According to local legend[1] there is a ghostlight (or "spooklight") near Arbyrd. This "Light" is known variously as the "Arbyrd Light" or as the "Senath Light." The alleged location actually lies between three towns (Arbyrd, Senath and Hornersville) on an old gravel road near the community known as Hollywood. [edit]
Notable People
The Missouri Bootheel is the home place of 2 members of The Kentucky Headhunters[5], Doug and Ricky Phelps. They grew up in Cardwell and Arbyrd and obtained their education from the Southland C-9 school district. Doug and Ricky were both members of the Headhunters who then left to form their own band called - Brother Phelps. Once Ricky decided to take his music into a more gospel arena, Doug rejoined the Kentucky Headhunters as the lead singer. Doug and Ricky came back (as Brother Phelps) to the Missouri Bootheel. They performed at the Cotton Pickin Festival in Arbyrd; a place where they spent lots of time while growing up.
Archie
On August 10, 1932 a meteorite fell near Archie that received national attention. A fragment is on display in the Smithsonian' s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The name of the meteor is "Archie
Ma Barker
Ash Grove
Notable People
Ma Barker, criminal leader
Augusta
Most notably, the Town of Augusta is home to two wineries, Augusta Winery and Mount Pleasant Winery, along with Balducci Winery and Montelle Winery (also in the Augusta zip code) and other wineries nearby. The Augusta area was recognized by the federal government in 1980 as the first designated American Viticultural Area in the United States, beating out Napa Valley. The concentration of wineries along SH 94 has led to the road's being called the Missouri Weinstrasse (wine road). The larger region on both sides of the river nearly to Jefferson City is called the Missouri Rhineland.
Bates City
Notable People
Holmes Osborne, Actor
Bell City
Notable People
Dave Barham - Founded Hot Dog on a Stick.
Belle
Notable Belle natives include distinguished geologist and geophysicist, J. Michael Party
Berger
Berger is home to Bias Vineyards-Gruhlke's Microbrewery, and Bias Vineyards. It is within the Hermann American Viticultural Area, recognized in 1983 as a distinct wine region by the federal government. The seven wineries in the AVA produce one-third of the annual state total of wine
Bernie
Notable People
Narvel Felts, a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, went to Bernie High-School
Bethany
A limestone outcropping on Big Creek on the west side of town gives its name to the Bethany Falls Limestone formation. The falls no longer exist and only a small amount is exposed. However the formation extends through Kansas City, Missouri and limestone is used extensively in buildings in that city and the formation is the basis for Subtropolis which claims to be the world's largest manmade commercial cave
Notable People
Babe Adams, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched in two World Series baseball games, was a Bethany resident.
Frank Buckles, the last surviving United States veteran from World War I, was born in Bethany.
Birch Tree
Notable People
Mel Carnahan, Governor of Missouri (1993–2000), only person posthumously elected to the U.S. Senate. born in Birch Tree
Bolivar
Ranked number 87 on a list of 100 Best Small Towns in America in 1995
Bonne Terre is home to the Bonne Terre Mine site. The mine was the first in the network of St. Joe Minerals lead mines that led to Missouri producing 70 percent of the United State lead in the Southeast Missouri Lead District. The mine was a target of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. This mine is open for tours and is also known as a scuba diving attraction. The underground lake in the mine was a primary site for filming the 1989 sci-fi film The Abyss.
Bonne Terre is also home to The Space Museum
Boonville
The city was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil War on July 17, 1861. Union forces easily brushed aside a small and poorly equipped force of the Missouri State Guard in the so-called Battle of Boonville.
Notable People
Julie Thacher (Mayor) Julia Lee, blues singer and pianist
Minus Story (band)
Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Founder of Jehovah's Witnesses and 2nd President of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society) Other references list his birthplace as Versailles, Missouri.
Frederick T. Kemper, founder of school later known as Kemper Military School.
Colonel Thomas A. Johnston, Builder of Kemper Military School, Superintendent and President from 1881 to 1928.
Colonel Arthur M. Hitch, Superintendent of Kemper Military School, 1928-1948.
Walter Williams, founder of the Missouri School of Journalism and former president of the University of Missouri.
George Graham Vest, U.S. Senator from Missouri
Henry L. Myers, U.S. Senator from Montana
Henry S. Benedict, U.S. Congressman from California.
Nathaniel Albertson, U.S. Congressman from Indiana.
John Cosgrove, U.S. Congressman from Missouri.
John Gaines Miller, U.S. Congressman from Missouri.
Robert Patterson Clark Wilson, U.S. Congressman from Missouri.
Theron Moses Rice, U.S. Congressman from Missouri.
George Ainslie, Congressional delegate from Idaho Territory.
Bosworth
Notable People
Barbara Marx, who was first married to Zeppo Marx, one of the Marx Brothers (from 1959 until their divorce in 1973), then to Frank Sinatra (from 1976 until his death in 1998), was born in Bosworth.
Branson
In 1983 Branson began its transformation into a major tourist attraction when the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre opened in Lampe, Missouri. The theatre, which was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre before ultimately closing in the early 2000s, proved there was a market for large music gatherings. Ironically, it started out as a venue for rock bands Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Steppenwolf, and Ozzy Osbourne.[9] Also in 1983, Roy Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre, becoming the first famous country music star to have his own venue in Branson. Many of the performers who have their own theaters in Branson got their start at that venue. A series of larger theatres opened soon thereafter. In 1987, Box Car Willie became the first entertainer with a permanent schedule in Branson. Andy Williams, built his own theater in Branson opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre.
