[7] The city was named after the ancient city-state of Carthage, one of the Roman Republic's main rivals (in what is now Tunisia).

The town experienced minor skirmishes and attacks throughout the war; pro-Confederate guerrillas burned most of the city (including the courthouse) in September 1864.

Historical accounts, such as Jasper County, Missouri in the Civil War (1923) by Col. Ward L. Schrantz, document the regional warfare.

Town residents started a foundry, furniture factory, woolen and grain mills, a plow works and numerous liveries and other businesses.

Nearby lead mines and limestone quarries also contributed significant wealth and Carthage became one of the most prosperous towns in the area.

Residents poured their money into ornate Victorian-style homes, many of which are now part of the Carthage South District, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Jasper County Courthouse, also on the National Register of Historic Places, was built of Carthage stone in 1894–95.

The limestone is hard enough to be polished into "Carthage marble" and was used in both the interior and exterior of the state capitol building in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The campus was home to Our Lady of the Ozarks College from 1944 to 1971 and now houses the Vietnamese-American Catholic religious Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix.

[14] In the monastery of this Vietnamese congregation, Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục died in 1984.

In the late 20th century, the town began actively courting tourism, emphasizing its history (the Battle of Carthage, Victorian architecture, and Route 66), as well as its proximity to the Precious Moments hotel and store, along with the popular country music destination Branson.

Major area employers include Leggett & Platt, a former Fortune 500[21] corporation manufacturing household durables, which is headquartered in the town, H.E.

Changing World Technologies and its subsidiary Renewable Environment Solutions built the first operational commercial thermal conversion plant in the United States to take advantage of the large amount of feedstock for the thermal conversion process made available by the many food rendering plants in the area in 2003.

[citation needed] In January 2008, a new city-owned hospital, McCune-Brooks, opened and the old facility has been renovated for use by the Carthage Water and Electric Plant.

[25] It also operates a Technical Center that offers courses to both current high schoolers and community members.

[26] This primarily includes an in depth practical nursing program, construction and carpentry classes, and forklift certifications.

[28] It opened in 1905 after receiving a grant of $25,000 from Andrew Carnegie and passing a tax vote to support the library 831 to 94 and was built using Carthage Marble.

In late 2020, an annex named the Steadley Family Legacy Center opened that functioned as a maker space for the community providing 3D printers and other hands on tools for creating.

Local groups stage reenactments of the battle,[30] near the grounds of the State Historic Site which commemorates the event.

[32] The week-long festival is named for the many maple trees that grow in the town, whose leaves change into bright colors such as red, orange, and yellow in the fall.

The event, which typically draws 50,000 to 70,000 attendees, takes place on the 28-acre (110,000 m2) campus of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix.

[33] Carthage is also the home of the Precious Moments Park and Chapel, a tourist attraction with paintings and oversized depictions of the popular porcelain figurines.

Victorian era homes of Carthage are featured in It Wasn't A Dream, It Was A Flood, a 1974 autobiographical, 16mm short film about poet Frank Stanford.

Scott attended Lincoln High School and worked in the music store of Charles L. Dumars.

[35] Carthage is in Missouri's 7th congressional district and has been represented in the United States Congress by Eric Burlison since 2023.