Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc.
The Lost town of Sherwood Missouri
Sherwood Speaker series. Missouri Southern will host three lectures focusing on different aspects of the Civil War and the ambush that happened just north of Joplin.
The series kicks off Monday, September 10t, October 8th, and November 5th at 7:00 pm at Corley Auditorium at MSSU.
During two days in May of 1863, the severe brutality of the Civil War became painfully real to the soldiers and residents of western Jasper County. These two days would be remembered forever in the annals of history leaving a lasting mark on the members of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment and the area around the town of Sherwood, Missouri. Much has been researched and written of these volatile 48 hours.
“The incident at Rader Farm, was that the African American soldiers were caught off guard, the southern sympathizers rode in and on their horses, somewhere around 70 or more and they ambushed the soldiers and killed them on the spot,” says Brad Belk, MSSU Historian.
The next day, May 19th, 1863, Northern soldiers retaliated.
“And they came with vengeance on their mind. With that said, they burnt the Rader farm house and Sherwood which was the nearest community which was also possibly a guerrilla stronghold,” says Brad Belk.
That history is front and center in the Sherwood Speaker series. The first talk will address the close family ties between some soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Another will speak to the role liquor played in the war. And Dr. Ian Spurgeon will wrap up the series on the part played by African American soldiers.
In 2009, Jasper County acquired the five-acre area with funds from a donation. Since then, other donations have been made to improve the site and create the Sherwood/Rader Farm Civil Park. Improvements. including a new plaque telling the of the site’s significance to the Civil War in Jasper County.
The plaque reads: “The Civil War action on this field was part of a series of events in May 1863 that intensified southwest Missouri’s bitter guerrilla conflict and ultimately left most of Jasper County depopulated and in ruins by war’s end.
You can follow the Sherwood Rader Farm Memorial Park here on facebook.com/Sherwood-Rader-Farm-Civil-War-Memorial-Park
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The Murphysburg Historic District appears much as it did during the period of significance (1880-1965) and as a whole retains all aspects of integrity. One hundred twenty-six of the 153 (82%) primary resources are contributing to the District while three of the primary resources were previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places. These resources remain in their original locations within the neighborhood and just west of the downtown commercial center. The residential setting has streets lined with sidewalks, mature trees, and houses on widely-spaced lots, as it did when it was initially platted.
Commercial areas have developed to the south and east, but these do not compromise the integrity of the District. The District clearly communicates its associations with and feelings about the patterns of residential development and the breadth of architectural styles that shaped the community of Joplin from the late 1800s into the mid-twentieth century.
The majority of resources retain their original design, materials, and workmanship. The array of architectural styles represented by the original designs, including National Folk Forms, Queen Anne, and Revival Styles, remains intact throughout the District. The majority of the resources have their original form and materials, such as limestone foundations, wood siding, and wood windows.
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