Springfield Police Museum

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Springfield Police Museum

Springfield Police Museum is in the Calaboose City Jail opened in 1892 for city prisoners and used u

05/25/2026

The photo is from the 1950's of a military burial at the Veteran's Cemetery with a line of SPD officer as an honor guard.
I'm trying to determine who the funeral was for. Possibly a Korean War soldier.

04/30/2026

The museum will be open Saturday, May 2nd, from 10 AM to 2 PM for the Route 66 events happening around town.
This AI restored photo is in front of Fire Station #2 on Commercial Street around 1910. An SPD officer, two firemen, and another gentleman. The police department had a small HQ in the fire station at the time.
AI has a hard time getting badges correct, but it greatly improves the original photo.

04/24/2026

The museum will be open next Saturday for the Route 66 festival weekend from 10 to 2 PM. If you're out checking out C-Street or Artwalk come by the museum.
The McGruff family has grown. a 2nd fullsize McGruff, Robot McGruff, and a toy McGruff were located a few months ago.
Robot McGruff has a controller and a microphone headset to interact with children. He'll be patrolling the museum with his friends.
Springfield, MO Police Department
National Crime Prevention Council
Birthplace of Route 66 Festival

04/10/2026

The Police Department is having some renovations done, with new paint and carpet. These are the original 1969 diagrams of HQ showing each floor. Almost everything has changed over the years.
The basement shows a shooting range and jail.
The 1st floor has an open lobby, a radio dispatch room, and a training room. Dispatch and Training now have their own buildings.
The 2nd floor was mostly the Detective Division. Only the Chief's office remains the same.
The diagrams show the basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, and the overall area of the building. Also, a photo of the dedication ceremony, with a couple of newspaper articles.
Springfield, MO Police Department
Springfield Police Officers Association

04/09/2026

This is an AI-improved photo of Springfield's 1st City Marshal,
Benjamin Kite. He was City Marshal in 1856.
In 1858 the city council approved the hiring of two officers to help the City Marshal. 1858 is the offical date of the start of the department.
Kite held several other city positions. He was the Postmaster when the Civil War started. The Confederates occupied the city in 1861 and installed their own Postmaster. After the Union army retook the city in 1862, Kite used his revolver and ran the Confederate Postmaster out of the post office, pulled down the Confederate flag, and put back up the US flag.

03/27/2026

This is a photo of Sergeant Wade Hindman in 1913 brought back to life by AI from a grainy photocopy.
Wade Hindman was elected Chief from 1894 to 1896. A lot of employment at the PD in this era was based on which political party you supported. If you were a Democrat and a Republican Chief or Mayor were elected, you may not have a job. Wade Hindman started as an officer, became Chief, lost the next election, and years later, he was rehired. When he wasn't in law enforcement, he was a bartender or bar manager.

03/19/2026

In 1930, Motorcycle Officer Clyde Moore was killed. He was leading/escorting a firetruck up Grant Street to a fire. A car stopped in front of him, causing him to swerve and then swerve again to avoid an oncoming streetcar. He then crashed into a telephone pole. His injuries were fatal.
The only picture the department had of Officer Moore, and the crash scene, was a grainy black-and-white photo from the newspaper. AI can now recreate the accident scene to better show what happened and create a photo of what Officer Moore may have looked like.

03/18/2026

You might see some Officers wearing a new badge this year.
For the USA's 250th anniversary semiquincentennial, a new badge was created, and Officers have an option to purchase it.
Each badge has the Officer's rank from Chief to Officer, or retired officers could also purchase one.
In 1976, Officers could purchase a 200th anniversary bicentennial badge to wear all year.
Shown are both badges and a 1976 SPD uniform.
Springfield, MO Police Department
America250

03/17/2026

Local historian Wayne Glenn located this photo of City of Springfield Parking Control Officers in 1964. Most of the parking around the city square had parking meters. These ladies wrote on average 33 parking tickets a day. Check out the articles on them and their ticket writing.
The photo was colorized.

01/09/2026

AI modified photographs can bring an old photo to life.
This AI image was created from a very poor photo of Chief T.J. Wright around 1890. The photo shows him with his gun belt and "come along" restraints.
AI restores the grainy black and white photo, colorizes it, and then modifies it so we can see a full version of him on the streets of an old west town.
This gives us a good version of what he looked like walking around the city square. His gun belt would probably have been inside and covered by his uniform coat. I think he's showing it off for the photo.
Chief Wright opened the Calaboose jail in 1892. The article shows that he put some of the prisoners to work.
Springfield, MO Police Department

Address

409 W McDaniel Street
Springfield, MO
65806

Telephone

+14178641810

Website

http://www.springfieldmo.gov/171/Police

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