Tellers Gallery and Bar
Tellers has been compared to the bar in one of television’s most beloved comedy series. The downtown Columbia restaurant and bar, which opened in 1998, certainly has its own Cheers-like ambience.
The long-standing establishment at 820 E. Broadway combines a restaurant/bar with a local art gallery. A popular spot for happy hour and cocktails, Tellers has a diverse menu as well. It also has a history of resilience, whether it’s navigating the topsy-turvy COVID pandemic or rebounding from a major fire in September 2023 that caused significant damage. Tellers underwent substantial repairs and reopened in November 2024.
There’s always something going on at the corner of Ninth and Broadway, making Tellers the perfect place for top-notch food and palate-pleasing drinks, which can be enjoyed in its vibrant interior or outdoors on the sidewalk amid the hustle and bustle of downtown.
John William “Blind” Boone Home
Perhaps Columbia’s most famous and influential musician, John William “Blind” Boone was born during the Civil War. He survived and thrived against the odds — poverty, disability, and racism — to become a nationally known composer and musician. Blind almost from birth, the musical prodigy created music using his knowledge of classical music, Negro spirituals, and the syncopated or “ragged” rhythms he heard in his everyday life. His music has influenced many later generations.
Boone’s home at 10 N. Fourth St. in Columbia is on the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored through the efforts of the John William “Blind” Boone Heritage Foundation. The home was described as a rare surviving home of an extremely significant 19th and early 20th century Black musician. Boone’s Chickering piano can be seen at the Boone County History & Culture Center at 3801 Ponderosa Street in Columbia.
The Victorian-era home, built between 1888 and 1892, is a rare sight in downtown Columbia. A prominent feature of the home is a bronze sculpture by renowned artist Harry Weber that beautifully captures the musical passion of “Blind” Boone performing on his Chickering grand piano.
State Historical Society of Missouri
The State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) Center for Missouri Studies at 605 Elm St. is a stately, 76,700-square-foot building bordering the University of Missouri-Columbia campus and the eastern edge of downtown Columbia’s Flat Branch area.
The $35 million building opened in 2019. Among the center’s most impressive collections is its trove of state newspapers, preserved via microfilm and digitization. SHSMO was founded in 1898 for that preservation purpose — though today’s preservation techniques were many decades away — by the Missouri Press Association, and it has been supported by state funding since 1901. The state newspapers collection begins with the July 26, 1808, issue of the St. Louis Missouri Gazette and now includes more than 72 million pages preserved on some 58,000 reels of microfilm.
SHSMO’s holdings also include unique manuscript collections, thousands of editorial cartoons that are national in scope, rare and specialized books, thousands of maps and photographic images, recorded oral histories, and an extensive art collection that includes major works by George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton.
In addition to caring for collections and working to provide easier access to records, SHSMO offers programs, lectures, and workshops as well as tours for school and community groups and in-depth orientation for secondary and university students conducting research.
