Editing Springfield, Missouri (section)

==Toponymy==
[[File:Flag of Springfield, Missouri (1938–2022).svg|thumb|This flag of Springfield, Missouri, was used from 1938 to 2022.]]
The origin of the city's name is unclear, but the most common view is that it was named by migrants from [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], [[Massachusetts]]. One account is that James Wilson, who lived in the new settlement, offered free [[whiskey]] to anyone who would vote for the name Springfield, after his hometown in Massachusetts.<ref>Dark, Phyllis & Harris. ''Springfield of the Ozarks: An Illustrated History.'' Windsor Publications, 1981. {{ISBN|0-89781-028-7}}.</ref>

''Springfield Express'' editor J. G. Newbill said in the November 11, 1881, issue: "It has been stated that this city got its name from the fact of a spring and field being near by just west of town. But such is not a correct version. When the authorized persons met and adopted the title of the 'Future Great' of the Southwest, several of the earliest settlers had handed in their favorite names, among whom was Kindred Rose, who presented the winning name in honor of his hometown, [[Springfield, Tennessee|Springfield]], [[Tennessee]]."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch29pt1.html |title=History of Greene County, Missouri |website=Thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org |access-date=April 28, 2017 |archive-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519191618/http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch29pt1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1883, historian R. I. Holcombe wrote: "The town took its name from the circumstance of there being a spring under the hill, on the creek, while on top of the hill, where the principal portion of the town lay, there was a field."<ref name=":0"/>