Scenes from the family motion picture Gordy were shot here in 1995 Branson is home to America's largest Veterans Day celebration, "Veterans Homecoming Week"
List of entertainers associated with Branson Ann-Margret, Moe Bandy, Jim Barber, Norman Bergen, Pat Boone, Boxcar Willie, Kirby Van Burch, Glen Campbell, Captain and Tennille, Conlan Carter, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Charo, Dick Clark, Petula Clark, Roy Clark, The Comets, John Davidson, Phyllis Diller, Barbara Fairchild, Mickey Gilley, Robert Goulet, Dino Kartsonakis, Gladys Knight, Cristy Lane, Brenda Lee, Lennon Sisters, Shari Lewis, Rich Little, Barbara Mandrell, Irlene Mandrell, Louise Mandrell, Wayne Newton, Oak Ridge Boys, Tony Orlando, Osmond Family, Gary S. Paxton, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, David Silverman, Yakov Smirnoff, Jim Stafford, Ray Stevens, Shoji Tabuchi , Mel Tillis , Bobby Vinton, Lawrence Welk, Andy Williams
Brashear
The Brashear Lady Tigers won back-to-back Missouri Class 1A state basketball titles in 2003 and 2004.
Brookfield
Every Labor Day weekend, Brookfield hosts the Great Pershing Balloon Derby.
Every fall the Brookfield Bulldogs play the Marceline Tigers in the annual Bell Game which is one of the oldest high school football rivalries in the United States.
Notable People
Doris Akers, gospel singer & composer. Born in Brookfield & resided there until age five.
Buffalo
Notable People
Hugh Alexander, baseball player
Louis Brownlow, author
Terry D. Scott, 10th Master Chief Petty Officer of the U.S. Navy
Canton is the site of Culver-Stockton College, a small liberal arts college affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Notable Alumni:
Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster & commentator, newspaper columnist. Received an honorary doctorate degree from Culver-Stockon College in 1952 and was initiated as an honorary member of Lamda Chi Alpha in May 1952.
Edward V. Long, US Senator from Missouri
Cardwell
Notable People
The Missouri Bootheel is the home place of 2 members of The Kentucky Headhunters, Doug and Ricky Phelps. They grew up in Cardwell and Arbyrd and obtained their education from the Southland C-9 school district. Doug and Ricky were both members of the Headhunters who then left to form their own band called - Brother Phelps. Once Ricky decided to take his music into a more gospel arena, Doug rejoined the Kentucky Headhunters as the lead singer. Doug and Ricky came back (as Brother Phelps) to the Missouri Bootheel. They performed at the Cotton Pickin Festival in Arbyrd; a place where they spent lots of time while growing up. The Kentucky Headhunters filmed part of the music video "Oh Lonesome Me" in Cardwell, Missouri.
Carrollton
Notable People
James Johnson Duderstadt, President of the University of Michigan. 1988-1996
Leon E. Bates UAW Leader
Francis Doyle Gleeson, Roman Catholic bishop
James Shields Civil War General and United States Senator
Don Martin Defensive Back for Yale. Played in the NFL for the Buccaneers, Chiefs, and the Patriots, and coached in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders.
The Battle of Carthage, fought on July 5, 1861, was a clash between Union troops from St. Louis and Confederate troops led by the pro-Southern Missouri Governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson. The "Second Battle of Carthage" occurred in October 1863 when Union troops confronted Confederate troops north of town and forced them to return to Arkansas. The town experienced minor skirmishes and attacks throughout the war; pro-Confederate guerrillas burned most of the city (including the courthouse) in September 1864.
Carthage is located on Historic U.S. Route 66. The original alignment around town is still marked, and several old businesses built to cater to travelers can still be seen
Since 1978, Carthage has hosted the annual Marian Days celebration for Vietnamese American Catholics. 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.[10]
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.
Composer James Scott, regarded as one the three most important composers of classic ragtime, lived in Carthage from 1901 to 1906. Scott attended Lincoln High School and worked in the music store of Charles L. Dumars. Demand for the music of Scott, who began to compose while living in Carthage, convinced Dumars to publish Scott's "A Summer Breeze" in 1903.[11]
Notable People
Emily Newell Blair (1877–1951) was an American writer, suffragist, national Democratic Party political leader, a founder of the League of Women Voters and feminist.
A. P. (Ace) Borger, businessman associated with Texas (1888–1934)
Jann Carl, Entertainment Tonight correspondent (b. 1960)
Frances Crowe, peace activist (b. 1919)
Carl Hubbell, baseball player (1903–1988)
Janet L. Kavandi, Astronaut (STS-91, STS-99, STS-104)(b. 1959)
Preston Lacy, part of the Jackass cast
Marlin Perkins, naturalist and host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (1905–1986)
Belle Starr (Myra MayBelle Shirley), Wild West outlaw (1848–1889)
Bertha Teague, basketball coach, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame (1906–1991)
Felix Wright, NFL Football Player (1985–1992)
Charleston
On September 1, 1861 Confederate General M. Jeff Thompson robbed the Union Bank of Charleston. Thompson, who handed the cashier a note, gave the cashier an hour to get approval from superiors to give him keys to the vault. After receiving the money he left a receipt for $57,000 and discovered later that only $56,000 was in the bags.[5]
The city was the epicenter of the October 31, 1895 6.6 earthquake on the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The quake damaged virtually all buildings in Charleston, creating sand volcanoes, cracked a pier on the Cairo Rail Bridge and toppled chimneys in St. Louis, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, Gadsden, Alabama and Evansville, Indiana. The quake is the biggest quake since the 1812 New Madrid earthquake which at 8.3 was the biggest recorded quake in the Contiguous United States.[6] One of the most visible signs of the quake is Henson Lake south of Charleston which was greatly expanded by the quake.
Charleston High School has won 10 state boys basketball state championships the most recent of which in 2007.
