Southwest Missouri
Dickerson Park Zoo has been a Springfield place since 1923
Dickerson Park Zoo adds a long civic memory layer to Greene County, with roots in Springfield parks, WPA-era work, and local zoo support.
Dickerson Park Zoo gives Springfield a place story that starts before most modern visitor attractions. It opened in 1923, when zoo animals that had been kept at Phelps Grove Park moved to the new site.
The Park Board’s history adds a few details that make the zoo feel rooted instead of generic. WPA work helped develop the grounds in the 1930s. In 1954, the zoo got its first elephant, Ol’ C.C., who later became the matriarch of the elephant herd for more than 50 years.
Dickerson Park Zoo is a visitor stop, a Springfield parks story, a WPA-era landscape, and a long-running civic effort supported by Friends of the Zoo.
Use the Park Board pages for current hours, animal areas, accessibility, and education programs. The longer thread runs from Phelps Grove to WPA development, Ol’ C.C., and more than a century of zoo history.
Where to see it
- Dickerson Park Zoo
Use the Park Board page for zoo history and visit links.
References
More from Greene County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: July 16, 2026.