Marshfield is the birthplace of astronomer Edwin Hubble

Marshfield is the Webster County seat, but one of its most memorable claims points far past the courthouse square. Edwin Powell Hubble was born in Marshfield on November 20, 1889. Hubble later used the 100-inch Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson to help show that Andromeda was a galaxy beyond the Milky Way and that the universe itself is expanding.

That is a big idea to connect to a small Ozarks county seat, and Marshfield makes the connection visible. A one-quarter-size, 1,200-pound Hubble Space Telescope replica stands at 100 S. Clay St. on the west side of the square. The local landmark is more than a roadside object. It turns a national science story into something you can point to while you are downtown.

For a reader, the useful part is the pairing. NASA is the source for what Hubble discovered and why the telescope carries his name. Webster County and visitor sources help route you to the square. For exact monument details, check the current local listing first. The main hometown connection is solid: Marshfield is Hubble’s birthplace, and the square makes that story easy to see.