RURAL HERITAGE DRIVING TRAILS
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI
Trail No. 1, Central
(Click on Map to enlarge)
1. Greene County Court House 2. Social Security Building 3. Judge Benjamin Diemer's House 4. Spring Lawn Farm 5. Lost Hill Farm 6. Union Campground and Cemetery
Registered sites not included on the trails but easily found in and around Springfield include:
The Greene County Historic Court House is located at the northeast corner of Boonville Avenue and Central Street in Springfield . This is the fifth building to serve as the center of government since the organization of the county in 1833. It was built in 1912. The exterior is covered with Phenix Quarry stone, quarried and cut in, Boone Township, northwest Greene County. It was the first building designated as a Greene County Historic Site.
Greene County's Historic Court House
(Click here to see the History of Greene County's Historic Court House)
The Social Security Building (circa 1938) is located at 933 North Robberson Avenue (just east of the Court House). Now known as the Greene County Administration Building, it was built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and provided office space for the Social Security program from 1939 until 1956. The Historic Court House and Social Security Building are county-owned buildings.
Social Security Building
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Judge Benjamin J. Diemer’s House (circa 1920) is located at 3528 North National Avenue. Judge Diemer is recognized as the individual responsible for the location and construction of the Historic Greene County Court House at Boonville Avenue and Central Street, and he was founder of Greenlawn Cemetery.
Judge Benjamin J. Diemer’s House
Continue north on National Avenue, around Greenlawn Cemetery and you will come to Spring Lawn Farm, located northwest of Farm Roads 100 and 165 (Old Buffalo Road), initially settled before the Civil War by a Frenchman who built a cabin by the creek, next owned by Colley B. Holland, a local Civil War hero and noted Springfield entrepreneur, and then in 1904 by Frank E. Headley, Sr., another prominent Springfield merchant. Spring Lawn Farm was among the largest, most productive and elaborately maintained rural estates in Greene County and was frequently open to the public for use as a park. This Missouri Century Farm is now a subdivision development.
Spring Lawn Farm
Go west on FR 100 and turn right (north) on FR 159. Follow FR 159 to FR 84. Continue west on FR 84 to FR 151. Turn left (south) on FR 151 to Lost Hill Farm (Park) at 4705 North Farm Road 151 (North Grant Avenue). This farm was established in 1843 and has significant geological features including caves, springs and natural arches and has a history of human habitation dating back to 6090 B.C. On the farm, there is a family cemetery with an undetermined number of unmarked graves. Lost Hill Farm is now part of the Springfield-Greene County Park System. There is an Ozark Greenways trail by the river on this farm.
Lost Hill Farm (Park)
Union Campground and Cemetery, dating back to 1840, is on the east side of north Highway 65 just north of the overpass for Valley Water Mill Road. The highway easement is cleared to make a commercial sign for Fantastic Caverns visible. The sign is inside the cemetery grounds. The cemetery itself is land-locked and can only be reached by going from Springfield north on Highway 65 and exiting to the right on Valley Water Mill Road (Farm Road 102). Driving up the exit ramp, you will come to a stop sign. At the stop sign, look across Valley Water Road to your left. You'll see a trail that leads to the cemetery. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was built by 1861 on this land which later burned. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Greene County and has some 200 people buried in marked and unmarked graves and is racially integrated.
Continue on to Trail No. 2, Southwest...