May 17, 2025, National Kids to Parks Day and the city of St. Charles are partnering to bring the Historical Children’s Festival to downtown St. Charles. The event will begin at the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site, where children are invited to travel back in time to life in the 1820’s and experience …
Visit Bonniebrook, the birthplace of America’s beloved cherubs. Story: Valerie Porter Just eight miles north of Branson lies a lite known treasure named Bonniebrook, the birthplace of a phenomenon that captured America’s heart and has remained popular for decades. Bonniebrook was once home to Rose O’Neill, creator of the impish creatures she called Kewpies, because …
The “Pine to Palm” route took early automobiles through the Show-Me State. From my backyard in Cameron, I can watch cars driving up and down a stretch of highway. A century ago, our property was a pasture from where grazing cattle could have seen farm trucks going to market and early automobiles traversing a north–south …
Missouri’s famous feuds comprise bloody chapters in the story of our state. Story: Ron Soodalter Illustrations: Spencer Owen When we think of feuds, the image that often comes to mind is of two multi-generational families, blazing away at each other over some ancient—and largely forgotten—offense. This is indeed one iteration. However, according to the Cambridge …
By Deborah Reinhardt It’s a good bet that most—if not all—of the urbanites sipping lattes at MoKaBe’s Coffeehouse in St. Louis can’t name the patriarch behind Chauvin Coffee, the local business that supplies the shop with its roasted beans. But when asked, many could name a member of the beer family who gave them Bud Light. …
As summer turns to fall, Missouri prepares to celebrate many traditions—fall festivals, hayrides, and pumpkin patches. A lesser-known tradition for many may be the Arch Builders event, hosted at the St. Louis Arch every October. At this special event, the National Park Service recognizes the many people who labored together to accomplish the “impossible”—constructing the …
West of St. Louis, the small community of St. Albans invites visitors to escape urban life. The highly walkable village, anchored by The Inns at St. Albans, is a favorite destination for weddings, family gatherings, or retreats. Along the hilly drive to the town, dense trees flank narrow, winding roads, and rail fences surround massive …
February 11, 1845, is the birthday of Alexander Dockery, Governor and Congressman from Gallatin and Chillicothe.
STORY Timothy Reinbott In 1820, Missouri was the western frontier. After the War of 1812, hearty souls looking for opportunity came from Kentucky and other eastern states to settle in mid-Missouri. These pioneers brought a yearning for new land and also a yearning for religious freedom that was free of creeds, oaths, and tests of …
January 20, 1935, is the birthday of pro basketball player and Mizzou coach “Stormin’ Norman” Stewart from near Shelbyville.
A visceral encounter with Civil War stories that still echo on blood-stained ground. The spark for my interest in early American history was ignited long before I traveled Interstate 70 to visit Civil War battle sites in Lexington and Lone Jack. Oddly enough, it began while watching the movie The Patriot. Though this film depicts …
Missouri History Today December 29, 2013: New Book Rides Ozark History Resurgence
South of Downtown Columbia is a small cemetery where Missouri’s twenty-second governor is buried, as is the founder of William Jewell College. The site is bordered by a low stone wall with an iron gate. The cemetery was once part of the estate of George Jewell, who founded one of Missouri’s early dynasties. In 1841, …
Running for a limited time November 16–17 is Lone Jack Historical Society’s annual escape room adventure, “Hiding in Plain Sight-The Pinkerton Detectives & the Crookfield Case.” “We started the Escape Room almost 10 years ago as a fund raiser for the Lone Jack Museum,” says Alinda Miller, president of the Lone Jack Historical Society. “While …
“Daily Disney: Walt Disney in the Funny Pages,” a new exhibition at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, gives visitors a look at the role comic strips played in the origins and evolution of the Walt Disney company.
At Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site in New Madrid, visitors can explore a grand Southern mansion while learning about the families who shaped the development of Missouri’s southeastern lowlands for a century and a half.
On this date in history, Missouri’s first secretary of state, Joshua Barton, was killed in a duel.
The Corps of Discovery sighted bison for the first time during their journey on this date.
Gov. Daniel Dunklin’s Grave State Historic Site is a one-acre cemetery plot. Here visitors can reflect on Dunklin’s achievements, which include the establishment of tax-supported public school systems, and take in the view of the Mississippi.
The road is an endless source of wonder. Follow the path of this early highway for an adventure that will take you through historic homes, a depot museum, a Main Street district, and an unusual museum dedicated to small electrical appliances.
Say oui to a weekend in Historic Downtown Ste. Genevieve, where the 27th French Heritage Festival will whisk visitors away to another time by recreating French Colonial-style celebrations and showcasing skills and arts representative of the period.
On this date in history, the Lewis and Clark Expedition—also known as the Voyage of Discovery—sets out across Missouri to explore the lands west of the Mississippi.
Shortly after the Civil War ended, the riverboat Sultana—overloaded with Union soldiers released from Confederate prison camps—began its journey up the Mississippi River. What happened next would become one of America’s worst maritime disasters.
Calamity Jane: Calamity Jane, was born at Princeton, MO.
Sometimes it’s fun to wonder “what if?” An exhibit at the Special Collections Gallery at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Miller Nichols Library imagines how a number of proposed projects might have reshaped the Kansas City experience.
Joe Buck, who grew up in St. Louis and spent many years calling Cardinals games, was born on this date.
On this date in Missouri history, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield is established. The battle, the first in Missouri’s long Civil War history, took place on August 10, 1861, west of Springfield.
Once referred to as the Thermopylae of the West, the Battle of Pilot Knob was one of the bloodiest in the Civil War in Missouri, and it marked the beginning of the end for the Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price.
Missouri magazine, a precursor to Missouri Life, caught up with legendary baseball manager Whitey Herzog in 1995. Herzog, who died April 15, 2024, developed an audacious playing style called Whiteyball, which propelled the St. Louis Cardinals through three pennants and a World Series championship.
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