Kentwood Arms Hotel historical postcard.Photo bySpringfield-Green County HIstoric District.

The historic Kentwood Arms Hotel building at 700 East St. Louis Street in Springfield, Missouri was constructed in 1926, soon to be a century old.

The building is now known as Kentwood Hall at Missouri State University, so it continues to serve a purpose instead of being torn down. The students walk the halls of history.

The building was developed by prominent John T. Woodruff (1868-1949) who also left an amazing legacy behind in Springfield. An attorney and businessman, he was highly influential with the projects that helped develop Springfield. Visit here to read four pages of his memoir of an unpublished manuscript, Reminiscences of an Ozarkian, posted with permission on the Find-a-Grave website.

From 1904 to about 1945, Woodruff was somewhat of a civic leader in Springfield. Some other buildings he was associated with being constructed were the Woodruff Building (1910), the Colonial Hotel (1907), Hotel Sansone (1911), and the Frisco Office Building (1910).

In late 1986, the Colonial Hotel building was donated to the Southwest Missouri State University Foundation. For years, the foundation considered ways the building could be revitalized, but due to a lack of funds, the building deteriorated leading to it being razed in 1997.

Hotel Sansone, also known as Hotel Springfield and Hotel Sterling, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 2000.

Lobby of Kentwood Hall.Photo byfamily member.

The Kentwood Arms Hotel

The five-story hotel featured the Crystal Dining Room which was accessible for meetings, banquets, and dances. During the hotel’s life, notable people would visit including Rogers and Hammerstein, Bob Hope, Harry Truman, and Groucho Marx. The hotel was sold in 1939 and would exchange hands again.

...this building was one of Springfield’s most famous and luxurious hotels, which overlooked the legendary Route 66 highway that ran from Chicago all the way to the sandy beaches of the West Coast. (Source.)

In 1983, John Q. Hammons purchased the building and in the following year, he sold it to then Southwest Missouri State University in 1984. It became the fifth resident hall on campus known as Kentwood Hall.

The historic building was renovated in 1987, 1988, and 2014. Effort was made to restore public areas of Kentwood Hall as it was in the original Kentwood Arms Hotel.

Thanks for reading.