Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri . It is the county seat of Greene County. On July 1, 2008, the estimated population was 156,206. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 426,144, and includes the counties of Edit this text , Greene, Polk and Webster. Springfield is near the population center of the United States, about 80 miles (130 km) to the east. Springfield’s nickname is The Queen City of the Ozarks. It is also known as The Cultural Center of the Ozarks, The Gateway to the Ozarks , and The Birthplace of Route 66.
The territory known as Missouri was included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 . Soon after, the Delaware Native Americans received treaty land where Springfield’s Sequiota Park and the antique stores of its Galloway Village stand today. To the west, 500 Kickapoo Native Americans built wickiups on the prairie that still bears their name.
Missouri became a state on August 10, 1821 , and in 1833 the legislature designated most of the southern portion a single county. It was named for Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, largely through a campaign by Springfield’s founder, John Polk Campbell, to accolade a man he admired. A Tennessee homesteader, Campbell announced his claim in 1829.
Name
The ascendant of the name Springfield remains unclear. In 1883, the historian R. I. Holcombe wrote, “The town took its name from the circumstance of there being a spring under the hill, on the creek, while on top of the hill, where the principal portion of the town lay, there was a field.” He went on to note, “This interpretation of the origin of the name is disputed by the editor of the Springfield Express, Mr. J. G. Newbill, who, in the issue of his paper, November 11, 1881, says: ‘It has been declared that this city got its name from the fact of a spring and field being near by just west of town. But such is not a correct version. When the authorized persons met and adopted the title of the “Future Great” of the Southwest, several of the first settlers had handed in their favorite names, among whom was Kindred Rose, who presented the winning name, “Springfield,” in honor of his former home town, Springfield, Robertson county, Tennessee.’” The most common view is that the city was named for Springfield, Massachusetts. One account holds that a James Wilson, who lived in the then-unnamed city, offered free whiskey to everyone who would vote for naming it after his home town of Springfield, Massachusetts.
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