Columbia in Boone County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Historic Sanborn Field

Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024

1. Historic Sanborn Field Marker

Inscription. Established in 1888 as the Rotation Field by Dean J.W. Sanborn. Sanborn Field was designated a National Landmark in 1965 along with Duley-Miller Erosion Plots, also located on this campus. Sanborn Field is the third-oldest continuous long-term research site in the world and has helped researchers discover how agriculture and the environment interact. In 1945, researchers took soil samples from Sanborn Field where the bacterium streptomyces aureofaciens, the source of aureomycin, a first generation antibiotic, was isolated. Other pioneering studies showed that manure is not a balanced, complete source of nutrients and that the value of complete and balanced soil management includes manure, ag lime, and commercial fertilizer to prevent soil deterioration and maintain soil productivity. Sanborn Field has become known as the "grandfather" of soil health, the interaction of soil physical, soil chemical, and soil biological indicators, which when balanced, can optimize soil, crop, and environmental properties. Long-term objectives of Sanborn Field are rooted in the crop rotations and monocultures under continuous management since

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

its establishment. Soil and plant samples taken continuously at Sanborn Field aid the study of long-term environmental and crop nutritional changes. As a living demonstration of interactions in the soil-plant-environment continuum, Sanborn Field serves as an on-campus laboratory for teaching.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Education • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1888.

Location. 38° 56.536′ N, 92° 19.31′ W. Marker is in Columbia, Missouri, in Boone County. It is at the intersection of Rollins Street and South College Avenue (Missouri Route 763), on the left when traveling east on Rollins Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1301 Rollins St, Columbia MO 65201, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Little Dixie

and in the Missouri River Corridor.

It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Lewis & Clark Corridor,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what

Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024

2. Historic Sanborn Field Marker

was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sanborn Field and Soil Erosion Plot (here, next to this marker); Aureomycin Originated Here (here, next to this marker); Memorial Union Tower (approx. ¼ mile away); Kuhlman Court (approx. ¼ mile away); The F.L. Duley - M.E. Miller Erosion Plots (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Mel Carnahan Quadrangle (approx. 0.4 miles away); Beetle Bailey (approx. 0.4 miles away); Site of Columbia College (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Columbia.

Also see . . . Sanborn Field on Wikipedia. (Submitted on June 29, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.)

Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024

3. Historic Sanborn Field Marker

Marker is in the middle (looking east on Rollins)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 29, 2024. It was originally submitted on June 29, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois. This page has been viewed 284 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 29, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.