County of marker: Jasper County
Location of marker: Kellogg Lake Park, Carthage
Marker erected by: State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission
Marker erected: 1955
Marker Text:
Carthage
the beautiful city of Carthage was laid out, 1842, as the seat of Jasper County, organized, 1841, and named for Sgt. William Jasper, Revolutionary hero. Centered in a county of great mineral wealth and good farm land, Carthage grew into a marketing, manufacturing, and shipping city.
Westward are the famous tri-state lead and zinc fields; northward, livestock and dairy farms; and here, the Carthage Marble quarries. A limestone of magnificent color and hardness, Carthage Marble was firs quarried in 1880. Among buildings of this stone is the Missouri State Capitol.
In 1861 Carthage was the scene of the second major engagement of the Civil War in Missouri. It was burned to the ground by Southern guerrillas, 1864. In the Battle of Carthage, July 5, 1861, some 4,000 armed and 2,000 unarmed State Guardsmen led by deposed Gov. Claiborne F. Jackson forced Union Col. Franz Sigel's 1,100 troops to fall back and cleared the way for joining with other State Guards and with Confederate troops, thereby gaining time to equip and train the pro-Southern troops of Missouri.
Carthage, on the banks of Spring River, lies in a region where western prairie and Qzark Highland meet. This area was part of the territory held by the Osage Indians until their 1825 land cession to the U.S.
After Carthage was burned, Sept. 22, 1864, Cave Spring was temporary county seat until 1866. During its reconstruction period, Carthage was aided by the coming of the Memphis, Carthage, and Northwestern R.R. (Frisco), 1872, and Lexington and Southern (Mo. Pac.), 1880. Among schools here were Carthage Female Academy, 1855; Carthage (Presbyterian) Collegiate Institute, 1886; and Qzark (Methodist) Wesleyan College, 1924. Today's Catholic College of Our Lady of the Qzarks opened, 1944.1
Among points of interest are Battle of Carthage markers; scenic Carter, Municipal, and Center parks; Carthage Public Library with its art collection from Carthage of Africa; and to the south, Carver National Monument. Born here were Anne Baxter White, said to be the first woman elected to public office in Mo., when made county clerk, 1890; and Belle Starr, post-Civil War outlaw.