Greene County Archives and Records Center

Did you know we have Dram Shop Licenses and Pool Hall Licenses from 1876 to 1918 available for public viewing? These historic records offer a fascinating look into everyday life and local businesses from more than a century ago.

What you can find in these licenses:

• Names of business owners
• Business locations
• Dates the licenses were issued
• Fees paid
• Types of establishments operating in the community
• Clues about early saloons, taverns, and pool halls that once dotted the area

Family historians can trace ancestors who owned or operated early businesses. Local history researchers can map the growth of commercial districts. Genealogists can confirm residences, occupations, and timelines – really anyone can get a snapshot of what community life looked like between 1876 and 1918!

If you're interested in local history—or just enjoy uncovering a bit of the past—these records are a great place to explore!

🌞 Summer is here — and so is the Summer Edition of The County Chronicles!

This issue takes a special journey back in time to honor the Revolutionary War soldiers who later made Greene County their home. From their bravery on the battlefield to the legacies they built right here in our own communities, their stories shaped the foundation of the county we know today.

If you love local history, murder, or uncovering the lives of the people who came before us, you won’t want to miss this edition! Happy reading, and enjoy this slice of summer history!

Don’t miss the flyer for the 250th Celebration Reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8th!

https://greenecountymo.gov/files/PDF/file.pdf?id=46421

Honoring one of the greatest rodeo photographers in American history — Ralph R. Doubleday.

This postcard shows one of his incredible rodeo photos taken right here in Springfield, Missouri. Doubleday spent over 40 years traveling the country capturing the grit, motion, and spirit of early rodeo, and his images helped shape how the world saw the sport.

His work preserved powerful moments — broncs mid‑air, cowboys mid‑ride, crowds cheering — freezing time in a way no one had before. In August 1910, he captured one of the earliest action shots at the Cheyenne Frontier Days—depicting Gus Nylen thrown by the horse “Teddy Roosevelt”—marking one of the first-ever mid-air rodeo photographs!

Fun Facts:
• 4,003 negatives and 424 postcards preserved in the Ralph R. Doubleday Rodeo Photographs Collection at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
• ~30 million postcards sold, from drugstores to Woolworth’s, making him the “Rodeo Postcard King”
• Inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1988, earning the title “World’s Champion Rodeo Photographer”

Photo Courtesy of the Crabtree Collection

🔥 On June 9, 1913, “The Big One” struck Springfield’s Public Square 🔥

On this day 113 years ago, a devastating fire ignited in a basement and quickly engulfed the entire northeast corner of Springfield’s downtown square, earning the tragic nickname “The Great Fire.” The fire started at the Heer Dry Goods Company and destroyed 11 businesses with total damage estimated at over $1 million, an astronomical loss by 1913 standards.

Miraculously, no fatalities were ever officially confirmed, despite the immense destruction. Three new fire engines and a chemical truck with two 55-gallon drums of soda/acid mix (used to propel the water higher) were purchased one month earlier by the Springfield, MO Fire Department.The fire loss was the first fire in Springfield’s history to exceed a million dollars in damages.

Pictured below is a photo of the aftermath, taken just 3 hours after the fire started. Courtesy of the Springfield-Greene County Library

We stumbled across this delightful old photo and couldn’t resist sharing it!

Here you see Freda and Paula Wingo posing proudly with a very patient Billy Goat Gruff and a little wooden wagon. And as if that wasn’t charming enough… one of them is holding a puppy!

Around the turn of the 20th century, itinerant photographers traveled from town to town creating sweet, whimsical keepsakes just like this one.

Courtesy of the Piland Collection