Your final stop on this tour of beautiful and historic Bolivar is none other than our biggest and oldest park: Dunnegan Memorial Park. You are visiting at a special time – this year, 2023, marks the 100th anniversary of the park. The city is…

Bolivar has been home to a nationally renowned university for over 140 years. Southwest Baptist University (SBU) was founded in 1878 in Lebanon, Missouri, before being chartered the next year by the State of Missouri and moved to Bolivar. The early…

The City of Bolivar is a storied town with a rich history. Some of this history hails from the namesake of the town, Simon Bolivar. Bolivar was also recognized as the village name due to the heroics of General Simon Bolivar in South America. The…

Railroads were the bloodline of commerce and industry in both cities and towns in the 1800s and 1900s. They were a fast and effective way to haul people, goods, and information from one side of the nation to the other. Depots and stations were…

The name Andrew Carnegie likely rings a few bells for the average and expert tourist or historian. In 1889, Carnegie wrote an article in which he stated that “in bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves.”…

Your next stop on this tour of Bolivar is the First National Bank. Located near the County Courthouse at 103 East Broadway, the building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2013 because, per their application, the “property…

Just three blocks from the North Ward School sits the center of Bolivar as well as the business of Polk County: The Polk County Courthouse. Today, the building serves as the focal point for the city of Bolivar and holds the county courtroom, county…

Our first stop on this tour of Bolivar is a setting of both education and history that continues to tell many stories after over a century. Located at 201 W. Locust Street, the building was constructed in 1902 from a design by Henry Hohenschild, an…

Bolivar, Missouri, is an idyllic city in the middle of Missouri. Filled with rich history and preservation of its landmarks and buildings, it has been careful to maintain and identify buildings and places which remind present and future citizens of…