Fower’s Texaco Station (later to become Fower’s Silver Dome Texaco Station and Café); intersection of US Highway 63, Jackson and McKay Streets; circa 1940s. Charlie Fower purchased the Cook observatory (shown below) in 1935, moved it to this intersection as an addition to his service station, and renovated it to be used as the Silver Dome Café. After the gas pumps were removed in 1956, the building was used as a doughnut shop, fruit stand, living quarters, radio repair shop and restaurant. The Silver Dome property was purchased by the Missouri State Highway commission on December 4, 1963 who soon razed the building and renovated the intersection.
Silver Dome Donut Shop; intersection of US Highway 63, Jackson and McKay Streets; looking west; taken after a motorcycle and automobile collision; April 23, 1962. This location previously had been Fower’s Texaco Station and Silver Dome Café until 1956.
John A. Cook’s observatory at the corner of Broadway and Pine Streets, 1915. Cook had been a telegraph operator for the Wabash Railroad and an insurance agent before devoting his time to astronomy and weather tracking. His 1000x telescope was mounted on a concrete base to reduce vibration. The lower structure was an 18 foot square oak paneled room Cook used as an American Indian artifact museum.