"The USO had a substantial operation in Rolla during World War Two, serving thousands of soldiers on leave looking for recreation and an opportunity to get away from military life at Fort "Lost-in-the-Woods". The need for appropriate, and . . . — — Map (db m186162) HM
"The block of Eight Street from the railroad depot to Pine Street led to the business district. The strong of saloons on Eight Street between the railroad tracks and Pine Street was known as "Whiskey Row" during it rowdy days. The Baltimore Hotel is . . . — — Map (db m139738) HM
"The USO had a substantial operation in Rolla during World War Two, serving thousands of soldiers on leave looking for recreation and an opportunity to get away from military life at Fort "Lost-in-the-Woods". The need for appropriate, and . . . — — Map (db m139756) HM
This passenger car was built in 1883 by the Barney & Smith Car Company from Dayton, Ohio. The Barney & Smith Company built premier railroad passenger cars from 1848 to about 1894 and electric trolley cars for the next 20 years. The company had . . . — — Map (db m157186) HM
"The Campbell Building, on the southwestern corner of Seventh and Pine streets, was the centerpiece of Joseph Campbell's economic prominence at the turn of the century. The building housed the Rolla State Bank (Campbell was founder) and, until 1915, . . . — — Map (db m139742) HM
"After losing the Rolla Building, the public school occupied a former army commissary office at Ninth and Elm streets until it was destroyed in the Great Fire. Central School, shown here until construction and with a basketball game in progress, . . . — — Map (db m139752) HM
In 1953, communities began asking Frisco Railroad [sic - Railway] to make the old Frisco steam locomotives available as historic attractions for cities located along the old Frisco line. Dr. Clair V. Mann, secretary/historian of the Phelps County . . . — — Map (db m157163) HM
Fort Wyman and the Defense of the Railroad
Fort Wyman was the first of two artillery field fortifications built by the Union army at Rolla, signifying the importance of the railroad terminus to the northern was effort in Missouri.
The . . . — — Map (db m139747) HM
Steam locomotive 1501 was once part of a proud stable of thirty such engines on the Frisco Railway system. Built in 1923, the handsome modern machine was the pride of the fleet until dieselization of the system in the late 1940s. The 1501 was part . . . — — Map (db m157161) HM
"The quartermaster depot building at the northwest corner of Eighth and Pine streets was among many others in Rolla built by the Union army for its supply apparatus. Sold after the war as government surplus, the quartermaster building became the . . . — — Map (db m139737) HM
Site of hand-hewn log structure built in 1855 as contractors office for southwest branch of Pacific Railroad Later served as home of Edmund Ward Bishop Founder of Rolla During Civil War was used as officers quarters As the Eagle Hotel it was . . . — — Map (db m186159) HM
"Beyond the woman entering the National Bank is the southeastern corner of Eighth and Pine streets and the Central Drug Store, circa 1885. The Hotel Edwin Long replaced the drug store in 1931. Contractor M.E. Gillioz rushed the Hotel Edwin Long . . . — — Map (db m139741) HM
The ancients observed that when the full moon rose nearly diametrically opposite the sun at sunset, a lunar eclipse was very probable later in the evening. England's Stonehenge has a group of 56 post holes, known as Aubrey Holes, arranged in a . . . — — Map (db m157238) HM
"The Missouri Trachoma Hospital was one of two hospitals in the United States devoted for the treatment of this eye disease. The building was equipped with 70 beds and was completed in 1939 at a cost of $137,000. The grounds were donated by the . . . — — Map (db m139762) HM
