Why Isn’t the Courthouse on Springfield’s Square?

Stand on the northwest corner of Park Central Square and you’re standing where Greene County once held court. An earlier courthouse stood in the middle of the square itself. For most of the nineteenth century, someone looking for the courthouse in Springfield would have been right to start here. So why did the county move it up Boonville? Greene County’s courthouse history

The old site had become too small. That explains why the county needed more room. To understand where it found that room, follow the argument over the post office. Greene County Courthouse National Register nomination

Springfield and North Springfield merged in 1887, but people still did business around two centers. One was the public square. The other was Commercial Street, where the railroad had given North Springfield a downtown of its own. When the federal building that housed the post office went up on Boonville between the two, north-side advocates counted it as a victory. According to a 1914 county history, supporters of the square drew the opposite lesson: the north side had gotten its way on the post office, so the square ought to keep the courthouse. The county history’s account of the dispute

The county judges saw the post office as a precedent. The stretch between the two old business districts could serve them both. In 1909 the county bought land facing what was then Center Street, now Central. The courthouse opened at Central and Boonville in 1912, a quarter century after the towns voted to become one. National Register nomination · Courthouse postcard from around its opening

Next time you pass the historic courthouse, picture someone coming up Boonville from the square and someone else coming down from C-Street. Both had a downtown behind them. The county put its front door between them.