Seligman

Seligman Street Scene 1920s

Seligman is located in the extreme southwest part of Barry County, one mile from the Arkansas line. The village was plotted in 1880 and named in honor of Joseph W. Seligman. It was incorporated March 8, 1881. With an elevation of 1,555 feet, Seligman stands on Roller's Ridge near the site Jacob Roller, father of 21 children, picked for his home site in the early 1800's. J .W. Seligman had large investments in several railroads. He was on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, which was the parent company of the Frisco railroad which ran through Seligman. When J.W. Seligman died, Roller's Ridge (present day Seligman) was named Seligman in honor of him. In 1881 Seligman had a newspaper, The Seligman Sunbeam, and on November 4, 1881 it was the first newspaper in the United States to nominate Grover Cleveland for President. The subscription rate was .50 a year, paid in advance. Seligman has endured 3 disastrous fires, the first in 1883, the second in 1884 and the third in 1922.

Cover to Looking Back over the First Century of Seligman, Missouri, 1881-1981

From The First Century in Seligman, Missouri 1881-1981
Platted in 1880, the new village was named Seligman on September 27 in honor of Joseph Seligman, who had died the previous April. The wealthy Jewish banker's widow evidently felt that her late husband's namesake should receive recognition of some type and Goodspeed's 1888 History of Barry County notes that she gave the community a donation of $500.00 to erect a church house. Together with another $300.00 raised locally, Benjamin McCann constructed the Union Church in 1884 for $800.00.
The first deed for the church grounds was executed by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company on January 14, 1884 to Ellis Short, M. Shutts, and W. B. Dean, Trustees of the Union Church at Seligman for a square one acre tract in the northwest corner of the SW'NW' of Section 23 in the new town. A defect in the legal description caused a second deed to be made in 1888 to the same acre. Consideration for the deed is recited to be $5.00.
Seligman was platted on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter, Section 23, Township 21, Range 28 for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company and the plat was acknowledged by the company's president, E. F. Winslow, September 27,1880. Hurds addition to Seligman was made October 13, 1880. The town was incorporated March 8, 1881 with J. H. Harrison, W. Anable, L. S. Moore, S. Frost, and J. W. Dillon as trustees; J. H. Boyd, marshal, and R. D. Murray, justice of the peace.
The San Francisco Railroad had its beginning as the offspring of the great A & P. In 1874 the franchise and property of the A & P were taken over by the newly formed St. Louis and San Francisco Railway and became known as the "Frisco." Joseph Seligman was an executive on the "Frisco" committee. Joseph Seligman, an educated youngster having mastered five languages namely, English, Greek, French, German, and Hebrew, began his journey to a new land from West Germany. He left Baiersdorf, Germany in July 1837 and joined a cousin in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania in September that year. He became interested in railroads and undertook to build one from the Atlantic to Pacific. By May 21, 1872 he and his brother and cousin had invested $1,000,000.00 in railroads, but money for furthering roads was hard to get and the panic of 1873 didn't help.
The" Frisco" reached from SI. Louis to points in the Southwest by way of Fort Smith, Arkansas, coming through Seligman, Missouri. Seligman, Missouri was named for Joseph Seligman and a town in Arizona was named, Seligman, for Jesse Seligman. Joseph Seligman also had a locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia and named "Seligman." It was run on the line from Seligman, Missouri to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Seligman Depot from the 1950s

The Frisco railroad was built during the seventies and was completed to Seligman by November of 1880. One hundred years later in 1980 the Frisco Railroad was bought by the Burlington Northern Railroad, and is now known as the "Burlington Northern Railroad" in this Centennial year of 1981.

Main Street Seligman, Missouri 1945

From a story told by a settler of 1860 the town now known as Seligman, but then called Roller's Ridge, had only one store-possibly built by O. W. Neely and E. M. Moore. The second one was by Wilkerson and Stephens. By 1881 the following businesses had been established: Frost & Bros., J. H. Harrison, L. S. Moore, Anable & Davis, W. O. Neeley, general merchants; A. B. Clayton agricultural implements, Dr. Hull'S Seligman House, W. S. Inmon's, Eureka Hotel, L. Lepines Central House, William Trim's Exchange Hotel; James Burchet, meat market; T. J. Hubbert, druggist; Cross & Diver of Eureka Stage Line, Schmetzer's livery stable; Short & Peckering, hay and grain house; W. Trollinger, lumber yard, Charles Kunkel, W. S. Hurst, and J. L. Linzee's saloons; "Dr." J. M. Houge, billiard hall; M. L. Dunbar barber shop; T. J. Keller, blacksmith; E. M. Hardy, photographer, J. A. Phegley, railroad agent succeeding J. S. Dougles the first agent; S. B. McClellean, physician; J. S. Plummer, attorney; and William Trim, postmaster. On Nov. 28, 1881 Stroud's addition was acknowledged by John W. Stroud. This is west of the railroad. McCann addition came about Feb. 14, 1899.

Seligman Girls Basketball Team 1933