Notable People
Charlie Babb, former Miami Dolphin
Ricky Frazier,former basketball player
Betty Cooper Hearnes,Missouri politician
Warren E. Hearnes,former Missouri Governor
Matt Whiteside,baseball player
John E. Scott, former state senate president pro tem
Chillicothe - Home of Sliced Bread
Chillicothe
Chillicothe is one of only two cities named in the world-famous song "Hooray for Hollywood" that opens the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (The Oscars). The 1937 song (lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Richard A. Whiting) contains in the second verse: "Hooray for Hollywood! That phony, super Coney, Hollywood. They come from Chilicothes and Padukahs..." Both cities were misspelled in the original lyrics. The correct spellings are "Chillicothe" and "Paducah".
In popular culture
City of Chillicothe, a.k.a. "Chili", is the name of a spaceship in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Methuselah's Children.
Chillicothe is known as "The Home of Sliced Bread". On July 7, 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company began selling pre-sliced bread "at quality grocers in the area", marking the first time sliced bread was available commercially in the world. They used the Rohwedder Bread Slicer, a machine created by Iowa inventor, Otto Rohwedder.[11]
Notable People
Bower Slack Broaddus, judge Courtney
W. Campbell, congressman
Ray and Faye Copeland, serial killers
Claude B. Hutchison, botanist and politician
Jerry Litton, congressman
Charles H. Mansur, congressman
Shirley Collie Nelson, country music artist/actress
Henry Moses Pollard, congressman
John Quinn, politician
William Y. Slack, brigadier general and politician
Clarence Edwin Watkins, publisher
Clarkton
Notable People
Leary Lentz - Former basketball player for the Houston Mavericks and born here.
Gary Blaylock - Former MLB player and Pitching Coach of the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
Clever
Clever is the birthplace of television actor Robert Mandan.
Cole Camp
Cole Camp was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil War, when the local pro-Union Home Guard company was attacked by a Missouri State Guard force on June 19, 1861. At this battle of Cole Camp, the Home Guard were defeated with a loss of 35 men killed or wounded.
Concordia
Notable People
Kathryn Kuhlman, Bible teacher and evangelist
Conway
Conway Robotics Club The Conway Jr/Sr High School Robotics Club has competed in the BEST Robotics contest from 2005 to present. In the 2009-10 competition, High Octane, Conway won the first-ever National Robotics Championship. Their robot, F.R.E.D. (Fuel Replenishing Energy Droid) was designed and built by Paul Coryell, and Phillip Foust. These two juniors, along with senior members, Lloyd Oberbeck, Grant Rumfelt and Shane Sell travelled to the National Competition in Dallas TX to compete against other regional qualifiers. There, on April 22nd, 2010, they dominated the competition and returned to Conway with the National Title.
Crystal City
Notable People
Crystal City is the hometown of former NBA player, United States Senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley.
Cuba
Four miles west of Cuba on Route 66 is the Guinness World's Largest Rocking Chair. The chair is 42' high and draws many Route 66 travelers to take photos.
De Soto
The city is known as "Fountain City" because of the numerous artesian wells. Water from these wells and springs was bottled and shipped by tank car to the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis
Notable People
Jay Nixon — Governor of Missouri and former state Attorney
General Thomas Clement Fletcher — Governor of Missouri
Whitey Ford, "The Duke of Paducah"
Jose Oquendo - 3rd base coach for St. Louis Cardinals lives in rural De Soto
Dexter
Notable People
George K. Sisler, Medal of Honor recipient
Charles Treat, U.S. Army general. Army Distinguished Service Medal recipient
James P. Walker, politician. member of the House of Representatives.
Diamond is primarily renowned as the birthplace of George Washington Carver.
Easton
Notable People
Easton is the birthplace of legendary college basketball coach Henry Iba, who coached Oklahoma State (then known as Oklahoma A&M) to consecutive NCAA titles in 1945 and 1946, becoming the first two-time winning coach in the NCAA tournament.
Easton is the home of D-II All-American runner, and the 2004 Missouri NCAA Woman of the year, Kate Hamera. She also attained a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado in December 2009.
Eldon
Notable People
Harley Race, professional wrestler
William Mueller, professional wrestler known under the names, "Trevor Murdoch" and "Jethro Holiday"
Christian Cantwell, 2008 Olympic shot-put silver medalist
Eldon was once home to country music legend, David Allan Coe
Heidi Strobel, from Survivor: The Amazon.
The television show Petticoat Junction was based on the Burris Hotel that existed in this small railroad town in the Midwest. Paul Henning the producer and creator of the show, was married to the granddaughter of the owner of the hotel and often visited
El Dorado Springs
El Dorado Springs boasts the United States longest continually used bandstand.[citation needed]
El Dorado Springs is the proud home to Eric Matthews, who was the 2009 Missouri National Geographic Bee Champion. He went to Washington D.C. to represent the state.
El Dorado Springs is the proud home to Makenzie Melton, who is the winner of the "Doodle 4 Google" competition. Makenzie’s design was selected from more than 33,000 student submissions from all over the country.
Elllisville
In 2009, Money magazine ranked Ellisville #25 on the annual Best Places to Live in America list
Elsberry
Notable People
The Texas oil industrialist and former Oklahoma state legislator Oliver Winfield Killam was born in Elsberry in 1874.
Elsberry was the boyhood home of United States Congressman Clarence Cannon.
The actor Michael Douglas had his first starring role in a movie, Adam at Six A.M. which was released in 1970. The movie was filmed in Excelsior Springs, as well as in Cameron, Missouri.
In 1974, the National Civic League selected Excelsior Springs as an All-America City, thus reviving some energy into this small town.[6]
Excelsior Springs
Notable People
Brenda Joyce: Brenda Joyce was born Betty Leabo in Excelsior Springs on February 25, 1917. She is most known as playing "Jane" in Tarzan movies during the 1940s and 1950s.
