Did you know there’s a bit of St. Louis in Columbia? The same designer, Eero Saarinen, who designed The Arch in St. Louis designed Stephens College’s Firestone Baars Chapel. If you love before and after views, you are going to love this historic images released on June 17, 2016 by the State Historical Society of…
Tag: Dianna Borsi O’Brien freelance writer
Lost Black history spotlighted on Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Black history will be the brought back to life on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 with the unveiling of a marker to highlight a place that once existed — Sharp End — will be highlighted. From 5:30 to 6:15 p.m., members of the Sharp End Heritage Commission and city and state officials will mark the unveiling…
Things that go bump in the day and the night
Interested in what you can’t see? That’s what you’ll learn about at these free downtown historic walking tours, with the first one slated for July 31, 2014. Given by members of the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Columbia, the tours will focus on what you can — and can’t see. All four of…
Fish, Eugene Field and a spring named Rollins
Got a damp spot in your yard? I do and I often wonder if it is a spring. Perhaps it’s a historic site. There’s a spring now marked in an fairly obscure spot at Providence Road and Mick Deaver Drive and it’s mentioned in a 1991 article by Frances Pike of the Columbia Daily Tribune….
Historic homes + facts = amazing stories
I love historic homes because inside of them — inside every home — is a story. No need to add color, make anything up, each house offers a tale worth telling. The aptly named “Fairy-tale” house at 121 West Blvd., North is no exception. But until last year, the story got one big fact wrong….
Skyscrapers, preservation and development
Can preservationists learn to love skyscrapers? Sure. Because it’s not the height, the location or how old a build is that matters — it’s quality and how the building will serve people. In this article in the New York Times, “Sure, Build it in My Backyard,” the website of Nikolai Fedak is highlighted. The name…
See history yourself and save a historic road
On Sunday, May 2 p.m., a public forum on a stretch of the historic road, the Boone’s Lick, will take place. The meeting will be in the Midway Locust Grove United Methodist Church at 2600 N. Locust Grove Church Road. So why plan on attending this event and what does it have to do with…
Tips on making the past present
It is so easy for the past to slip away, a building gets a new tenant, a new use or a new name and bingo! The past is gone. But in Cape Girardeau, Lindsey Lotz, a Southeast Missouri State University, has created posters to bring history into the present for four downtown buildings. The buildings…
Four surprising ways to peek inside historic homes
Getting a look inside a historic home can be a challenge. Few of us are willing to knock on someone’s door and ask for a quick tour. But these four ways can give you a genteel way to see inside historic homes. But these are only four ways to look inside a historic home. How…
This is why you get lost in Columbia, Missouri
Bet you didn’t know that Chapel Hill Road used to be West Boulevard South. Which now makes sense of the fact that the rest of West Boulevard often has addresses such as 121 West Boulevard North. This street name tidbit came out at the April 1, 2014 event honoring the 2014 Most Notable Properties named…