the Trail of Tears passed through Springfield to the west, along the Old Wire Road.

Civil War

By 1861, Springfield's population had grown to approximately 2,000, and it had become an important commercial hub. In the late 1850s, telegraph lines, previously connected only as far as St. Louis, reached Springfield. News from points further west was brought to Springfield overland. It was sent by telegraph to what was then called the New York Associated

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