Gregg Williams: Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills and Assistant Head Coach to the Washington Redskins football teams, Defensive Coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. He was born July 15, 1958; he is a native of Excelsior Springs. He was the quarterback on the football team and played baseball in high school.
Shaun Marcum: Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Donald Judd: Prominent minimalist artist who denied the very concept of minimalism. Born in Excelsior Springs June 3, 1928, died February 12, 1994. Renowned for his box sculptures, which he denied were sculptures, and for his permanent installations at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.
Farmington
Notable People
Writer Herbert Asbury was born in Farmington. He later published a controversial chapter about a prostitute from Farmington in Up From Methodism, which was seen as a liability for The American Mercury.
Barney Pelty, Major League Baseball pitcher
Ferguson
Notable People
Jimmy Doolittle - American aviation pioneer who served with great distinction as a general during the Second World War [5]
Enos Slaughter - American (baseball player)
Michael McDonald - Grammy-award winner [5]
Louis Maull - Distributor of Maull's barbecue sauce [5]
General Ralph Eberhart - Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command during the September 11 attacks.[6]
Susan Notorangelo - American long distance cyclist
Harry J. Tuthill - cartoonist of the syndicated comic strip, The Bungle Family
Forsyth
The jazz musician and bandleader Charlie Haden grew up in Forsyth.
Frankford
Frankford is the hometown of P. J. Lansing, Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for January 1972.
Franklin
Born in Madison County, Kentucky, near the city of Richmond, Kit Carson was raised in Franklin.[4]
Lindsey Carson, was a farmer of Scots-Irish descent, who had fought in the Revolutionary War under General Wade Hampton. There were a total of fifteen surviving Carson siblings: five by Lindsey Carson's first wife, and ten by Kit's mother, Rebecca Robinson, Lindsey Carson's second and last wife. Kit was believed to be the eleventh child in the family.[5][6] The Carson family settled on a tract of land owned by the sons of Daniel Boone, who had purchased the land from the Spanish prior to the Louisiana Purchase. The Boone and Carson families became good friends, working, socializing, and intermarrying.[citation needed] Carson was eight when his father was killed by a falling tree while clearing land. Lindsey Carson's death reduced the Carson family to a desperate poverty, forcing young Kit to drop out of school to work on the family farm, as well as engage in hunting. At the age of 14, Kit was apprenticed to a saddlemaker (Workman's Saddleshop) in Franklin, Missouri, which was situated at the eastern end of the Santa Fe Trail, which had opened two years earlier. Many of the clientele at the saddleshop were trappers and traders, from whom Kit would hear their stirring tales of the Far West. Carson is reported to have found work in the saddle shop suffocating: he once stated "the business did not suit me, and I concluded to leave". Around 1826, aged 16, Kit secretly signed on with a large merchant caravan heading to Santa Fe.
Winston Churchill made his famous "Sinews of Peace" (Iron Curtain) speech in Fulton at Westminster College in 1946.
Notable People
Bake McBride, former Major League Baseball outfielder and 1974 National League Rookie of the Year
Henry Bellamann, poet and author of Kings Row
Helen Stephens, 1936 Olympic Champion (The Fulton Flash)
Charlie James, former Major League Baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals 1960–65
Laura Redden Searing, also known as Howard Glyndon, deaf poet and writer
Tony Galbreath, former running back in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints 1976–80, the Minnesota Vikings 1981–83, and the New York Giants 1984–87
Michael Kim, ESPN anchor and personality
Ron McBride, former running back in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers 1973
Gallatin
The Gallatin Election Day Battle took place in 6 August 1838, when about 200 people attempted to forcibly prevent Mormons from voting in the newly created county's first election. The skirmish is often cited as the opening event of the 1838 Mormon War.
Notable People
Joshua Willis Alexander - US Secretary of Commerce, 1919–1921, under President Woodrow Wilson
Conrad Burns- Senator from Montana
Alexander Monroe Dockery - Missouri Governor
William Thornton Kemper, Sr. - Patriarch of the Missouri Kemper financial family
Johnny Ringo - outlaw who briefly lived in the town
Walter Page - Jazz bassist
Gerald
Law Enforcement Scandal - In February 2008, Bill A. Jakob arrived in Gerald impersonating a Federal drug enforcement officer with the Justice Department. After numerous arrests in the town and surrounding area for drug possession, it was revealed in an investigation by the Gasconade County Republican that Jakob did not work for the Federal or state government. Gerald made national headlines, and Jakob has since been indicted on charges of impersonating a federal agent.[4]
Gerald on Television - Gerald, MO was referred to in an episode of CSI Crime Investigation.
Gideon
Notable People
Jack Campbell lived in Gideon, Missouri. He was a gospel song writer and musician, having his song "I Know A Man Who Can" performed by George Jones.[1] Jack Campbell died on February 12, 2007 at his home in Gideon. He was 79. He left behind his furniture store on Main Street, Campbell's Furniture, to his wife, Charlene Campbell.
Scott Crockett, born in Sikeston, attended school in Gideon. Scott is an animator who has worked on cartoons, like Kappa Mikey, which appears on Nickelodeon. He has also worked on Ellen's Acres and Furby Island.[2][3][4]
Trivia
The novel Sins of the Flesh by Don and Jay Davis begins in Gideon, Missouri.
Glasgow
The Battle of Glasgow was fought on October 15, 1864, in and near Glasgow as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. Although the battle resulted in a Confederate victory and the capture of significant war material, it had little long-term benefit as Price was ultimately defeated at Westport a week later, bringing his campaign in Missouri to an end.
Grandview
Notable People
Harry S Truman, President of the United States, lived in Grandview.
Josh Freeman, 2009 1st round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers graduated from Grandview High School in 2006.