"Cyrus H. Frost, David W. Malcolm, Joseph Campbell, Edmund Ward Bishop, A.S. Long, and others organized the National Bank of Rolla in 1871. The offices were in the Malcolm Building, on the north side of Eighth Street (now part of the parking lot . . . — — Map (db m139753) HM
The exact date of construction of the Main Street bridge is unknown. Based on old Rolla Express newspaper ads, it was in existence by 1862. Available records point to a less than reliable past. During its first fifty years, the bridge was . . . — — Map (db m139743) HM
"The Pennington-Gilbert Shoe Company factory opened east of the tracks in 1926 between Seventh and Eighth streets. The city provided the site after a vigorous campaign to bring the industry to Rolla that included sales of lots in the Frisco Addition . . . — — Map (db m139759) HM
Phelps County Courthouse
1860-1994
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior — — Map (db m139745) HM
Dedicated to all who served honorably
to preserve, protect, and defend our
nation principles of democracy
liberty and justice
~ Lest we forget ~ — — Map (db m139749) WM
"The automobile age in Rolla began about 1905." "The city began paving streets with brick in 1908, filling rutted paths and deep holes on Eighth and Pine streets...". "Local support for better roads coincided with national and regional promotions. . . . — — Map (db m139754) HM
"The highway helped sustain Rolla during hard times and war, but also brought increased traffic and stoplights, and, finally, new road construction. In just over a decade, traffic through town became heavy enough that the main stem of Route 66 was . . . — — Map (db m139757) HM
The Pandemic of 2020
In January of 2020, a coronavirus made it from China to the United States and by mid-March had spread across the entire world. Named COVID-19, it was considered so deadly that the government forced many businesses to . . . — — Map (db m157177) HM
Side A:
This Ozark plateau town, 1120 feet above sea level, was a "Child of the railroad." On a natural passageway to southwest Missouri, midway between St. Louis and Springfield, this site was chosen by the Southwestern Branch of the . . . — — Map (db m55637) HM
"Joseph Campbell established Rolla Mills across from the depot on the east side of the tracks between Seventh and Eighth streets in 1871. It was an important commercial enterprise for both townspeople and rural residents of the county, and was . . . — — Map (db m139758) HM
Dr. Joseph Senne, Dr. David Summers and Chancellor Joseph Marchello, set out in 1982 to develop a model of Stonehenge on the Missouri S&T campus. Senne, an avid astronomer, helped design and made the astronomical calculations for the replica. He . . . — — Map (db m157230) HM
"The Rollamo Theater opened on west Eighth Street in June 1931. Lantern slides had been shown in the Shaw Opera House and downtown "air-domes", and silent movies in the Lyric Theater on Pine Street, but the Rollamo Theater was the first modern movie . . . — — Map (db m139740) HM
"The Schuman Brothers erected a new building on the southwestern corner of Eighth and Pine streets in 1902. Briefly the home of the Central Drug Store, it was better known later as Scott's Drugs. For nearly seventy-five years, townspeople and . . . — — Map (db m139736) HM
Each day as its rays pass through the hole in the analemma plate below the lintel of the south trilithon, the sun casts a spot surrounded by a shadow on either the horizontal or vertical face of the two stones north of the trilithon.
During the . . . — — Map (db m157279) HM
Polaris, the North Star, is framed by the Polaris window. Polaris, a star of the second magnitude, stands alone and forms the tail of the constellation Ursa Minor. It marks the approximate position of the north celestial pole.
