I read several reviews that included comments about rude staff members. However, our experience was…read morethe opposite. We arrived very early for our scheduled tour, so decided to tour the outside of the building and take some photographs. A very cordial staff member came outside and invited us into the lobby to await our tour time. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative. However, there were parts of the tour where background noise made it difficult to hear her. I would recommend anyone with any hearing impairment stay close to the guide to ensure you can hear the narration. Overall, we really enjoyed the tour and would love to revisit for one of the "ghost tours" on offer.

If I could give zero stars, I absolutely would! The staff here are extremely rude and…read moreunprofessional. We had just pulled barely inside the gate when a woman stopped us with her car. Her very first words were, "Why are you here?" -- no greeting, no courtesy, just instant hostility. We were only there to take a quick photo of the outside and look at the grounds, as we were considering renting the venue for a wedding. We're from out of town and were in the area just for the weekend, but she immediately accused us of trespassing instead of simply asking what we needed. To make things worse, she blocked the driveway so we couldn't turn around properly, forcing us to back through the grass rather than letting us move forward a couple of feet to the wider part of the drive. I'm also quite sure her behavior was influenced by my alternative haircut and color, which made the experience feel even more judgmental and discriminatory. We will never come back here or recommend this place to anyone.

Y bridge - one of 3 in the world! Beautiful view of the James River and a unique spot!read more

Everyone is from somewhere and the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble spent some of his boyhood here in…read moreMarshfield and is related to some residents of the area. From the plaque, "This scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope now orbiting earth is dedicated to Edwin Hubble, a native of Marshfield. Born November 20 1889, Died September 28, 1953." "Edwin Hubble was the 20th century's outstanding astronomer. In observations made in the 1920s and 1930s he discovered the expansion of the universe. Hubble opened the world of galaxies for science when he showed that spiral nebular beyond the Milky Way are galaxies extending to the limit of the universe and participating in a general expansion of the cosmos. The exploding universe of Hubble, now termed the Big Bang, determined the origin of the elements, of galaxies and of the stars." "His exploits in the world of science let to the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 which is probing to the very edge of space." [Review 632 of 2024 - 326 in Missouri - 21663 overall]

At first I was reluctant but after meeting the amazing staff I couldn't help it! I love this trend!!read more

i love this theatre company. they put on very good theatre every summer. not just good theatre,…read moregreat theatre. 5/5 stars on yelp, that is big.

The world's largest fork in Springfield, Missouri is the kind of roadside oddity that makes you…read morestop, stare, and wonder who got really hungry during a city planning meeting. At 35 feet tall and 11 tons of stainless steel, it's less a utensil and more a chrome exclamation point stabbed into the sidewalk.

Fantastic. Accessible. Impressive - visit more than once…read more - - - - - - - - August, 2024 Visit We discovered the World's Largest Fork, on the south side of town, in 2020... and it is large! The fork is some 35 feet tall... it is located on Chesterfield Avenue... Location... the south side of Springfield, MO... the James River Freeway circles Springfield... at the southern point / intersection is with the S. Kansas Expressway... go one road north... turn left onto Chesterfield Blvd... the fork is less than a quarter mile away, on the right side... the road gently turns left... as it begins to turn back to the right, you'll need to turn right there... and then you'll see it. According to Atlas Obscura, and Roadside America, this is no longer the tallest but it is second tallest and the fork with the largest mass "At 35 feet high, the fork rise in front of a three-story building occupied by Noble and Associates, a Springfield ad agency. Although no longer the world's tallest -- it was bested by a 37-foot-high fork in Oregon in 2022 -- it remains, at 11,000 pounds, the world's heaviest." Roadside America shares: "Our own local associates tell us that in 1998 the fork stood in front of a restaurant that failed on South Glenstone, in otherwise booming Springfield. The ad agency hauled the fork across town to its new office building, where it's been ever since. Noble does a lot of work for the food service and retail industry, so in that respect the fork makes sense." Thank you to any and all, at the now closed original restaurant, at the Noble and Associates ad agency, and any/all who helped relocate this treasure! We've now visited twice and we'll visit again! ----- -----

Historic C-Street is pretty nice. It's lined with all the trappings of urban life, nice…read morerestaurants, coffee shops, and even a pedestrian bridge that's closed rn because of covid. It's worth a stroll to take in some of the city's atmosphere. Did you know that this year is C-Street's 150th anniversary.

I have such a soft spot in my heart for Commercial Street, but it's not a guilty pleasure kind of…read morething because this historic street holds its own. Since moving to Springfield five years ago for college, I've seen it grow from a relatively unsafe (and generally un-fun) place to hang out to one of Queen City's most successfully revamped neighborhoods. What I personally love about Commercial Street is the almost magical sense of history that exists down there. From a renovated firehouse, to a long line of brick buildings in various states of repair, to the ol' footbridge (I wouldn't recommend setting foot on the other side of the latter, just FYI), everything on this block had a serious sense of purpose at one point in time. A local historian could go on about it much more than I could, but I do know that it used to be where Springfield's original train station was back when everything was all sepia-toned. The best reasons to visit what myself and friends call C-Street today are for the restaurants, cafés and miscellaneous eateries old and new; they sit next door to each other despite some being incredibly diverse and others being classically American. Also, the scattering of small barbers, antique shops and modern marketing firms is neat to see as well. While the blocks immediately surrounding C-Street are still a little less than safe after dark, the street itself is now a place I enjoy being at any hour of the day or evening. Despite what you may hear from locals who still think C-Street is the C-Street of 2010, 2014 C-Street is a great place to be and it's getting better by the month. I dig it. You should too.

This is named for a long decreased resident, Hermann Kohlsaat donated several items (statues and…read moreother artworks, for example) in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who for a time lived in Galena both before and after the Civil War. Although the bridge was constructed in 1980, The Galena Foundation dedicated it in 2015 and the great grandson of its namesake was here for the dedication. This pedestrian bridge links the Main Street area in Galena with Grant Park on the other side of the Galena River. In June, it's decorated with pride flags, and the steps up to the bridge decorated in the colors of the rainbow. Those flags blowing in the wind is what piqued my interest in the bridge. I have to admit, it's not what I would have expected from a small town in western Illinois, and I'm glad my stereotype about how the town might view LGBTQ folks may have been wrong. It provides lovely views of the river and folks recreating on it--kayaking and canoeing are popular activities here. There are some benches on the sides of the bridge near the steps. If you're out for a leisurely stroll, it's nice, or if you're parked near the Grant Museum and want to leave your car there (if allowed) and walk over to Main Street this will allow you to do so (and vice versa). It may go without saying but I will anyway: The east side (I believe) of the bridge, near Main Street, is not accessible. I'm not sure about the Grant Park side; it's possible you can get on from there without steps.

this rendition of the Population Center of the United States is accurate per the 2010 census and…read moreseems to be in a good spot; right near the middle of town, near the post office, and next to a gazebo. not sure if anyone had a postcard franchise for this but someone should've. my knowledge of this moving center dates to near the turn of the century when I noticed a roadside marker near Edgar Springs with a similar boast, in the ensuing years the population had shifted a little bit down and to the left (go figure.) and is expected to continue the trend with the release of the 2020 and later census data.