A 1904 JAN 10 1905 D. ofD. INTRODUCTORY A STUDY of this booklet will convince you that Springfield has the elements within and surround- ing her that assures a great and substantial growth. A superb climate, the best of water, a beau- tiful and elevated location, and a surrounding territory- rich in agriculture, horticulture and minerals, combine to make her what she is, and what she will always be, i. e., the Metropolis of Southwest Missouri and the Queen of the Ozarks. She holds these titles because she has earned them by a half century of solid, steady growth. Town build- ing, not town booming, has been her motto. There has been no boom or mushroom growth here. Rail- roads have entered, factories been built and wholesale and retail trade established, because there have been legitimate demands for the same. Springfield stands today the fourth city in size within the State, having a population of about 35,000. She has undeveloped resources sufficient to make her a city of 100.000 in the next decade. She has room for scores of factories and business enterprises that would find this city a most excellent location. City and farm property is moderate in value; you can still get in on the ground floor. Do not procrastinate ! Investigate Springfield's resources and advantages, in person, if you can; if not, write to the Bureau of Pub- licity of the Springfield Club. •I*^**^ ^"^ "^i^. "^H. 2*'" '^f*L >li. ^ LOCATION AND CLIMATE SPRINGFIELD, the county seat of Greene county, is located in the center of Southwest Missouri on one of the highest plateaus of the Ozark Moun- tain range . An elevation of nearly 1 500 feet above sea lev- el insures an invigorating and pure atmosphere. Moun- tain springs of splendid water furnish a bountiful supply for present and future needs. The surface of the country is gentl}^ undulating; the climate the best to be found between the Allegheny and Rocky Mountains; winters are short, usually commencing with January and end- ing in early March. The thermometer seldom goes to zero and snow lasts but a few days at most. Spring and Autumn weather is delightful, while mid-summer has none of the hot, oppressive days common to the Northern States. On account of the elevation, there is always a breeze. The thermometer seldom goes to 90, and the nights are cool and pleasant, there being not over half a dozen nights in the year that one can not sleep comfortably under a blanket. The average year's rainfall is 45 inches. This country is singularly free from epidemics, while the diseases so fatal to childhood, such as diph- theria, scarlet fever, etc., are sporadic in nature and very mild. In fact, the climate, the elevation, the water, the surface drainage, and all conditions favor- able to health that could be desired, combine to make Springfield a city of exceptional healthfulness. BUSINESS INTERESTS Springfield is the center of the great Frisco- Rock Island System, whose lines radiate in every direction. Twenty-six passenger trains arrive and depart daily and fast freights rush the produce and fruits to the world's markets. She has 20 miles of electric city and suburban track, 52 miles of water mains supplying pure, spring water, a splendid electric and gas plant supplying the city with $1.00 gas. Her wholesale business is not surpassed by any city of her size in the West. Over $2,000,000 is in- vested in wholesale lines and the annual business amounts to over $12,000,000. Springfield is the dis- tributing point for the fruit growers and shippers. There are three large cold storage plants and an im- mense banana warehouse under the joint management of the Frisco System and the Fruit Dispatch Company. The city retail trade is conducted by progressive and up-to-date business men, and many of hei stores compare favorably with those of large cities. No city in Missouri, with the exception of St. Louis and Kan- sas City, draws a retail trade from so large a tributary territory as does Springfield. Taxes are low, being $1.60 in the country and 90 cents in the city on the $100, Valuations are assessed about one-third of actual value. MANUFACTURING INTERESTS No city of equal size in the West can boast of so many successfully conducted shops and factories as Springfield. Over $2,500,000 of capital is invested in manufacturing plants that employ 1500 men, with an annual pay roll of over $1,000,000. The yearly output of her products amounts to $8,000,000. The Frisco System maintains her general shops here and pays to her 2000 employees more than $100,000 per month. Every month witnesses the establishment of some new factory, universally successful, which is the best proof of the superiority of the city for such enterprises. Springfield is a convenient point for the distribu- tion of manufactured products. Fuel and water are cheap and abundant; labor is of a high grade. Nearly all her employees own their own homes and are inter- ested in the growth and prosperity of the city. Living is cheap and for that reason labor is better contented and more reliable than in many cities where higher wages are paid. Springfield has eight banks with a combined cap- ital stock of 1450,000 and deposits of over |6, 000,000, the latter being more than double that of any city in the State, excepting St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph. There are few cities in the United States, with a like