County of city hall: Callaway County
Location of city hall: E. 4th St. & Market St., Fulton
Phone: (573) 592-3111
Hours: Upper level - 8 a.m.-Noon & 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Lower Level - 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
This building, built around 1990, is a large rectangle structure with a rounded front. This fancy front serves as informatin and entry lobby.
The building is divided into two parts: lower level city functions, upper level Municipal courts.
On the 4th street side is a huge concrete monument, which in reality is just a sign...with the address and name.
This whole structure is directly across (south) from the county courthouse
I could not find the architect, nor specific about it being built. Since my visit last summer a dedicated fountain has been added to the front walk...my next trip up there I will get photos of that.
"Fulton, the largest city in the Kingdom of Callaway and the seat of its county government, was founded and became the county seat in 1825 but was not incorporated until March 14, 1859. It is located 25 miles east of Columbia and 25 northeast of Jefferson City. Fulton is approximately seven miles south of the intersection of Interstate 70, east and west, and Highway 54, north and south. This intersection was at one time referred to by many as the crossroads of the nation.
"The general elevation of Fulton averages about 800 feet above sea level. The average annual temperature is about 55 degrees, Fahrenheit, with January's average 31 degrees and July's average 77.5 degrees. There are often abrupt and considerable variations but the coldest temperature seldom goes below minus 20 degrees and the high temperatures sometimes reach over 100 degrees. The period between mid-April through mid-October is virtually without frost and provides a very important growing season for gardens.
"When the first history of Callaway County was compiled in 1884 the die had already been cast as far as the type of community Fulton was to be. The Missouri General Assembly had voted to establish an asylum for the insane in Fulton (February 26, 1847), the first mental health facility west of the Mississippi; the General Assembly agreed (February 28, 1851) to establish a school for the education of the deaf in Fulton. In 1850, Fulton Female Seminary was established by W.W. Robertson. Fulton College for men was started in 1851 by Robertson and members of the Presbyterian Church in Fulton. In 1853, after approval by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church, Westminster College was chartered and began classes in May of that year.
"Being the county seat does not, alone, guarantee that a town will be the largest or most important in the county. But a look at a map of Missouri will show that to be the general case. There are several reasons for this. When folk in the outlying parts of the county travel to the county seat to take care of business at the county offices, they very often also do their banking, their shopping and buying of groceries. To know where to shop for one's needs one needs to read the local paper or listen to the local radio station. This in turn acquaints one further with the social things that are available. The county seat becomes one's shopping area. This has a decided effect on the finances and economy of that city. In addition friendships are made and a bond established between the individual and the city.
"The Christian Church moved their Orphan School to Fulton in 1890. Whether or not they were influenced by the already existing colleges is not known, but Fulton's bid of $40,000 and the offer of ten acres of land was surely a factor. This school, which had previously been located at Camden Point, Missouri, later became William Woods College for girls.
"The institutions were now in place that would denote Fulton as a city where the primary industries were institutions of higher education and custodial care. Since those beginnings the addition of three large buildings for custodial care of the elderly and another for care of the criminally insane have reinforced that image. Fulton had about 4,000 residents in 1880 with eleven churches, 3 public schools, a railroad depot, 10 lawyers, 1 policeman, 2 banks, 4 hotels, 6 restaurants, 9 doctors, a fair ground, an opera house, 3 saloons and a brewery, not including the other usual mills and shops such as blacksmiths.
"According to the 1884 History of Callaway County (p.493), Callaway had a population of just under 24,000 in 1880. Thus Fulton would have accounted for about one-sixth of the total county population at that time. This source also reports (p.203) that Fulton's public schools had 923 students of whom one-third were black and two-thirds white.
"Fulton had, at the end of the nineteenth century rapid growth in all areas including business, religion, schools, and colleges, doctors, lawyers, banking and of course the size of the city itself." ~ Kingdom of Callaway Historic Society