A Brief History of Maplewood
The Maplewood Home was built in 1877 by Slater Ensor Lenoir and his wife Margaret Bradford Lenoir, both of whom were members of Boone County pioneer families. The farmstead was called Maplewood because it was located in a setting of large sugar maples. Only four people have lived in the home, the Lenoirs, their daughter Lavinia, and later Lavinia’s husband, Dr. Frank G. Nifong.
The original farmstead included 427 acres surrounding the home. After Slater and Margaret’s deaths in the late 1920s, a significant portion of the estate was given to the National Christian Benevolent Association who used the land to create the Lenoir Manor and Lenoir Retirement Community. After the deaths of Dr. Nifong and Miss Lavinia in the 1950s, the remainder of the farmstead was given to the Christian Benevolent Association. In 1970 the City of Columbia bought 60 acres of the original farm with the house, the remaining furnishings, and a number of adjacent farm buildings. The area was named the Frank G. Nifong Memorial Park.
The park was formally dedicated on November 8, 1970 as a feature of the Columbia-Boone County Sesquicentennial Commission activities. The home was restored in l976 as a bicentennial project through the cooperative efforts of the City of Columbia, Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, the Boone County Historical Society, the Frank G Nifong Park Development Steering Committee, and the Columbia American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. The Maplewood Home was officially dedicated and opened to the public on July 3, 1976 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1979. The home is currently operated jointly by the Boone County Historical Sociery and City of Columbia Parks and Recreation.
Maplewood is open to the public for tours as part of the Boone Junction history village and for groups with prior arrangement.
The Home and Grounds
Maplewood was built in 1877 by Slater and Margaret Lenoir. The home was constructed from bricks and lumber obtained in the area in an Italianate style. The original home was T-shaped, typical of farmhouses of the period. In 1891 a wing was added to the south side of the house enclosing most of the porch. At the same time other modifications were made to the kitchen area. An inside window between the butler’s pantry and the dining room was made into a doorway, as the original door into the dining room was shut off by putting the back stairs over it. The back stairs had been on the lower side porch up to the upper side porch with an entrance into the back bedroom used by the household help. Around 1905 the west ends of the two side porches were enclosed and made into bathrooms, and the house was wired for electricity. The front porch was enclosed to make a sun room, and a porte cochere was added to the north porch over the driveway leading to the carriage house. The sun room and porte cochere were removed as part of the restoration in 1976. Pictures taken around the turn of the century helped guide the restoration.
Nifong Park
The home is the centerpiece of the Frank G. Nifong Memorial Park. In addition to the Maplewood Home, the park contains a number of other historic structures from the farming operations of the Nifong and Lenoir families.
Immediately behind the home is the servants quarters. This small wood-frame building provided housing for the domestic and agricultural servants who helped run the farm and home. It contains two rooms with a fireplace between.
To the right of the servant’s quarters is the carriage house. In this structure are stored three carriages used by the Nifongs and Lenoirs and a wagon typical of those used on farms of this period. The carriage house also has stables and living quarters for the hired hand who took care of the carriages and horses. There is also an old style gasoline pump along the driveway to the right of the carriage house. To the left of the carriage house is the root cellar. Immediately behind the house is an iron dome covering the cistern.
To the left of the servant’s quarters is the stone pump house. Here was housed the well and water pump which served the house, a machine shop, and other utilities. At one time, a water tower stood over this building.
The big red barn to the south and west of the pump house housed animals and their feed. The barn is currently used by the Maplewood Community Theater for outdoor plays.
The red and white striped barn houses a petting zoo with cattle, hogs, geese, sheep, goats, and other farm animals. The zoo is operated by Columbia Parks and Recreation and the Columbia Cosmopolitan Club.
“Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest;
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.”
- Dr. Frank G. Nifong, Afterglow (1944)
No lines ever stated better a man’s love for his home, family, and loyal friends than these taken from the book, Afterglow, written by Dr. Frank Nifong in 1944. This concern for his home and community was shown by a lifetime of dedication to the well-being of Boone County citizens. It is so appropriate in this year of 1970-71 that the home and farm of Frank Nifong has been set aside as a memorial historical park for the community.
To discuss the early history and development of the Frank Nifong Memorial Park, one should actually trace the paths of two strong families, the Nifongs and the Lenoirs. These two early pioneer families both moved to Missouri from North Carolina.
In the year of 1800, George Nifong, a young Dutchman from the Carolina Mountains, traveled west to Missouri to establish his trade, blacksmithing and wagon making. On January 19, 1867, Frank G. Nifong was born to the William Nifong family. William was a medical doctor and a grandson of George. Frank Nifong grew up in Madison County and went to Missouri Medical College in 1887 at St. Louis. In 1900, he married Lavinia Lenoir of Columbia, Missouri. Following an active business and social life in St. Louis, the young couple moved in 1905 to the Lenoir Farm, “Maplewood,” on the southeast edge of Columbia.