Hamilton
Notable People
James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney (his farm home has been moved to town and is a museum)
Zack Wheat, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ballplayer (in 2006 Route 13 was named the Zack Wheat Memorial Highway)
Mark Twain
Hannibal
Cement for the Empire State Building and Panama Canal was created at the Atlas Portland Cement Company in the nearby unincorporated company town of Ilas
The community is best known as the boyhood home of author Mark Twain and as the setting of his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with numerous historical sites related to Mark Twain and sites depicted in his fiction. Hannibal draws both American and international tourists. Most Hannibal residents enjoy the visitors and the town at large enjoys much success through tourist revenue.[10]
The town has other distinctions as well. In the Broadway musical Damn Yankees, Hannibal was the hometown of the protagonist’s assumed persona (Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO).
Hannibal was also the birthplace of singer and actor Cliff Edwards ("Ukelele Ike") and 'The Unsinkable Molly' Brown.
inventor Bill Lear and
NBA basketball coach Cotton Fitzsimmons.
The Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse was constructed in 1933 and has been lit at three separate times by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, and President Bill Clinton.
Rockcliffe Mansion sits upon a knoll in Hannibal, is listed on the National Register of Historic places.
The community is also supposed to be the home of Col. Sherman T. Potter from the television show M*A*S*H (TV series).
Jake Beckley, major league baseball player[13]
James Carroll Beckwith - artist
Margaret Brown, passenger on the RMS Titanic, the unsinkable Molly Brown.
Robert Coontz
Cliff Edwards, the voice of Disney’s Jiminy Cricket
Harry Richard Landis, one of the last surviving World War I veterans was born near Hannibal.
John Wingate Broadcaster, writer, and communications consultant.
George Poage
Benjamin Prentiss
Scott Sanders, baseball player
Larry Thompson was born and raised in Hannibal, Deputy Attorney General of the United States under President George W Bush
Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens)
William P Lear inventor of car radio and manufacturer of the Learjet
Blanche Bruce, African-American politician
Fictional Hannibal residents:
Sherman T. Potter, character in the TV series M*A*S*H.
Allison (Liberty Maid) from Josh and S.A.M., 1993 film about two runaway boys fleeing to Canada.
Joe Hardy, from the musical, Damn Yankees. A popular song from the musical was called, "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo"
Chris Dennis, from the movie "Nathaniel Neverwas"
Greg Moskoff, from the movie Die Hard
Joyce Palmieri from the movie Kindergarten Cop
Harrisonville
Harrisonville was one of the few places exempted in Union General Thomas Ewing's notorious General Order No. 11 (1863), which ordered the depopulation of four entire Missouri counties
Charlie Simpson - In 1971 Harrisonville was the site of escalating tensions between a handful of would-be hippies -- mostly Vietnam veterans -- and town elders, which culminated in a brief rampage by 25-year-old Charlie "Ootney" Simpson. In the town square, in plain view of onlookers, he killed two police officers and a bystander before shooting himself. His motivation turned out to be personal, not political; he had saved money to buy a farm, but the seller had recently backed out of the deal, and Simpson had used the money to bail his friends out of jail.
Hayti
Notable People
Wendell Mayes, an Oscar nominated Hollywood writer was born in Hayti. [1]
William Moore, a former Missouri Tiger college safety.
Jajuan Johnson, the oral historian for the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, grew up in Hayti.
Mildred Pulliam Whitehorn, singer who recorded for Stax Records in the 1970s under the name Veda Brown
Lew Carpenter, NFL running back
Herculaneum
Notable People
Thomas C Fletcher, the 18th Governor of Missouri, was born in Herculaneum on January 21, 1827. Governor Fletcher was the first native born governor in Missouri.
Daniel Dunklin, the 5th Governor of Missouri, died in Herculaneum on August 25, 1844 and was buried in the family plot in Herculaneum.
Campbell Morfit, a noted chemist was born in Herculaneum on November 19, 1820.
In fiction
In the Broadway musical A Chorus Line, Richie Walters was born in Herculaneum, Missouri.
Tom McCord, a 1969 Herculaneum High School graduate, is the author of a novel, Some Forever, that tells a dual story about six friends growing up in Herculaneum. One story traces the lives of the friends in reverse order from 1969 back to 1959. This story touches on many aspects of life in Herculaneum during the 1960s. The other story is a mystery death of one of the friends and the effects it has on the other five friends.
Hermann
The Hermann area is known for wineries: Stone Hill Winery, the largest winemaking business in the state, and Hermannhof Winery are in the town. Two miles south of town off Missouri Highway 100 West is Adam Puchta Winery, the oldest continuously family-owned winery in the nation, under direct family ownership since 1855.[4] Bias Vineyards is less than eight miles east near Berger on Missouri Highway 100. Also included in the Hermann AVA are Oakglenn Vineyards and Winery, 2½ miles east of Hermann; Bommarito Estate Almond Tree Winery; and Röbller Vineyards and Winery near New Haven.
Notable People
Brock Olivo, Former Missouri Tigers and Detroit Lions football player. 2008 Republican candidate for Missouri 9th congressional district.
Ken Boyer, Former St. Louis Cardinals third baseman and manager.
Richard Honeck, arsonist and murderer, was paroled after serving 64 years of his life sentence. He had served the longest jail term that terminated in the prisoner's release.
Omar Bradley (February 12, 1893 - August 8, 1981) One of the main U.S. Army field commanders in North Africa and Europe during World War II and a General of the Army of the United States Army.
Higginsville
Notable People
Lee Shippey, journalist
Holcomb
Notable People
Tommy Lynn Sells, American Serial Killer
Holt
Holt has the distinction of holding the world record for the fastest accumulation of rainfall. On June 22, 1947, Holt had 12 inches (300 mm) of rain in 42 minutes
Kopkins
Occult writer Grant Wallace was born in Hopkins in 1867.
