The U.S. state of Missouri is located in the heartland of the United States of America. It is a state that has so much to offer. You have the city of Saint Louis, nicknamed the ‘Gateway of the West’. It is famous for the Gateway Arch, a huge arch that rises over the city that is located on the Mississippi River just south of where the Missouri River flows into it. The Saint Louis Cardinals, the city’s professional baseball team, is the second most championed team in Major League Baseball. (The New York Yankees are number one.) On the opposite side of the state is Kansas City that is mostly in Missouri with sections in the U.S. state of Kansas. The city is known for being a city of fountains having more fountains that any other city in the nation, and it has been known for its barbeque, but it has been most famous for the Kansas City Chiefs, an American football team that is part of the National Football League. The state has its small towns. The most famous small town in the state is Hannibal. What is famous about Hannibal? No, it is not named after the famous criminal Hannibal Lector. It is where the famous author Samuel Clemens, famously known as Mark Twain, grew up, and his famous stories, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was based. You have Branson, a city kind of known as the Las Vegas of theme parks. (In case you are wondering, Las Vegas, Nevada is famous for its numerous casinos.) Then you have the town of Mansfield.
What is special about the small town of Mansfield, Missouri? As you visit the town of Mansfield, Missouri, it may appear to be an average American town. It was the home of baseball pitcher Carl Mays, and it was also the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author who gave us Little House on the Prairie which was made into a television series, and her home is open for tours and she is also buried in a cemetery in town. As you go to the center of the town, it may not appear to be much, but the town was much different in its heyday.
Welcome to the Mansfield Historical Society and Museum. As you approach the museum, which is also the tourist information center, you will see that it looks like a train station. Well, it is a replica train station built on the site of the original train station which was demolished. There is also an old passenger car on the site.
Today, only the main railroad line passes through the town, but the town was once the site of a railroad yard. The Ava Southern Railroad, a short line railroad, went south to the town of Ava.
You go inside the museum. Of course, the museum is about the history of Mansfield Missouri, and the different displays are about the life in the town to include the lives of Carl Mays and Laura Ingalls Wilder. During here time in Mansfield, Laura Ingalls Wilder made much use of the railroad and the train station as she use the railroad to brings many of her goods to the town. As you look through the exhibits, you will see a photo of Laura Ingalls Wilder attending an event with the driving of the last spike of the Kansas City Ozark and Southern Railroad which later was known as the Ava Southern Railroad.
Mansfield Historical Society and Museum is located at 101 W. North Street in Mansfield, Missouri, one block south of U.S. Business Route 60. It is open from 10:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Saturday. (It is closed on Sunday and from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.) Parking is on site. Admission is free, but they do take donations. The museum is on one floor in two different rooms that are wheelchair accessible. You can get more information about the museum and read more into the historical society at https://mansfieldhistoricalmuseum.com/.
The state of Missouri is nicknamed the ‘Show Me State’. Allow them to show you the small town of Mansfield.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 