Springfield Police Museum

Name: Springfield Police Museum
Address: 409 W McDaniel Street, Springfield, MO, 65806, US
Telephone: +14178641810
Price range: Not Applicable

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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

06/04/2026

The museum will be open Friday from 6 to 9 PM for Art Walk.
This is a restored photo of Chief Barney Rathbone in 1914 wearing his gold badge, which is on display at the museum. Also on display is his handgun and baton. He was the first Chief hired by the Mayor. Prior Chiefs were elected for 2 year terms, and it was a very political position.
The department has a black and white, low quality photo of him, but AI can restore and make the photo almost new again.

06/03/2026

The museum will be open this Friday from 6 to 9 PM for Art Walk.
Retired officer Brooks commented on a recent post about former Lieutenant Elwin Harmon giving an account of an exciting incident involving bravery and old school police work.
I located the newspaper article from 1972 about the incident and included photos of Lt Harmon and some other articles.
Here's the story from John Michael Brooks.
"There were several Korean War vets on the SPD when I started in May 1966. My Lt. (Harmon) and Sgt (Austin) were both vets. Sarge told me that our Lt. had fought in the worst part of it, forced to kill enemies in hand-to-hand combat.He was strict on adherence to policy, but the bravest man I ever knew. A local well known thug created a scenario where he knew Harmon would respond to. He refused to talk to anyone but Harmon. He “invited” Harmon inside and when Harmon entered the thug pointed a hand gun at him and pulled the trigger. It misfired and Harmon disarmed him immediately. This thug had sat and watched his wife die of an overdose and countless other major crimes. Several years later we were sharing beverages at a retreat (just he and I at the table) and I “had” to ask: Captain, why didn’t you kill that sob when you had every right to. He clearly reflected on it, then asked if I ever killed anyone. I told him I had not been in the military, so “no.”
He paused and said “ Of course I could have killed him! The reason I didn’t was because I didn’t have to! When you kill a man you take away everything they have or ever will have.”
My respect for him was sealed forever."

06/02/2026

The museum will be open this Friday from 6 to 9 PM for First Friday Art Walk.
This department photo from 1893 is in the museum collection, but it's very faded. In the 1930's, the photo was printed in the newspaper and it provides a better quality image. Now AI can accurately restore the photo from the newspaper and make it look almost new. The jail opened in 1892 and these officers brought many prisoners to jail.
Springfield, MO Police Department

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.

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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