The Hopkins Tornado of 1881 in which four tornadoes combined into one is believed to have been one of the first recorded F5 tornadoes.
Hopkins was the final home of jockey Clive Dixon and his wife Betty June, who trained and owned the National Appaloosa Show Champion, Two-Eyed Sioux.
In 1985, the North Nodaway High School which is located in Hopkins won the Girl's State Softball Championship and in 1989 the boy's won the State Eight Man Football Championship
Humansville
Notable People
Zoe Akins, (1886–1958), became a successful poet, playwright, and screenwriter.
Edgar Buchanan (1903–1979), who had a long career in movies and television. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction in the 1960s.
Huntsville
Huntsville was also the boyhood home of civil war pro-Confederate guerrilla leader William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson.
Irondale
Notable People
Thomas Wesley Benoist (1874–1917), aviator, aerospace engineer, founder of the first airline in the USA
The Iron Mountain Baby, William Moses Gould Helms, subject of folksong, was discovered where the railroad trestle crosses Big River in August, 1902.
John Kernan (1958–Present), announcer for ESPN and ABC Nascar broadcasts 1990-2000, host of RPM2Night on ESPN2 1996-2003.
Jim Niesen, director, writer, and actor. Artistic Director of the Irondale Ensemble Project. Spent his boyhood summers in the City of Irondale.
Ferlin Huskey (December 3, 1925 to Present), Country Singer and Musician spent his early childhood on a farm outside of Irondale and attended grade school at Irondale.
Ironton
Notable People
Chris Carr, former NBA basketball player
Jackson
Notable People
Linda M. Godwin, NASA astronaut
Gary Friedrich, Writer of the comic book Ghost Rider
Louis C. Wagner, Jr., United States Army four star general
Jamesport
Jamesport has the largest Amish community in the state of Missouri
Notable People
Martha Scott - Academy Award nominated actress
Phog Allen - University of Kansas coach called the "Father of Basketball Coaching"
Jasper
Jasper is the nominal setting of the 1989 movie Road House, starring Patrick Swayze; however, the movie was not actually filmed in Jasper.[4] Critic Robert Trussell noted, "Little effort was made to hide the (California) mountains in the background."
Jasper was the home to Debra Dene Barnes Miles the year after she finished her reign as Miss America (from 'Miss Kansas' title) in 1968.
It is most famous for being the birthplace of Jesse James, and there is an annual festival in the third weekend of September to recognize the notorious outlaw.
Jesse James
On September 5, 1847, Jesse Woodson James was born on the James farm, where his family resided to the northeast of the site where Kearney would eventually be established. James formed the infamous James-Younger gang in 1866, which operated until the Younger brothers were captured in 1876. James formed a new gang in 1879 and continued until his "death" on April 3, 1882, when he was shot by fellow gang-member Robert Ford. He was laid to rest on his farm, just outside Kearney
Kennett
Notable People
Sheryl Crow, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter
John M. Dalton, former Missouri governor
Dan Landrum, hammered dulcimer player who tours with Yanni
Fred Lasswell, cartoonist of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
David Nail, country music recording artist
Sally Stapleton, Pulitzer-winning photojournalist
Trent Tomlinson, country singer
Glennray Tutor, photorealist painter
C. John Wilder, U.S. energy industry executive
Will Johnson (musician), Singer/songwriter of the bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel(band)
Keytesville
Notable People
Maxwell D. Taylor, - former U.S. Army General and diplomat.
Sterling Price, - former Missouri governor and Confederate General.
Cal Hubbard, - Pro footbal Hall of Fame member
Kidder
The city received national publicity in 2004 after a student at the Thayer Learning Center in the community died after not receiving treatment early enough. In 2009 the Center was sold to become the White Buffalo Academy. The campus was formerly Thayer College and Thayer High School. Thayer College was founded in 1871 and closed in 1876. It reopened in 1877 as the Kidder Institute and operated under the auspices of the Congregational Church of Missouri. The building was used as a public school from 1934 to 1981
The Big Pump
King City
In the 1990s, the Big Pump a 25-foot (7.6 m) high building resembling an electric gasoline pump was moved from Maryville, Missouri to King City where it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rufus Limpp, an oil jobber, who built the station is from King City (the Limpp Community Lake by King City is also named for him).[5] The big pump is located on the Tri-County Museum grounds
Kingston
Notable People
Charles J. Hughes, Jr. - A Democratic U.S. Senator for Colorado.
Kinloch
Kinloch is the oldest African-American community to be incorporated in the state of Missouri and was home to a vibrant and flourishing black community for much of the 19th and 20th century and is the hometown of California Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Kirksville
The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman State University
Notable Alumni
Ray Armstead gold medal winner in the 1984 Olympics (4x400m relay)
Samuel W. Arnold, former US Congressman from Missouri 1st district.
Robert J. Behnen, a genealogist and former Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives;
Beryl Franklin Carroll, 20th governor of Iowa[30]
John W. Cauthorn, a former Republican member of the Missouri State Senate;
Byron Crawford, a blogger and Hip-Hop critic;
Brian Dzingai, Zimbabwean Olympic sprinter;
Lenvil Elliott, former professional American football player who played running back for nine seasons in the NFL.
Jenna Fischer, actress, best known for her role as Pam Beesly, in the U.S. adaptation of The Office;
Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, a non-fiction writer best known for his research of Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table.
Harry Gallatin, Truman men's basketball player, NBA player for the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons, coach of the New York Knicks and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame;
Alphonso Jackson, 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
Glenn Jacobs, WWE wrestler best known as "Kane", played both football and basketball for Truman;
Harry H. Laughlin, was a leading American eugenicist in the first half of the 20th century;
Clare Magee, U.S. Representative from Missouri;
Rebecca McClanahan, RN and professor of Nursing, and former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives;
Susana A. Mendoza, member of the Illinois House of Representatives;
Mike Morris, former long snapper for the Minnesota Vikings and a current radio host on KFAN in Minneapolis.
