Introducing Historic Plattsburg Missouri

Historic Plattsburg Missouri is a quaint town of 2,200 people located just 35 miles north of Kansas City and 25 miles south of St. Joseph.

Founded in 1833, the town of Plattsburg is a source to great a great amount of history. Always considered a cultural town, Plattsburg once hosted the Chautauqua Indian Tribe, housed the Plattsburg College, and an opera house. Most of Plattsburg's Antebellum homes were torn down and replaced by Victorian homes. Today, it's stately Victorian home are being restored to their original grandeur. Down town Plattsburg is enjoying a renaissance with nearly every storefront filled.

In 2004, Larry Fisher, a local attorney, began a campaign to revitalize Plattsburg's Downtown. The Main Street Improvement's Committee was formed in coordination with the City of Plattsburg to repave roads, repair sidewalks, and install period lighting downtown. Local welder, Eric Carter designed and built the benches, trash receptacles, and planters which are displayed throughout Plattsburg's Historic Downtown. They are ideal as a memorial or as an eye-catching advertising medium. The price of a bench is $850. for a lasting improvement to the Downtown District. Payments are made to the City of Plattsburg and are tax deductible. Also a planter may be purchased for $532 and a trash receptacle for $543. with half of the purchase price required when ordered.

(Click on title below for more information)

A People History   Community Courtyard   History in the Making   Museum 
 

    Recreational Facilities  Solid Utility Base

Community Courtyard

The Community Courtyard

At the center of most small town life is a community center, a place where people come together to celebrate weddings, anniversaries and reunions. In Plattsburg we are lucky to have a community center both functional and historic.

The Community Courtyard is an elegant old brick building sitting squarely at the heart of the community in the downtown district. It has been there for 150 years.

How this special place came to be is a story worth telling.

During the bustling 1850s, a carriage works and livery stable sprang up on the corner of Second Street and Maple in downtown Plattsburg. It was not a typical livery stable of wood slats and cheap construction. Instead it was a sturdy brick structure, two stories tall with graceful arches on all four sides. The building was one of the first permanent structures in town. Its nearest neighbor--what is now the corner of Second Street and Locust was a church. Historic church documents record a congregation member's complaints--the braying of mules in the stable sometimes interrupted Sunday services.

More than 150 years later, the mules are gone, but the carriage works is still standing. It has changed over the decades, having become a roller skate factory, a granary, a frame shop and--in an ironic twist--a business that customized cars---horseless carriages, if you will.

The building fell on hard times in the 1980s, and local citizens formed a not-for-profit corporation to save this important part of the town's history. They relied entirely on the generosity of citizens and businesses to raise more than $400,00 in cash an din-kind donations. Workers from Hallmark of Kansas City pitched in with local craftsmen to lovingly renovate the old building. After more than two years of work, the building re-opened as a gathering place for all occasions. It also included a community action agency to aid the town's less fortunate. Today, this unique community treasure is open to the public. It hosts banquets, meetings, children's parties--virtually any event you can imagine.

The Community Courtyard has a two-story atrium with a handmade wood railing, ideal for draping decorations. It has a banquet kitchen and separate meeting rooms for business events. It has a big-screen TV and game tables for teen parties. Its second floor is wide open to accommodate dances or larger meetings.

To book this historic place for you special occasion call 592 0031.

History in the Making

History in the Making

Just six year into the new millennium, the City of Plattsburg is keeping its promise to step from its rich historical background into a very promising future.

In that time, Plattsburg has completed some progressive upgrades in services and facilities for its residents. Here's a list of some of those upgrades and additions.

* In April 2002, the new Plattsburg City Hall was opened for business. The new building, just west of Main Street on Maple, houses the city department offices, the Plattsburg Police Department, and features a very functional City Council Chamber.

* In August 2003, the Clinton County R-III School District proudly unveiled the new $6.2 million expansion of Plattsburg High School. The new addition includes a new gymnasium that has already been used to host district tournaments, a fabulous performing arts center, new classrooms and a new weight and training facility. The performing arts center features theater seating for over 400, lighting and sound technology that makes it possible to host professional caliber musical, theatrical and speaking performances.

* On Memorial Day 2004, the new Plattsburg Municipal Pool was opened for the recreational use of the city and area. Built on land donated by the family of Bill Bodenhausen, "Bodies Pool" has enjoyed a third season. The pool features a 68-foot winding slide, zero-depth entry for children, a one-meter diving board, swimming lanes and a neatly landscaped surrounding. The pool is located on Frost Street, across the street from Ellis Elementary School.

