OLD COURTHOUSE

This museum focuses on providing a history of the Missouri state court system. Built from 1839 to 1862, the old courthouse is the site where Dred and Harriet Scott, two black slaves, unsuccessfully pleaded to the court for their freedom from 1846 to 1857. It is believed that this case contributed greatly to the division of the country and hastened the start of the Civil War. The Old Courthouse is also where, in 1972, Virginia Louisa Minor, a feminist activist, caused a scandal by advocating for women's suffrage.