Ozarks history

Route 66 turns 100 in April 2026, and it was born in Springfield. The famed Mother Road has had a significant impact — from the past to today — on culture, both local and beyond.

Starting in the 1820s, Maramec Iron Works grew into a state leader in iron production. Years later, Lucy Wortham James donated the property that become Maramec Spring Park.

It's been decades since one-room rural schools disappeared from the Missouri Ozarks, yet their legacy lives on in hearts and minds as well as through practical uses for the buildings that build community.

"The Shepherd of the Hills," a novel published in 1907, became very popular and helped establish a sense of the Ozarks in minds across the country. Learn more in this episode of Notable MO-ments.

How the Center for Archaeological Research has grown and impacted communities since 1975.

Springfield has been chosen as the host city for the nationwide kickoff of America’s Route 66 Centennial Celebration in 2026.

Vance Randolph dedicated his life to finding and preserving music, stories and jokes from the Ozarks.

Missouri State University's 11th president began serving in an interim role on June 27, 2011.

For our pop-up series KSMU Summer Reading, reporter Gregory Holman interviews Susan Croce Kelly about her new biography of a legendary Springfield journalist.

The 56-year-old Smithsonian Folklife Festival honors living traditions in contemporary culture and celebrates those who practice and sustain them. Missouri State University Libraries' Tom Peters says this year's festival is the first with a focus on the Ozarks.