Downtown Square

History

Springfield's Downtown Square is the public square platted in 1835, when John Polk Campbell planned the Greene County seat and gave two of about 50 donated acres for the square. A 1972 University Club marker, transcribed by the Historical Marker Database, records a brick courthouse in the center in 1836, a Butterfield Overland Mail stop in 1858, Civil War occupation in 1861, and later monuments, and says Park Central Square was dedicated as a pedestrian plaza in 1970. It is the civic center of downtown, next to rooms such as the Gillioz at 325 Park Central East, not a single concert hall. (Historical Marker Database, History of Springfield Public Square; Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau downtown history, Jan. 5, 2024)