This lovely old Mid-Victorian type home; although remodeled and enlarged to suit the needs and gracious living of its occupants, is still preserved in beauty, structural stability and spacious charm. It was built in 1886 by Stephen Webster McLaughlin, architect and lumberman who came to Springfield, MO, shortly after the Civil War.

It took from two to three years of constant work to build this elegant home of seventeen rooms, three stories high with a beautifully landscaped yard of more than three acres that extended from Main to Campbell Street. The entire home boasted the best in solid, richly carved woods, stone masonry, marbles, etchings, stained glass windows, brass, bronze, silver, wrought iron, imported laces, velvets, deep-piled carpeting, tapestries and rare paintings.

Before the turn of the century, saddened by the death of his wife and two of his older children, Mr. McLaughlin sold his home to Jim Kirby, a flourishing saloon keeper of that time and a man with a large family. In April, 1918, the Old McLaughlin Home became the Mary E. Wilson Home for Elderly Ladies.

Approved: 1/14/80