News Release 253

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL TO CONSIDER
MARION COUNTY NOMINATIONS FOR NATIONAL
REGISTER MAY 16

Volume 36-253

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 9, 2008 -- The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during its quarterly meeting May 16 in Branson. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bee Creek Conference Room, Second Floor, Branson Convention Center, 200 East Main St.

Twenty-eight nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the agenda include historic residences, commercial buildings, historic districts, and a Santa Fe Trail site. More than 1,200 historic resources are represented in the nominations.

The following properties in Marion County are being considered:

The historic baseball diamond, Clemens Field, 401 Collier St., in Hannibal, Marion County, opened in 1924. The baseball field and grandstand were home to a series of Hannibal amateur and semi-pro baseball teams including the Hannibal Travelers. A devastating fire in 1936 destroyed the grandstand, but the community quickly recovered and applied for a Works Progress Administration grant to rebuild the field. The result was a large steel and concrete grandstand and high fence constructed of locally quarried stone.  After brief use as a prisoner of war camp during World War II, Clemens Field returned to its original purpose and was home to farm teams sponsored by both the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals during the late 1940s.

The Culbertson-Head Farmstead on County Road 402 in Palmyra, Marion County, includes a 33-acre parcel and several historic agricultural buildings. At the center of the farmstead is a large Greek Revival house constructed in 1854 by Ziba Calvert for James Culbertson. The property's evolution from a manually labored mid-19th century farm to that of a progressive 20th century farmstead is clearly illustrated by the agricultural buildings and surrounding landscape and field patterns. The five outbuildings include an unusual smokehouse/icehouse combo, shop, granary, and two barns built between c. 1880 and 1927.  The newest barn, constructed in 1927, is an impressive "sealed" barn designed by the James Manufacturing Co. of Fort Atkinson, Wisc.

Other properties that are being considered follow:

            In addition to nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, the council will receive status reports on programs provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and discuss business related to its own function and duties. Council will also discuss coordination and preparation of Missouri's five-year statewide preservation plan.

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is a 12-member group of historians, architects, archaeologists and citizens with an interest in historic preservation. The council is appointed by the governor and works with the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the National Register program for Missouri. The council meets quarterly to review Missouri property nominations to the National Register, the nation's honor roll of historic properties. Approved nominations are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

For more information about the May 16 meeting or the council, call the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858 or the department toll free at 800-334-6946.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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