Translated as "New City," Carthage was founded in 1842 as the county seat of Jasper in southwest Missouri. The town prospered for two decades until<br><br>military advances during the Civil War destroyed the entire town and dispersed its population. This volume, assembled by the Powers Museum, offers a pictorial glimpse into the rebuilding and growth of<br><br>this historic city during its most influential years.<br><br>The citizens of Carthage quickly rebuilt the city during the late 1860s and early 1870s, and eventually<br><br>reclaimed its pre-war prominence as an agricultural<br><br>and trade center located at the edge of the northern<br><br>prairies and the Ozark foothills. When lead, zinc, and limestone were discovered and developed into<br><br>prosperous industries, families began to arrive from<br><br>all over to take advantage of the area's economic<br><br>opportunities. Carthage's trademark Victorian<br><br>architecture, still in place today, is a result of the economic affluence of the town during this late<br><br>nineteenth and early twentieth century period.