population, that dare compare bank ac- counts with Springfield. HOMES, SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES Springfield is pre-eminently a residence city. Her beautiful location on top of the Ozarks, her healthful, invigorating climate and pure water have induced well-to-do and refined people to make this a city of beautiful homes. Wide streets, large lots, shady lawns and handsome dwellings, impress the visitor with the fact that here is found refinement and culture. A wealth of shade trees, shrubs and flowers give to the homes of the poor as well as the rich an attraction equalled in but few cities of our nation. Springfield's people are cosmopolitan, coming from ever}^ section of the United States. Socially, educa- tionally, religiously, a higher standard is not main- tained by any city of equal size in America. Among her many public structures are, Government building, erected at a cost of |150,000; a $50,000 Carnegie Li- brary; a 1100,000 Theater building; a |50,000 High School; a |30,000 Club House and |150,000 Frisco Hospital. Springfield is proud of an unexcelled public school system; she has one of the oldest and best Colleges of the West (Drury), with 500 students; a Normal School six years old, with 700 students; two Catholic Schools and two fine Business Colleges. Springfield has 40 churches, representing all de- nominations, many having a membership ranging from 500 to 700, and owning elegant church buildings. AGRICULTURAL AND LIVE STOCK INTERESTS No similar area in the United States is capable of raising as great a variety of crops as Southwest Mis- souri, and the yield will compare favorably with the best anywhere. Corn, wheat, in fact all the cereals flourish. The prize winning corn at the Chicago World's Fair was raised near Springfield, and her win- ter wheat takes first rank wherever exhibited or mar- keted. The best land yields from 40 to 80 bushels corn per acre and 25 to 35 bushels of wheat. Here is the natural home of the blue grass. Southwest Mis- soiiri equals the famous blue grass region of Kentucky. Live stock of all kinds and of the best breeds are found in Greene county. Excellent pasturage, short winters, even temperature and good water, make stock raising very profitable, and horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats and hogs are all profitably handled and have made the Southwest Missouri farmer prosperous and contented. Stock can be wintered here for one- fourth as much as it would take to keep them in Iowa. Two large creameries with the largest up-to-date equipments have been built in the city this year (1904.) The conditions favorable for stock are also favorable for poultry raising, and nowhere else in America is this industry carried on more successfully and profit- ably. Springfield has a large packing house, and three large poultry packing plants that have made this city the greatest shipper of dressed poultry in the world. HORTICULTURAL INTERESTS SPRINGFIELD stands today the center of the greatest fruit region of the globe. Twenty years ago there was not a commercial orchard in all this territory; today there are millions of fruit trees and thousands of acres of berries whose products not only go to all the large cities of America, but to Eu- rope as well, and yet the fruit industrj^ is still in its infancy. Cheap and unproductive lands have been trans- formed by the hands of horticulturists into orchards and fruit farms of great value; land that was worth, ten years ago, from $5 to ^25 per acre, is now valued at from |150 to |500 per acre, and often yields an in- come for one year equal to the value set upon it. From |100 to |500 per acre profit per annum on fruit or berries is the customary yield. Ten acres properly grown to fruit or berries will furnish a good living for a family, while 40 to 80 acres would support them in opulence. Truck farming is pursued with splendid results, there being no less than 40 Tomato Canneries in Southwest Missouri, and more under construction. A large plant was established in this city this year (1904). Tomatoes yield a profit of from |50 to |75 per acre, while many garden crops make a much greater profit. OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE An era of wonderful growth aud prosperity pre- vails in Southwest Missouri, which is nowhere more manifest than in Springfield, her natural metropolis. A thousand houses have been built in this city within the past year; scores of new industries established, and the impetus given will carry her population to the 100,000 mark. This section has more natural resources for the sustenance of a larger population to the square mile than any other on this continent. The tide of immigration is setting strong to this region; the population of city and county is increasing and will increase enormously. There is room here and a future for the energetic man who wants to use his capital, brain or muscle, and there is welcome to all. For further information write G. A. RAMSEY, Secretary, Bureau of Publicity of Springfield Club, Springfield, Mo. The following real estate firms of Springfield, Mo,, are reliable : W. E. Blanton & Co. Dixon & Shattuck. A. W. Ollis & Co. Phillips & Meyers. Springfield Trust Co. C. H. Young & Co. W. H, Johnson, E. C. Jones. Ramsey & Taber. J. D. Sheppard. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 1904