John R. Murdock, U.S. Representative from Arizona.
Al Nipper, a Major League Baseball coach and a former pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.
Ken Norton, boxer, one of the few to beat Muhammad Ali;
General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, American Army Officer who achieved rank of General of the Armies;
Milton Andrew Romjue, U.S. Representative from Missouri.
Mary Rhodes Russell, judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri, appointed in 2004 and retained in 2006;
Scott Sifton, Missouri House of Representatives from St. Louis[31][32]
Rhonda Vincent, bluegrass singer, International Bluegrass Music Association's female vocalist of the year 2000–2006.
Arthur L. Willard, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral and winner of the Navy Cross.
Gregg Williams, Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills former head coach.[33]
Notable Faculty/Staff
Marc Becker, Professor of History, one of the most dangerous academics in America, according to The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America
Don Faurot, conference champion football and basketball head coach, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
Huping Ling, Professor of History
Emmanuel Nnadozie PhD, Nigerian economist,author,educator; founder of the Truman McNair Program
Marilyn Yaquinto, Assistant Professor of Communication, for being included in Los Angeles Times’ Pulitzer Prize award for Spot News Reporting of 1992 Los Angeles riots and its aftermath in connection with the Rodney King court case
The Battle of Kirksville
The Battle of Kirksville was fought August 6–9, 1862 during the American Civil War. Union troops led by John McNeil forced Confederate volunteers under Joseph Porter to vacate the city. Casualty estimates (almost entirely Confederate) range from 150-200 dead and up to 400 wounded. According to the August 12, 1862, Quincy Herald there were 8 Federal dead and 25 wounded. The victorious Union commander, Colonel McNeil, gained brief national attention for his post-battle execution of a small number of Confederate prisoners. These prisoners had been previously captured in battle and then paroled with the understanding they would no longer take up arms against the Union, upon penalty of death if recaptured. Nonetheless, Confederate government officials were outraged, and it is said that Confederate president Jefferson Davis even called for the execution of Colonel (later Brigadier General) McNeil if he were to be captured.
The Kirksville Cyclone On the evening of April 27, 1899, a cyclone passing through Adair County cut a path of destruction three blocks wide, killed 32 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. The popular song "Just as the Storm Passed O'er" was based on the event, and the Kimball Piano Company exploited the incident for its advertising, when one of their instruments was carried a long distance by the tornado but still found in working condition.[7] On May 13, 2009 Kirksville was again the victim of a large tornado. A tornado estimated as an EF2 on the Fujita scale struck the northern edge of Kirksville destroying or severely damaging many homes, several businesses, a car dealership, and at least one factory. Two residents living just outside the city limits were killed by the tornado, and as many as a dozen other area residents were injured.[8] The story of the 2009 twister was featured in season 3 of "Storm Chasers" on the Discovery Channel
Notable People
Doris Akers, gospel singer and composer.
Samuel W. Arnold, three-term U.S. Representative from Missouri 1st District (1943–49)
Joseph Baldwin, founder and first president of Truman State University
William Beckner, mathematician
Gordon Bell, early computer engineer
Robert J. Behnen, a genealogist and former Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives
Anthony Cistaro, actor, born In Kirksville but grew up in California.
Charles F. Cochran, U.S. Representative (1897–1905), born in Kirksville. Raised in Kansas.
Debra Di Blasi, prize-winning writer
Rusty Draper, singer
Harry H. Laughlin, eugenics proponent in the early 20th century
Rebecca McClanahan, Professor of Nursing and Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives
Archie Musick painter 1902–1978
John R. Musick, late 19th century historian & author
Jim Musick, American professional football player.
Ruth Ann Musick, folklorist and author
Geraldine Page, Academy Award-winning actress
James E. Rieger, US Army colonel & winner of the Distinguished Service Cross.
Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O., founder of Osteopathic Medicine
William Traylor, character actor and founder of the Loft Studio in Hollywood.[15]
Rhonda Vincent, Award-winning bluegrass singer.
Arthur L. Willard, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral & winner of the Navy Cross.
John Wimber, Charismatic Movement leader and keyboardist for the Righteous Brothers
Knob Noster
Knob Noster was mentioned in the 1983 American Television movie The Day After
Laclede
On September 13, 1860, John Joseph Pershing was born near Laclede, Missouri.
Lamar
Lamar is well known as the birthplace of President Harry S. Truman.
Notable People
Kid Durbin — major league baseball player, with Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 20th century.
Wyatt Earp — frontier lawman. Charles Henry Morgan — Missouri congressman as both a Democrat and a Republican in the period 1875-1911. Henry Carroll Timmonds — Missouri state representative and judge in late 19th century.
Harry S. Truman — U.S. President.
Howard R. Hughes, Sr.
Lancaster
Notable People
Howard R. Hughes, Sr., co-founder of the Hughes Tool Company and his brother, Rupert Hughes, a well known novelist and screenwriter, were both born in Lancaster to Felix Turner Hughes and Jean Amelia Summerlin, who were married in 1865. Hughes, Sr. was the father of Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., the reclusive multi-millionaire.
William Preston Hall (aka "the Colonel," "Diamond Billy," "Horse King of the World") (February 29, 1864-June 29, 1932) Circus empresario, dealer in exotic animals, horses, and mules.
La Plata
Notable People
Lester Dent, author, Doc Savage books.
Thomas L. Rubey, Missouri's 25th Lieutenant Governor & former U.S. Congressman.
