Museum gives Halloween tours of downtown

The tours are at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. tonight and Saturday and begin on Park Central Square by Riad’s. Riders will see the site of Springfield’s first city cemetery, the location of a mass grave from the Civil War and hear stories about downtown’s haunted buildings.

Tickets are $10 and can be reserved by calling the museum at (417) 864-1976. The tours are sponsored by the museum and Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District.

The museum also is hosting its annual Gingerbread House competition, for which the registration deadline is Oct. 30.

Entrants are asked to model their projects after structures in historic midtown. The houses will be displayed Nov. 18–Dec. 14 on the third floor of Springfield’s historic City Hall building at 830 Boonville.