NW Missouri Times

Northwest Missouri State University honors students have developed a digital walking tour to explore the history of Maryville's downtown. Under the guidance of Dr. Elyssa Ford, students in the U.S. Since 1877 honors course researched various buildings on the downtown square. They utilized historic Sanborn maps and digitized newspapers to uncover each building's past, publishing their findings on Clio, a digital walking tour app.

Dr. Ford explained, “I thought this would be a really great project for the honors class because we start with going on a walking tour of downtown and looking at the Sanborn maps.” The project expanded from last semester’s activities by creating an interactive experience for users.

The tour begins at Nodaway County Courthouse and concludes at a parking lot west of A&G Restaurant, featuring 25 historical sites. Each location includes details about its significance and history. For instance, Northwest Audio Visual's current site was once a hotel owned by Martha K. O’Reilley before becoming Kane’s Saloon in 1902, which closed in 1916 due to Prohibition.

Sophomore Darren Bix explored the history of Maryville Lumber Company at 315 N. Market St., discovering its varied past as home to several lumber businesses and a business college with 200 students in the early 1900s. Bix remarked, “Who would have thought that the Maryville Lumber Company had all this research and interesting history about it.”

Freshman Kynlee Kimpson researched Edward Jones' current location at 305 E. Third St., originally a hardware store in 1886 before transitioning through multiple uses until becoming Edward Jones in 2003. Kimpson noted that the project improved her writing skills and will benefit visitors: “Tourists who come into Maryville... can learn what each building was used for.”