Carthage, Missouri in the New Century (2002 Exhibit now CLOSED)

Excerpts from "Carthage in the New Century: 1900—1909" Exhibit  (Now CLOSED) 

Cowill & Hill Milling Company advertisement

Among Carthage's major businesses and industries in 1900 before the new century started, were two wholesale groceries (Wells & Wiggins Co. and S. B. Griswold Co.), A.H. Caffee Drug, A.H. Goldstein Clothing, Keim & McMillan Hardware, J.M. Whitsett Dry Goods, Cowgill & Hill Milling, Carthage Sash & Door, H.E. Mason Furniture, Morrow & Boyd Milling, Campbell-Wright Mercantile, Plano Agricultural Mfg., B.B. Allen Shoes, Leggett & Platt Spring Beds, Carthage Woolen Mill, Queen City Brick Yards, Carthage Foundry and over a half dozen limestone quarries and numerous lead and zinc mines operating on the town's fringes.

Of those concerns, only Leggett & Platt remains. Today it is Carthage's largest manufacturer and has plants worldwide. In 1900, Carthage Woolen Mill was the town's biggest company, employing about 125 workers, most of them women. Despite its size, very little is know about this company which was Missouri's second largest woolen mill.

Jasper County Courthouse postcard, c. 1905

Views from Carthage 1900-09

1906 Viewbook of Carthage, Missouri - Most Beautiful City in the West

Voices from Carthage 1900–09

Presented below is a sampling from the former exhibit of first-person accounts of selected seasonal events in Carthage.

Lakeside Park located west of Carthage, Missouri.

1900 Fourth of July Celebration

The crowd at the Fourth of July celebration at Lakeside Park yesterday is conceded by everyone to have eclipsed in size any that ever before gathered at the popular resort. After pouring people into the park all day long, it took until 4 o'clock this morning for the electric line to get all the people away again, crowding every car to do so. Boating, swimming and swinging furnished pleasure for many. A "ten set" dance was kept going in the pavilion all day and nearly all night.

Carthage Press, July 5, 1900

1900 Halloween-Ragtime Ball at Phelps House

Phelps House located on Grand Avenue.

Excerpt of a 1900 letter written by Marian Wright to her mother Nira Wright outlining some of the activities at the Halloween Ragtime Ball given at the Colonel W. H. Phelps House at 1146 Grand Avenue (pictured here as seen today).

"Now... the Ragtime Ball at Helene [Phelp's].... The Halloween party was a great success. All over the house there was not a single bona fide light — all jack-o-laterns some cut from brown meat paper with red tissue paper underneath. In the ball room two old brooms were crossed on the chandelier with a stuffed black cat on one handle — wires stretched crossing the room at different heights on which were large bats cut from black cloth. We were marched through three pairs of folding doors from each of which were hung strings of apples, pickles, etc. which everyone tried to bite as they marched under. Then we went into the dining room and on the big round table was a chopping bowl full of popcorn, two immense platters of taffy, eight or ten big pumpkin pies, nuts, doughnuts, etc. On the floor was a tub of red apples...After the party festivities, the attendees went to the third floor ballroom for dancing.*"

*The individual or ensemble providing the musical entertainment is unknown.

Today when visiting Carthage, the Phelps House, now owned by Carthage Historic Preservation, Inc., is open for tours in season on Wednesdays. For more information contact 417-358-1776.  It should be noted that in 2009, CHP recreated the Ragtime Ball as partially described above for a public event in October.  

1900 Christmas Celebration

A feature of last night's meeting of the Matrimonial club at the home of Capt. and Mrs. John McMillan on South Main street, was a Christmas tree, on which each of the fourteen members was given seven presents, a total of 98 gifts.

The tree was a pretty little evergreen attractively decorated and illuminated in approved Christmas fashion. It was unveiled at the conclusion of the dinner, which was served at 7 o'clock, and Lawrence McMillan was unanimously chosen Santa Claus. The members were lined up about the room, and as a present for each was announced the recipient was required to advance to the center, unwrap the gift, exhibit it to the appreciative assembly and read the inscription upon it.

The limit for the cost of each gift was five cents, and the effort in each case was to have it in some manner appropriate to the recipient..... Lots of fun was occasioned by the distribution, and the Christmas tree is assured for an annual holiday feature hereafter.

Carthage Evening Press, December 29, 1900

Unidentified ladies of the Matrimonial Club mentioned in passage above. If you can identify any of these members, please e-mail.

To take a look at another historic (19th century) Christmas celebration NOT using a Christmas tree, click here.