* In late May 2005, the City of Plattsburg was awarded a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to aid with the cost of renovation and beautifying the Downtown Business District. The plan, spearheaded by local lawyer, Larry Fisher, includes decorative iron benches, planters and trash receptacles in the city core, new sidewalks and sidewalk cuts to improve accessibility, vintage light poles and lighting, the elimination of many of the utility poles and overhead wires by moving the lines underground and  repaving the downtown streets. It is a long-range improvement plan that neared completion in fall of 2006. The initial stage of the renovation cost about $500,00.

* The City has completed Phase 1 of a three-phase plan to upgrade and expand the water plant. Since demand for water has increased 50% since the year 2000, this expansion will triple the water capacity of the plant by the year 2010.

Visiting Plattsburg today, you get the feel of the history of the City. The shops along Main street are sprinkled with tradition. The store fronts remind you of any Hometown U.S.A. of decades gone by. Antique ships, services, retail businesses and trendy eateries compliment the downtown core.

A stroll along Main Street is reminiscent of a walk along a Hollywood movie street scene from "The Music Man" or "It's a Wonderful Life." The downtown improvements have only added to the historic flavor.   

Solid Utility Base

Solid Utility Base

The current water treatment plant was built in 1979-80 at a cost of just over $1 million. The City paid $540,000 from a revenue bond issue and the rest was covered by grant funds. The City agreed to purchase water from the Corps out of Smithville Lake in the late 1960s. Shortly thereafter, the City of Edgerton began purchasing water from Plattsburg's resource. Now, the City of Trimble, Caldwell County Water District 3, and Clinton County water Districts 1 and 4 also are connected.

As stated above, the new expansion projects will triple this capacity by 2010.

The City of Plattsburg previously bought natural gas from Central West Utility. At that time (1956), there were about 275 local customers using gas from wells located just east of the city limits. By 1960 more gas was needed, and Plattsburg connected to some new fields near Turney. A new 17-mile gas line was built in 1969 with a $300,000 bond issue that connected the City to a distribution main. Now Plattsburg buys its gas from service providers  like Williams Natural Gas and serves natural gas to more than 1,000 households. The system stretches 58 miles through two counties. Plattsburg purchases gas from the most competitive sources on an "as-needed" and a futures basis to keep costs as low as possible for consumers in this era of high fuel costs.

The City's wastewater treatment plant was built in 1983-84. The original sewage system was installed in 1928. The 1985 plant cost abut $2 million with the City paying just $265,000. The rest came from EPA grant funds. The plant is still in good condition, and Plattsburg is considering expansion options.

Curbside recycling is available through the City for tin, paper, cardboard, aluminum and glass. The city also picks up solid waste (trash) on a weekly basis, and this service is free to senior citizens.

Recreation Facilities

Recreational Facilities

Due to rare insight and hard work by many citizens, most notably Ted Moore, who served as the Director of Public Works from 1959 until the mid-1990s, the City now boasts recreation facilities like Perkins Park and the Plattsburg Country Club.

Perkins Park, one of five city parks, is located just off Highway 116 at the south end of town. The 58-acre park has a youth football field,  three baseball fields, three soccer fields, two tennis courts, three shelters used for meetings or picnics, rest rooms and  playground equipment. Perkins Park was developed with the cooperation of the Army Corps of Engineers and sits on Corps land near the upper reaches of the popular Smithville Lake.

Plattsburg Country Club is a private golf facility located next to the high school. It expanded to 18 challenging holes in 1995 covering 6,120 yards from the blue tees. It's a par 71 over rolling hills with a little water around just for the excitement. One of the features of the club is Plattsburg's waste water effluent is reused to water each fairway and green. The club also features a swimming pool.

Museum

Victorian Heritage Alive

Adding to the rich tapestry of Plattsburg are its Victorian homes, many of which remain in pristine condition and have been restored to former glory by their present owners. Clay Avenue is lined with magnificent homes of this vintage and also with trees, making it an ideal strolling and viewing resource. Each year the Chamber of Commerce sponsors a driving tour of these marvelous historic homes.

One can sample some of the City's history at the Riley-Carmack Historical Museum, which is maintained by the Clinton County Historical Society. This charming Victorian home serves as a museum and is open by appointment on Birch Avenue. The society spent $17,000 upgrading the building in the last few years and are currently selling a reprint of the 1939 "Clinton County In Pictures" to help defray the costs of those improvements.

Besides the history, the character and the utilities, there is much to attract people to Plattsburg.

Lake Concord is a man-made ten-acre lake built in 1967 and continues to attract sub-divisions of new housing.

There are two homes for residential care, Clinton County Care and Rehab and Oakridge of Plattsburg, as well as two medical facilities, Tri County Ambulance District, 911 service, a pharmacy, and doctors and dentists to take care of the health needs of the residents.

With such a rich historic background, it is hard to imagine there could be a better place t live than Plattsburg, but careful planning and foresight are making Plattsburg just that--a better place to live.