History and
Document Center
Commercial Club
Serving Springfield Community
Since the Early 1900's
     ith the coming of the locomotive Cuba to freshly-laid tracks one mile north of the square, a new City of  North Springfield (1870 to 1887) emerged. "NewTown" became the exciting regional destination as traffic on her rails drew the tools and trades and settlers to this exciting new community. It wasn't long before leaders joined to form Commercial Club of Springfield in early 1900's to support and guide culture and economic growth throughout the region.
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 oday's Commercial Club continues to breathe life into Springfield's Main Street, Historic C-Street by locals. Recent efforts, since 2000, include the organization of (originally a Commercial Club Committee) and growth of our C-Street City Market (Saturdays from 10am to 2pm) followed by a partnering with Hammons School of Architecture to construct our Market Pavilion, the site today of  our. In 2008, the Club organized a weeklong visit by ArtTrain USA, featuring the Art of our nation's Indigenous cultures, breaking all attendance records of the nationally-touring exhibit, visited by every 4th grader in Springfield, parked at our Jefferson Avenue Footbridge.
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    artnering with the City, the Club successfully lobbied for  formation of today's Tax Increment Financing  and Community Improvement districts, formed in 2008 & 2009 respectively. Thanks to the efforts of the Board of Commercial Club, these two efforts provided much-needed resources for promotional and infrastructure improvements which continue to this day. Working with Springfield Public Works Department in 1995 resulted in a successful  State Enhancement grant to repaint the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge (JAF) in time for its Centennial Celebration, hosted by Commercial Club of Springfield in 2002. Today, our JAF is well on her way to once again carry neighbors to and from Springfield's most historic neighborhoods. The Club raised $50,000 for this effort and continues to sell memorial pavers to support her upkeep and status as "The Eiffel Tower of Springfield" and this city's largest public art sculpture featuring regular events, lighting and drone shows.
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     dditional Partnerships with area non-profits include Poetry Walks with the Library, C-Street Walking Tours with the History Museum, Children's Business Fairs with Life 360, Culture Fest through our C-Street City Market, rapidly becoming the vision & programming partner with our Club. Our Community Center is home to the C-Street City Market, CID Office and Grupo Latinoamericano who are moving their outreach and classes to our Community Center. We continue to reach out to more groups that enrich the Culture and Community of C-Street.  We are working with the Gay and Lesbian Organization (GLO) on a C-Street Pride Celebration. Club activities support C-Street as the "happiest," most diverse area in Springfield as we host more  black and women-owned businesses than in any part of town.
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  n the earliest days of North Springfield (a separate city from Springfield proper until annexation in 1887), community and business leaders formed the Commercial Club to share its resources and take a leadership role in projects that improved quality of life in all of Springfield. Initially, funding and building the partnerships that built the city's first passenger depot at the head of Benton and behind the Ozark Hotel. This group then focused on working with the city to fund and build the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge and, at the same time, the underpasses at Lyon and Washington Avenues, and closing  Boonville by locating Fire Station #2 there, assuring safe, pedestrian and vehicular access over and under ever- increasing rail traffic.
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      ore area-wide efforts that strengthened the community included successfully raising $40,000 towards a land donation, therby guaranteeing the location of the Frisco Shops and all its jobs here in Springfield in 1907 rather than letting them go to another city. The Club Membership followed up by helping fund an  Assemblies of God effort to move here to Springfield rather than St. Louis in 1918. Shortly thereafter, in 1922, the Club purchased land to donate to Central Bible College for its new campus.
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    here have been many "Firsts" that can be claimed by Commercial Street and its Commercial Club including the fundraising effort that resulted in construction of Springfield's first Community Center in Commercial Club's first wholly-owned Club Headquarters in 1927. Springfield's first library was housed in the basement in 1928. When the club asked its women to form an auxiliary group, what came out of that request was Springfield's first Business and Professional Women's organization (BPW). Commercial Street was home to Springfield's first modern telephone switchboard, first non-volunteer fire department at Fire Station #2. It was the secretary of Commercial Club who stitched Springfield's first flag, making Phoebe Hensley the "Betsy Ross of Springfield" in 1938. It is also largely accepted that Commercial Club board members originated today's modern Chamber of Commerce.
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    ommercial Club of Springfield applied for CDBG grants in the 1990's to begin the transformation of her streetscape and Footbridge Plaza & Park, adding corner treatments and landscaping. To add Public Art, the Club celebrated first locomotive to town with Frisco Days History Festival (1984 to 1993) raising funds for an annual Sculpture Completion, resulting in a permanent collection of Public Art. Individual pieces like Dr Tickle and Checkered Future have been added most recently. There is talk of reviving the C-Street Loftwalk the Club held regularly in the late 1990's to show off our beautifully-restored lofts, of which the community was largely unaware. Today, C-Street stakeholders are committed to redesigning the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge Park area once open and renovations are completed.
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Notes and dates briefly outline timeline of several earlier projects
Club Sculpture & Loftwalk & projects with City, (CDBG) Â State, (ISTEA),Â
Brief history of the street and Club outlining activities from 1990 to 2002