From the Darkroom: Webster County residents turn out in 1955 to celebrate centennial

Spectators line the Seymour public square to watch the Webster County Centennial parade in this archived photograph, which is similar to a shot published in the Springfield News & Leader on July 3, 1955.

Webster County was organized on March 3, 1855. Webster County’s seat is in Marshfield. Pioneer legislator John F. McMahan named the county and county seat for Daniel Webster and his Marshfield, Massachusetts home.

The county’s first county seat was a small community known as Hazelwood, located near Seymour. It wasn’t long, however, before the designation was changed after Marshfield was surveyed.

Festivities across the county took place in honor of the centennial. Some of these festivities included scenes from county history, a beard contest, and a beauty pageant in which Janette Hobson won. Music by a barbershop quartet, fiddlers and Bettilou Goza was featured.

A museum of pioneer articles was set up for viewing in Marshfield High School. Other activities included baseball games, horseshoe pitching, and a flower show. A log cabin was reconstructed on the courthouse lawn in Marshfield to serve as the centennial headquarters.

This image is part of a much larger collection of historically rich photographs from the News-Leader’s photo archive. Each week, the Springfield-Greene County Library will tap into this vast collection and present an interesting image “from the darkroom" and share its history. This image is presented in partnership between the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the Springfield News-Leader. For more historical images of the Ozarks, visit: thelibrary.org/fromthedarkroom.