On clear nights, . . . — — Map (db m157241) HM
John Webber established the first homestead in what is now in the city of Rolla on this site in about 1845. The one and one-half story, single-room log cabin he constructed stood just north of this plaque. The concrete marker that covers Webber's . . . — — Map (db m139760) HM
Located on Salisbury Plain, 75 miles southwest of London, Stonehenge was built in three phases, beginning in 2800 B.C. by Neolithic people and culminating around 1800 B.C. during the Broze Age. Stonehenge evolved into primarily a 100-foot circle . . . — — Map (db m157228) HM
These lintels were cast in the Maramec Iron Works circa 1866. After completion, the lintels were transported by wagon to "Dunmoor" the home of William James, 1870-79, and used on the west side to support the structure above the windows. The building . . . — — Map (db m157878) HM
Powered by an undershot water wheel, 10 feet in diameter, the sandcasted Anchony-Chaffery Hammer was used to convert blooms into anchonies and finished wrought iron mercantile bars. The hammer weighing approximately 500 pounds, was raised about two . . . — — Map (db m157879) HM
The Bloomery Forge Trip Hammer was powered by an undershot water wheel twelve feet in diameter. Lifted by wipers attached to the water wheel shaft, the hammer beat slag and impurities from pig iron. After pounding the iron into blooms it was sent . . . — — Map (db m157919) HM
1866 - Built as a residence for the William James Family
1896 - Converted by the Women's Relief Corps and Opened as the Federal Soldiers Home
1897 - Operation of Home transferred to the State of Missouri — — Map (db m139767) HM
Rebuilt in 1856, the Maramec "Cold Blast" Furnace provided area settlers with all necessary farm, industrial, and household iron equipment. During the Civil War, Maramec Iron Works supplied the Union Army with cannonballs and iron plate to be used . . . — — Map (db m157920) HM
George Evans spent some three years at the Maramec Iron Works. On March 14, 1848, he and his brother started construction of the grist mill. George also built the boarding house and other residences throughout the area. [H]e married Emily Treece . . . — — Map (db m157943) HM
Samuel Hyer and his wife, the former Elizabeth Mitchell, lived on this site. They had eight children, three sons and five daughters. Samuel was a leading iron worker at Maramec. The Hyer's daughter, Martha, became one of the earliest teachers at . . . — — Map (db m157965) HM
This peaceful site became the final resting place for over two hundred fifty Maramec Village residents who shared the joys and fears of wilderness life.
Hardships constantly plagued the pioneers. Many lost their lives prematurely to the . . . — — Map (db m157929) HM
Here stood the historic Maramec Iron Works, completed in 1829. Fueled by charcoal from the surrounding forest, powered by the nearby Maramec Spring. By the middle of the century this former tribal land of the Shawnees was one of Phelps County's . . . — — Map (db m157926) HM
In 1937, the first commissioners of the Department of Conservation decided that trout anglers should "pay their own way" since trout are not native to Missouri and are expensive to produce. Money from the sale of daily tags and trout permits . . . — — Map (db m157971) HM
The Missouri Department of Conservation stocks rainbow trout and brown trout in suitable areas. Rainbow trout are native to mountain streams on the Pacific slope of North America, whereas brown trout are native to Europe. About 2 million . . . — — Map (db m157968) HM
You are now entering one of Missouri's first trans-link roads. It is typical of many frontier wagon roads in the early 1800's that linked one small community to another. Stringtown Road served two purposes. This stretch of road form[ed] the . . . — — Map (db m157939) HM
Stuttering Tom Lenox was a mule skinner. His job consisted of driving teams of mules and also caring for the animals. The mules were used for pulling wagons loaded with iron ore and charcoal to the works. His favorites were Belle and Nellie, . . . — — Map (db m157941) HM
The suspension railroad drop bucket was one of several vehicles used to deliver raw material to the iron furnace trunnel head. To produce pig iron, the cold blast furnace was charged 100 times a day with 640 pounds of iron ore, 18 bushels of . . . — — Map (db m157897) HM
[Captions on arrows out from the center of the wood:]
1860 City of St. James Established. Our Tree Sprouts.
1865 Civil War Ends!
1875 Maramec River forges [unreadable]
1880 [unreadable] is Born in St. James. . . . — — Map (db m139735) HM
The two-wheeled charcoal barrow, filled from stockpiles in the adjoining Bridge House was used to deliver charcoal to the Iron Furnace trunnel head. Each cart, being constructed of 1/16 inch thick cast iron plates, stood about four feet high and . . . — — Map (db m157832) HM
Dedicated to all who
served in Vietnam
★ ★ ★ 1956 - 1975 ★ ★ ★
All Gave Some ★ ★ ★ Some Gave All
[Reverse:]
In remembrance of
"The Moving Wall"
which was here . . . — — Map (db m139766) WM
Donated by Minnie Witzke
in honor
of her husband
Richard P. Witzke
Born - January 30, 1906
Deceased - August 2, 1981
A true village blacksmith . . . — — Map (db m157892) HM
The "dog trot" cabin consisted of two cabins joined together by a breezeway. Much of the wood for fuel was kept here during rainy weather. A home of this type could provide living quarters for two families.
This was the home of Davis Westlake and . . . — — Map (db m157963) HM
