Architecture and Abandoned Buildings in Carthage, Missouri
In this video, we’ll walk around the beautiful small town of Cartage, Missouri, where we shoot historic architecture, learn about the abandoned home of the old Tuckers’ Seed House, and meet a local business owner.
About Carthage
Carthage was founded and platted in 1842. By the time of the American Civil war in the 1860s, 500 people lived in Carthage. The city suffered through numerous Civil War battles and skirmishes, leaving it in ruins. According to sources, the city didn’t begin rebuilding in earnest until the 1870s.
Carthage is located on the legendary highway Route 66, which ran from Illinois to Santa Monica, California.
Carthage was the birthplace of several notable people, including Marlin Perkins, who was a zoologist and host of the popular the TV show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. He hosted that show from 1963 until 1985. His remains are buried in Carthage.
Belle Starr: Local Girl Gone Wrong
Myra Maybelle Shirley was born in Carthage on February 5, 1848. She received a classical education including piano lessons, and she graduated from the private Carthage Female Academy.
After the war, she moved out west, where she picked-up her infamous nickname, “Belle Starr.”
In Texas, her husband took up criminal activities, which she later continued after his death. She later lived in Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where she allegedly sold stolen goods, harbored fugitives, and bribed legal authorities.
Belle Starr was also thought to be associated with the notorious Jesse James/Cole Younger outlaw gang.
Eventually convicted for her crimes, she served prison time in Detroit, Michigan.
Belle Starr was killed by several gunshots in Oklahoma — a crime that remains unsolved, although there were several rumored scenarios that were never proven. She died two days before her 41st birthday.
She was made famous posthumously by dime store novels.
History of Tuckers’ Seed House
There’s a large abandoned brick building with hints of painted wall ads still visible in downtown Carthage. That was the home of Tucker’s Seed House, a vegetable and flower seed company that operated in Carthage beginning in 1907, and occupied this building from around 1916 until 1945, when Cantrell’s Seed House took over the space. Prior to Tuckers, the building served as a grocery store.
Sadly, the partially collapsed building is now condemned.
Bonus Video: Complete Page-Flip of Tucker’s 1915 Seed Catalog
Below: you can watch a bonus video where we flip through Tucker’s 1915 seed catalog, courtesy of the Internet Archive’s Open Library. Visit their page on the seed catalog here. This is a throwback to a time when many Americans had large home gardens and agriculture was a larger percentage of national employment.
Names on Downtown Buildings in Carthage
Here are just some of the historic names engraved on the tops of the skyline in downtown Carthage that can be seen in the video:
- 00:46 Center Building
- 01:29 Hannum
- 01:36 Williams
- 06:62 Lemp St. Louis
- 07:01 Snyder Building
- 08:17 W.P. Miller 1887
- 08:35 The Juvenile Shoe Corporation
- 08:53 Bartlett Lock 1888
- 09:25 Ball
- 09:38 Post Office 1895
- 09:44 Sewall Building
Sources and Links
Facebook. Historic Carthage Missouri. Post about the Tuckers’ Seed House Building April 11, 2020.
Internet Archive Open Library. “Annual Seed Catalogue 1915.”
Missouri State Parks. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form.”
Wikipedia. “Belle Starr.”
Wikipedia. “Carthage, Missouri.”