A Little Hannibal History

Founded in 1819 by Moses D. Bates, the river town soon flourished as a principal docking port for steamboats, flatboats, and packet steamers traveling the upper Mississippi. By 1845, Hannibal had achieved city status and by 1860, the population had more than doubled, making it the second largest city and third commercial center in Missouri.

Early industries that greatly influenced the city's growth included pork packing, soap and candle making, coopering, milling of lumber, and railroad industries diminished, other Hannibal business ventures took their place, including shoe manufacturing, button making, and cement production.

The city is proud of its long list of well-known sons and daughters including William Lear, designer of the Lear jet; Congressman William Henry Hatch; Navy Admiral Robert E. Coontz; sculptor John Rogers; Margaret Tobin, the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown; composer Egbert Van Alstyne; and artist Carroll Beckwith.

Hannibal's most famous son is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known worldwide by his pen name, Mark Twain. At the age of four, Sam's family moved to Hannibal from his birthplace in Florida, Missouri, about thirty miles to the southwest. Many of the popular characters featured in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and other beloved works, were based upon people Sam had known while growing up in Hannibal.