The Lenoirs were Missouri pioneers. Walter Raleigh Lenoir came out of North Carolina to Missouri in 1834, traveling almost a thousand miles with his wife, eight children, 23 Negroes, wagons, and personal effects. Walter Lenoir’s son, Slater, married Margaret Ann Bradford of Columbia. Their first child was Lavinia.
The Walter Lenoir family, on arriving from North Carolina in 1834, originally settled on the northeast edge of Columbia and built their homestead, “Greenwood,” near the Oakland Gravel Road. Even today, this beautifully designed brick country home is occupied and remains a showplace of early life in the Boone County area.
In 1877, the Lenoir family moved to their new farm and residence on the southeast edge of Columbia. I was called “Maplewood” because of its setting among a large sugar maple grove on the farm. This “Maplewood” estate is today the basic Frank Nifong Memorial Park that is being developed for the Columbia and Boone County community.
When the Slater Lenoir family built the homestead at “Maplewood,” the physical setup of the farm was considered most delightful. Located three miles southeast of the “little” city of Columbia on the Ashland gravel toll road, the gently rolling countryside was an ideal farm community settled by prominent families of Virginia and Kentucky folk. It was the typical rural high class neighborhood of the period.
Traditionally, older homes had their kitchens some hundred feet from the main house, but in the Lenoir home it was built in the same unit. There was no open fireplace with crane and accoutrements for cooking as were in the kitchens of colonial times. A modern cook stove was fired with wood. The kitchen had a pass-through area for the food serving–a much improved arrangement over running the food through the yard from the kitchen to the dining room.
Buildings at the farm included barns, carriage houses, stables, and several smaller specialized structures. For an 1875 farm operation, “Maplewood” was considered a leading example of the best rural life had to offer. When Dr. Frank and Miss Lavinia (the doctor’s familiar name for his wife) moved to “Maplewood” in 1905, Father Lenoir gave them permission to modernize as much as they liked, securing the things which had developed since the “seventies.” With the addition of modern heat, light, and deep well water, the residence became distinguished in the community for its unpretentious comfort.
Dr. Nifong was a real “buggy doctor” sporting good horses and carriages. Just before moving to Columbia, he bought his first horseless carriage, a one-cylinder “Red Devil,” produced by the French Piano Company of St. Louis. This marked the beginning of the doctor’s long interest in auto vehicles. He kept a long skein of auto licenses in his carriage house on display. His best car was a black Pierce-Arrow, a real landmark in the Columbia community.
Later on, the buggy, coupe, and fringe-topped surreys, which were found on the Park grounds, were used in parades at the University of Missouri, particularly during the Farmers’ Fair Week.
Through the years the life of Frank Nifong progressed into one of long service to his community and profession. His leadership and work with Dr. A. W. McAlester (Medical Dean) toward the development of the emerging University of Missouri Medical School was a highlight. The legal battle for the establishment of a system of county hospitals in Missouri and building of a Boone County Hospital was another milestone. Another challenge, the development of a new Department of Health Education for Stephens College was an educational milestone and breakthrough. His service in the Missouri Medical Association, Western Surgical Association, and the American College of Surgeons was noted to have been extraordinary.
These and many other activities forever labeled Dr. Nifong as one of Columbia’s outstanding philanthropists and the handling of his estate after death has continued this devotion.
In 1966, the National Christian Benevolent Association, which manages the Lenoir Home and Nifong estate, made a significant and timely offer to the City of Columbia, offering the Lenoir-Nifong residence and sixty acres of land at half the appraised value. This offer included all of the original antique furniture, library, equipment, and family mementos. With matching funds for the city’s portion of the purchase being granted from the State of Missouri’s Inter-Agency Council for Outdoor Recreation, the purchase was assured and completed.
On Sunday, November 8, 1970, the Frank G. Nifong Memorial Park was dedicated. Organizations sponsoring the dedication program were the Columbia-Boone County Sesquicentennial Commission, Boone County Historical Society, Nifong Park Development Steering Committee, and the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department.
Early plans for the park envision the restoration of the Nifong residence and development of a historical center and museum by the Boone County Historical Society. Since Dr. Nifong’s medical practice was such a dominant factor in the scheme, it is planned to make the doctor’s home office a part of the museum, with original furniture, medical library, and equipment. The excellent large barn on the property is being considered as a municipal youth theater. The stable and carriage house are being considered as a blacksmithing, harness, and carriage display area. Historical and commemorative gardens are a possibility and the machine shed could be used as an antique farm machinery museum.
Along with all the cultural plans for the park, plans are being designed for picnic areas, play fields, lakes, and nature trails through the oak forest at the rear of the property.
So the opportunity for carrying the past into the future exists at Nifong Memorial Park. The wonderful things the Nifong and Lenoir families gave to the Columbia-Boone County area now can be repaid by community dedication and work at the Frank G. Nifong Memorial Park.