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founder:
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Impson
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date created:
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03/06/2008
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no. of members:
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7
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description/mission statement:
(Note: This is a virtual geocache tour, and no caches have been placed. This is a guide to these beautiful historic homes, a treasure in their own right.)
In the late 1800s, Springfield was a growing city within the heart of the Ozark hills. Settlers were moving to this area after hearing of the rapidly growing hub of Springfield. Land owners began to subdivide plots and allow the growth of the Springfield community, which in 1860 was the largest city within a hundred mile radius.
The area of East Walnut Street grew as the city grew and became the part of Springfield where prominent members of the community settled and raised their families. The majority of the homes on Walnut Street between present-day Hammons Parkway and National Avenue were built between approximately 1890 and 1920, during the time of rapid growth within the city of Springfield. The area was populated with wealthy families who were influential in the development of Springfield. Business owners, lawyers, bankers, and manufacturers gathered together in the neighborhood which is now known as the Walnut Street Historic District.
Most of the homes on East Walnut Street are representative of two major styles of homes and consequently, two separate periods of growth. The Queen Anne style homes, built between approximately 1890 and 1900, exhibit distinct features such as multiple levels, large decorative porches, irregular plan shapes, and ornate towers or turrets. The catalogue-foursquare-builder style homes were built between 1900 and 1920. Those homes, based on a rectangular or square design, exhibit a simpler style of ornamentation and tend to be less grand and spacious than the Queen Anne style homes. Other house styles on East Walnut Street include English Cottage or Tudor Revival types and some styles simply referred to as the bungalow. These styles are representative of the period between approximately 1910 and 1940.
The Springfield square, just four blocks from East Walnut Street, was the center of all activities in Springfield. Banks, law offices, grocers, and other businesses were located in this centralized area. Manufacturing works were located on the outskirts, as were farms and residential areas such as East Walnut Street. The Springfield Wagon Works was located on the southeast corner of Sherman and Chestnut, just a few blocks from East Walnut Street. And just north of Walnut on Hampton was a small black service community which supplied servants for the wealthy families on Walnut and St. Louis streets.
Walnut Street itself was a neighborhood of wealthy business owners and manufacturers. The homes represent the high economic standing and influence that these people had on the city of Springfield. Many of East Walnut Streets residents made an impact of the city that can still be felt today, whether it be through their beautiful historic homes, businesses or organizations that remain in existence today, or memorials to their achievements.
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open enrollment: ON
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Category Status: The Walnut Street Historical District category has been created (without variables).
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