The historic quonset hut at 300 North 10th Street and Park Avenue is a prime example of how historic buildings have been reused in Columbia. A quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated building made of corrugated metal with a semi-circular cross section, with the name coming from the first site of manufacture at Quonset Point at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island. The architecture style is “utilitarian.”

he Conley house, located at 602 Sanford Place, is a true gem in the center of the University of Missouri Columbia campus. It was completed in 1869 by Sanford Francis Conley and has weathered 154 years of Columbia history including the civil war and the burning of Academic Hall (only six historic ionic-style columns remain from Academic Hall that was originally on the Francis quadrangle). The Conley house is a national historic landmark that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is one of the oldest surviving homes in Columbia and is significant as a rare local example of Italianate style. As was common in that era, all of the bricks for the home were made on site. Mrs. Conley was a gardener of both vegetables and flowers, and flower cutting gardens graced the grounds surrounding the home. The University of Missouri purchased the home in 1980.

Join us as we sit down with Cindy Mustard, a 6th generation Boone Countian who loves to share her knowledge and memories of Columbia's past.

Model Bakery resided at 21 N. Ninth St in downtown Columbia, MO from 1926 through the mid-1950s. The building is part of the North Ninth Street Historic District.

Ellis Fischel opened in 1940 as only the second state cancer hospital in the nation, and it was the first one of its kind west of the Mississippi river. It was state funded with the purpose of providing cancer treatments for everyone in the state, including Missouri’s poorest citizens.  During its first year in operation more than 1,000 patients received treatments, and if you were able to prove that you could not pay for your medical treatments, there were no charges for your care.

On February 16, 1982, the Columbia Missourian reported that “another city retailer has begun selling canned beer.” Barnett’s Market at 3101 South Providence Road began selling the canned Busch beer two weeks after its nearby competition McCowan’s Southside Market offered the product. The beer cans were hand stamped at Barnett’s using a rubber stamp attached to the bottom of another beer can with a wooden dowel as a handle.

On February 14, 2023, the Candy Factory continued its long tradition of selling chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day. The company was founded in 1974 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024. The northeast corner of 7th and Cherry, the location that the Candy Factory now occupies, was once home to the Coombe Brothers Wagon Shop and Motors. The current building was likely constructed for the Columbia Daily Tribune, which occupied it from 1946-1973. In 1975, the building became the original location of Deja Vu, a bar and music venue that soon morphed into a legendary comedy club.

On February 10, 1966, the Columbia Missourian reported on overcrowding at Eugene Field Elementary School, saying, “they serve lunch in the gym, give speech lessons in the sick bay, and violin lessons in the hall.” The school was attended by 427 students, who used just 14 classrooms. Field Elementary was erected in 1916 as part of a large expansion project for Columbia Public Schools, it was the 4th elementary school in Columbia.

On February 9, 1975 the Columbia Missourian reported on efforts to “recycle” “rundown buildings” in Columbia. The Hays Hardware Building at at 812 East Broadway was given as a prominent example. The building was constructed for the Hays Hardware company around 1870, which occupied it for 99 years, until they went out of business in 1969. The building sat vacant until 1973 when Jackie Slater of Missouri Arts and Craft Company leased it. The Missourian describes the renovation:

On February 8, 1970, the Columbia Missourian reported that a local observance of national “Negro History Week” would be held at the J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center. Negro History Week was started in 1926 and scheduled in February to mark the birthday’s of Frederick Douglass (February 14) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12). The weeklong celebration of black history grew into what is now celebrated as Black History Month

On February 7, 1973, the Columbia Missourian reported that the old Hinkson Creek Bridge was closed to motor vehicles and would likely be preserved as a historic site and pedestrian crossing. It is at the site of the original crossing of Ashland Gravel Road over Hinkson Creek and was built in 1888 by H.W. Sebestian & Co to replace an earlier wooden bridge. Ashland Gravel Road was the main route to the town of Ashland and beyond to Jefferson City.