990s, the area featured many LGBTQIA+ businesses and bars. Many lesbians and gays assisted with the neighborhood’s restoration efforts - returning many of the stately old homes to their original splendor. Through the 1990s, the CWE, and the adjacent Forest Park, was the location of the region’s annual Pride events. Submitted by Steven Louis Brawley.
In January 2020, Trinity Episcopal Church, 600 North Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108, became the first site in Missouri to be named to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance in LGBTQIA+ history. It is the first and only such site in Missouri and the only Episcopal parish in the country so honored. Trinity is recognized in particular for the years 1969 to 1993, which include its early support of gay rights, its embrace of LGBT parishioners and community members, and its compassionate response to the first AIDS patients in the 1980s. The recognition of Trinity is part of an effort by the U.S. Department of the Interior to document a more complete story of the gay rights movement, a project announced in May 2014 by Secretary Sally Jewell. Submitted by Steven Louis Brawley.