Downtown Springfield, Missouri
SPRINGFIELD, MO. – On a cool fall evening, a group of interested Springfieldians met at The Calaboose, located just off Springfield’s notable historic downtown square. The Calaboose, when translated, means ‘dungeon’, and houses the Springfield Police Museum, a notable extension of the Springfield History Museum, located on the northeast corner of the downtown square. The Police Museum is open to the public for every First Friday Artwalk during the spring, summer and fall months. It opens back up to the public in spring of 2025.
While there are several note-worthy stops on this hour-long walking tour, which covered nearly a mile of downtown Springfield landscape, there were three distinct buildings tour members were invited to enter, The Calaboose (Springfield Police Museum), The Historic Fox Theatre, and TaBak Co.
The Calaboose is located next to the wildly popular and entertaining Blue Room Comedy Club, and across from what once housed the downtown Hollywood Movie Theater and appears to be in the stages of re-opening in the near future. The Calaboose is an old rock and brick building, with iron bars visible on the main and upper floors, where jail cells once housed local criminals. The small two-story building is composed of local history, involving criminal activity and a tribute to the rich history of the police department known to Springfield, Missouri.
On the main floor, you can find everything from historic black and white photos, yellowed newspaper articles, a one-piece black and white striped prisoner uniform, an original police vehicle siren, a large collection of police weapons, and an archaic-looking lie detector contraption. The upstairs offers several historic artifacts, photographs, and police-inspired paraphernalia. While The Calaboose is a rather small space, it is chalked full of interesting historical relics, each representing a slice of local Springfield history.
Next, the group landed at the well-known site of the shooting incident which claimed the life of Davis Tutt. There is a historical marker on the street, just off the historic downtown square. The group then snaked its way around the square and stopped next to Civil Kitchen, formerly known as Trolley’s.
The tour then wound around the square and ended up at Sky Eleven, the iconic pale blue, historically tallest skyscraper in the region, at the time it was built. This was the birthplace of the Woodruff Building, which has been transformed to its current glory as Sky Eleven. Just across the street from Sky Eleven, the Colonial Hotel once sat (it is now a parking lot) which served as a telegram stop on the historically famous Route 66 and is marked by a historic marker.
The next stop was the Gillioz Theatre, where two famous entertainers were known to visit, Elvis and Bob Barker. The seat in which Elvis sat is presently marked, and visitors can sit there today, quite possibly inviting the spirit of Elvis back for a brief visit. The Gillioz offers concert performances and note-worthy moving screenings throughout the year, a true entertainment staple of downtown Springfield, past, present, and future.
The group then ventured to the Historic Fox Theatre, where several lesser-known guests are known to frequent the space. A woman in a yellow dress has been spotted on the balcony; she tends to disappear once spotted, leaving theatre employees and guests wondering if she was ever really there, or just a figment of their over-active imaginations. One never quite knows if the guests are actors, spirits, or everyday folks trying to absorb the mysterious nature of this historic downtown gem located in the heart of the Ozarks.
The second-to-last stop was in front of the Heer’s building, located just off the square. Not only does this locale serve as the original courthouse steps where Davis Tutt was shot, but years later, when the building housed the department store, Heer’s, a woman was met with a very bizarre and fatal incident, details shared on the Historic Haunted Walking tour of downtown Springfield in October of each year.
The downtown tour’s final destination was TaBak Co., a glorious historic cigar bar downtown, located next to Harbell’s. The owner met our small group in the foyer and, while standing behind the bar, he told of several instances of mysterious and otherworldly incidents noted in this space, a few of which could possibly be tied to Davis Tutt or even Wild Bill Hickok. The building once served as a mortuary; thus, the acting undertaker at the time is also a possibility for some of the bizarre encounters the owners and guests have had in the downtown bar. Of course, with the myriad of spirits we learned of on this chilling tour, it is impossible to know which spirits still roam downtown Springfield today.
Be sure to look for next year’s annual Haunted Downtown Walking Tour brought to you by the History Museum on the Square. While the details shared in September – early November are quite chilling, the history included is perfect for those simply desiring a dose of local Springfield history. From young to old, each tour member will be regaled with haunting, interesting, eye-opening, and absolutely true accounts of our beloved town’s history. Visit the History Museum on the Square website at: https://historymuseumonthesquare.org
