Old and New Downtown Springfield, MO

Quite an interesting tour of your city, rottlady -- both old and new! I love the girls outfits in the '60s picture. And the old Woolworth's sign on the sidewalk is very cool to see. :)

An excellent article, Rottlady! I love looking at old photos, and seeing how things have changed. You've done a wonderful job of showcasing those changes!

Great pictures RL - isn't it a shame though how the downtowns have vanished? The square used to be where everything happened it seems.

Thanks for the great pic's and the history!

I am reminded of my Mother going Christmas shopping on the Springfield square. It was a good trip if she could find a parking space in the center of this square. In those days she would leave us sitting in the car..... today she would be arrested for that.

RL have you come downtown and seen the old buildings in st. louis and dogtown? not to mention soulard and some awesome others :). i love old architecture

Oh how I loved Springfield in 1954. I spent many weekend being a young soldier and doing what a young soldier does. Thank you, rottlady, for the memories.

This is a cool idea, rottlady. I grew up in a small city with two long main streets, lined with victorian-era shops and restaurants. There were even a couple of movie theaters. When I was a kid, downtown was the place to be. Most of the stores went out of business when they built a mall, and when the super walmart moved in it pretty much finished off whatever was left. The stores that haven't been torn down are mostly vacant now. I guess we have to have progress, but I think the place would have done better to preserve at least some of its heritage. Hell, it's not even the same town anymore.

Well, now that I've hi-jacked your article to wax nostalgic for a moment I guess I'll be moving on... LOL. By the way, great pics. I like how you captured the little boy in mid-jump in photo seven.

I think these pics turned out great. It is so interesting to see the old pictures. The more things change the more they stay the same. I believe that the "uprooting excuse" in our little town had something to do with the root(s) getting too deep on the bigger trees and/or too big and they feared they would split the sidewalks. But they're nuts around here. Drop a cool mill on a new VFW, tear it down a year later and put in Tim Horton's.

I really like the kids on the turned off fountain too! Reminds of something somebody I know would do:)

Good images, but based on the cars in the 60's photo I'd say thats older then that.

Woolworths...wow haven't heard(seen) that in ages! Those kids look like they were having a blast. It's neat to see old pics of how things use to be. So different than what they become.

nice pictures, i had my first job at woolworth's, when i was 12.

Very cool article and photos! Great idea for towns and cities to renew their downtown areas, they offer us a link to our past; before the days of mass retailers and miles of malls. IMHO they can't compete with the quaintness of the down-towns...how they win is by price and convenience.

Thanks for sharing

I love the old and new together. What a difference. :)