It is your turn to decide what building, home or area should be on the Most Notable Properties list of the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission. Nominations are being taken for selection for the list. Here’s a link to more information and the nomination form. Nominations are due by Oct. 1, 2010. The gala event announcing the winners will…
Tag: Columbia
Street Renaming Controversy Not New
Recently, there’s been a move afoot to rename Maryland Avenue at the University of Missouri to Tiger Avenue. Reports indicate some controversy about the proposal. Research on the historic significance of Maryland Avenue even reached back to an October 23, 1912 article in the University Missourian newspaper, with the help of the Western Historic Manuscript…
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…
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…
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…
Black History – Annie Fisher, 2911 Old Highway 63 South
Nearly hidden between apartment buildings is a piece of Black history — the home of Annie Fisher, an early African-American entrepreneur. Located at 2911 Old Highway 63 South, this home is threatened with demolition, but that would erase a piece of history few know about. The house was named to the Columbia Notable Properties list in…
Spanish Influence – Vessell Home – 2 East Stewart Road
It can be easy to forget history, but historic homes serve as wonderful reminders. That’s the theme of the article, “Historic Home: A Slice of Spain,” published in the April/May 2006 Columbia Home & Lifestyle magazine written by Jim Muench. The home at 2 E. Stewart Road looks like something that could be found in Spain…
Greenwood Heights – built by slaves
Historic homes can be our touchstones to history, some of which we like to recall and some we’d like to forget. Greenwood Manor or Greenwood Heights at 3005 Mexico Gravel Road was built by slaves owned by Walter Raleigh Lenoir of Lenoir, North Carolina. That city was named for Lenoir’s father, who fought in the…
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