The Center of it all.

Because John Polk Campbell donated 50 acres of land for the new town, it was laid out like his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee, with spokes radiating from a hub and the growth and change in the square is the story of the city itself.

The square was not,only the hub of business activity but also the meeting place for many community activities. A pictorial progression shows its growth from one-story stores to multi-story businesses, from horses and buggies to street cars and automobiles.

The layout of the center of the square is a story in itself. Since the city's formation, it has held at various times a courthouse' a wooden bell tower, a monument to General Nathaniel Lyon, a metal structure known as the Gottfried Tower, a concrete pie, four quadrants and, finally, a modern pedestrian mall with a possible future change, the addition of a winter ice skating rink.

As structures were torn down or burned . . . and there were several disastrous fires . . . new ones were erected to take their place.