“While written for a popular audience, this book is perhaps the most detailed study published to date on the subject of downtown Springfield (MO).” —Congressman Roy Blunt, Missouri 7th District “Written with verve and precision, energy and exactitude, style and wit, this contribution to our cultural heritage will inform and delight us all, whether we take the entire exhilarating journey from first chapter to last or merely dip in now and then for a few refreshing moments.” —Mark Trevor Smith, author of “All Nature Is But Art”: The Coincidence of Opposites in English Romantic Literature