Translated as "New City," Carthage was founded in 1842 as the county seat of Jasper in southwest Missouri. The town prospered for two decades until
military advances during the Civil War destroyed the entire town and dispersed its population. This volume, assembled by the Powers Museum, offers a pictorial glimpse into the rebuilding and growth of
this historic city during its most influential years.
The citizens of Carthage quickly rebuilt the city during the late 1860s and early 1870s, and eventually
reclaimed its pre-war prominence as an agricultural
and trade center located at the edge of the northern
prairies and the Ozark foothills. When lead, zinc, and limestone were discovered and developed into
prosperous industries, families began to arrive from
all over to take advantage of the area's economic
opportunities. Carthage's trademark Victorian
architecture, still in place today, is a result of the economic affluence of the town during this late
nineteenth and early twentieth century period.