In case you missed the July 13, 2010 article in the Columbia Tribune, an online map is in the works which will allow anyone to go online and learn all about Columbia’s 121 Notable Properties and 33 properties and areas on the National Register of Historic Places. Deb Sheals, a historic preservation consultant, was chosen…
Author: diannaobrien
History blogger. Writer. Traveler. Curiosity drives me. I share what I learn at CoMoHistoricPlaces.com. My newest book, Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia, came out in October 2021. My 2017 book, From Melon Fields to Moon Rocks highlighted the life of Columbia resident Charles W. Gehrke, 1917-2009, a scientist and entrepreneur who founded ABC Labs, now Eurofins.
See Historic Home Online – Guitar Mansion/Confederate Hill
I love technology, especially when it helps us see beyond our usual small corner of the world. Technology can even help us appreciate historic sites, such as this antebellum home at 2815 Oakland Gravel Road in Columbia, Missouri. Here’s a link to a video tour the David Guitar Home at 2815 Oakland Gravel Road, built between 1859…
$15 million – Columbia’s Lucky Number
When Missouri’s legislature adjourned this spring it left intact the state’s Historic Tax Credit Program. Of course, the fight may not be over, the Missouri Preservation notes on its website. Missouri Preservation notes the tax credit program can be thanked for roughly 43,000 jobs, $670,000 million in taxes and $2.9 billion in private investment, according…
Money magazine’s Top 10
Do you ever wonder if those ratings, such as those in Money magazine, make any sense? I used to, but I’ve since decided the answer is, “Naw.” I could give you a lot of reasons for that, but here is one. This year’s Number 10 city, Rogers, Arkansas, gets kudos for 23 buildings on the…
College buildings, museums, bed and breakfasts
Look around your home. Could you imagine it as a museum, a bed and breakfast — or a college building? Probably neither could Oliver Parker, but that’s exactly what happened to his house. Today, it’s part of Stephens College’s Senior Hall. Here is a mini-tour of the historic homes in Columbia that are no longer…
Historic Walks and Government Documents
True confession: I love government documents, especially the National Register of Historic Places government documents. You can learn to love them too, because each National Register of Historic Places document contains a trove of information, including maps and photographs. The documents can even be used for fun — really! A while back a friend of…
Economic Impact of Historic Preservation
The reality of life is that money is finite. There’s not always enough money to do what we’d like to do. However, a 2001 study conducted by Rutgers indicates historic renovation is economically beneficial. The report on the study notes in 2000, an estimated $310 million was spent on historic properties. This yielded “8,060 jobs;…
Houses of Missouri
A beautiful book, Houses of Missouri, 1870-1940, was published in 2008. While I love this book — it is, after all, about historic homes — I wish it had included even a single home in Columbia, Missouri. Of course, a writer always has to leave something out; there really never is enough room for everything,…
IBM-like support in 1906 – Hamilton-Brown Shoe Factory, 1123 Wilkes Blvd.
Last week, a May 18, 2010, article in the Columbia Missourian outlined a list of what it called unprecedented incentives provided to IBM to get it to open a service center in Columbia. Those incentives, outlined by newspaper articles, include $28 million in tax credit incentives from the state as well as a city agreement to buy the building for…
Missouri Theatre – Tough Luck, Mary Todd Lincoln’s cousin
In 2008, the Missouri Theatre, now called the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, under went a $10 million renovation, again becoming the jewel of downtown Columbia. But with every gain, sometimes comes a loss — as in the case of the 1928 construction of the Missouri Theatre. Named in 1979 to the National Register of…
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