1999 - La Plata R-2 High School won the Missouri Class 1-A Softball Title.[4] May, 2010 - La Plata R-2 girls 4x100 relay team win 1st place in the Missouri Class 1-A Track & Field competition
Lebanon
Notable People
Walter Reed
novelist Harold Bell Wright, author of The Shepherd of the Hills. While in Lebanon, Wright wrote the scathing The Calling of Dan Matthews as an indictment of the general hypocrisy of the town of Lebanon. In the novel a young preacher becomes disgusted with the closed-mindedness of his parish. Several real life sites are mentioned in the novel.
Senator Claire McCaskill spent time in Lebanon during her childhood as it was her mother's hometown.
Congressman Richard Parks Bland
Missouri Governor Phil M. Donnelly also called the town home.
Dramatist Lanford Wilson was born in Lebanon in 1937.
Architect Antoine Predock was born in Lebanon in 1936.
Perhaps the most distinctive piece in Lebanon’s history is the "magnetic" water. A worker digging a new city water well in 1889 found that his tools could pick up nails. The water had magnetized them. Bathing in the magnetic waters was said to have healing powers and visitors came to bathe in them. The Gasconade Hotel was built to accommodate them and no grander building has ever been seen in Lebanon. The frame structure could house up to 500 guests, who were transported from the depot via an electric railroad. Never a great success, the Gasconade burned after only 10 years. The high school yearbook is named "The Magnet" in honor of this point in the town's history.[citation needed]
The town now serves as a "hub" of boat-manufacturing, factory, and farming cultures.
In 1983, Governor Kit Bond dubbed Lebanon the "Aluminum Fishing Boat Capital of the World."
Lebanon is located on Historic Route 66
Battle of Lexington
Lexington
It is the home of the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site
Wentworth Military Academy and College, the oldest military school west of the Mississippi River
Notable Alumni
Politics
Ike Skelton - United States Congressman, 4th District of Missouri (1977–present), Ranking Democrat and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
Charles H. Price II - former United States Ambassador to Belgium (1981–1983) and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1983–1989); appointed by President Ronald Reagan
Newell A. George - United States Congressman, 1959–1961
The Arts
Robert Altman - Academy Award winning Director of classic films such as M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Long Goodbye (1974), Nashville (1975), The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Kansas City (1996), Dr. T & the Women (2000), Gosford Park (2001), The Company (2003), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
Marlin Perkins - host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
Arthur Schneider - four-time Emmy Award winning television editor
Business
James "Bud" Walton - Co-founder of Wal-Mart
Eddie Chiles - Founder of the Western Company of North America and owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team
John D. Groendyke - (1964) CEO of Groendyke Transport Inc. the 5th largest tank truck company in the nation.
William C. Schwartz - Physicist, Laser pioneer, and founder of International Laser Systems
Don D. Cadle - Rhodes Scholar, Director of Resources Programming for the NASA Apollo program, member of the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame, Treasurer and CFO of Chase Manhattan Bank.
Journalism
Paul Henderson - reporter for The Seattle Times, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 1982
Lewis Hill - co-founder of Pacifica Radio, the first public radio station in the U.S.
Academia
Dr. Ovid R. Sellers - internationally known Old Testament scholar and archaeologist
Athletics
Beals Becker - Major League baseball player
Med Park - NBA player
Harry Ice - MVP of 1942 Sugar Bowl, member of University of Missouri's all-century football team
Ben A. Jones - Thoroughbred horse trainer, six-time winner of the Kentucky Derby
Military
General William M. Hoge - oversaw construction of the ALCAN Highway and directed capture of the Remagen Bridge in World War II
General Mark A. Welsh - Commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe
Lieutenant General Melvin F. Chubb, Jr. - Former Commander of Hanscom Air Force Base
Lieutenant General LeRoy Lutes - Commanding General, Fourth United States Army, 1949–1952
Major General Clarence L. Tinker - namesake of Tinker Air Force Base
George B. Turner - Medal of Honor recipient, World War II
William E. Adams - Medal of Honor recipient, Vietnam War
Major Dale R. Buis - first casualty of Vietnam War
Civil War and Aftermath
Lexington was the site of two of the largest battles in the western campaign of the American Civil War. The better-known Battle of Lexington is commonly referred to as the Battle of the Hemp Bales. On September 12, 1861, between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers of the Missouri State Guard, led by Major General Sterling Price, began a siege against the Federal military post in the old Masonic College commanded by Colonel James A. Mulligan. On September 18, Price's army mounted an assault. Some of Price's army used hemp bales as moving breastworks while they moved up the river bluffs and closed in on Mulligan's headquarters. On September 20, 1861, Mulligan's troops surrendered. Combined casualties were 73 dead, 270 wounded. The battlefield on the bluffs of the Missouri River is now a state park, and the cannonball stuck in one of the upper pillars of the Courthouse has become a symbol for the town. The Second Battle of Lexington occurred during Price's Missouri Expedition on October 19, 1864. Lexington was known as a center for Quantrill's Raiders during the war. Two months after the Civil War ended, many of these guerrilla fighters who had refused to honor the cease fire finally decided to turn themselves in at Lexington. While riding into town, reportedly under a white flag, they skirmished with Union soldiers, and Jesse James was severely wounded. Some credit this event as a major contributing factor to his post-war career as a legendary bank robber. It is likely not a coincidence that the James-Younger Gang targeted the Alexander Mitchell bank in Lexington for the second daylight bank robbery in United States history. In December 1866, Archie Clement, an accomplice of the James brothers and perhaps the most notorious of all the guerrilla fighters, terrorized the town and was shot from his horse and killed by a sniper perched in the second floor of the Courthouse.
Liberal
Liberal, MO, named after the Liberal League in Lamar, Missouri (to which the town’s organizer belonged), was started as an atheist, "freethinker" utopia in 1880 by George Walser, an anti-religionist, agnostic lawyer
Licking
Notable People
Miyoshi Umeki (1929–2007), the Oscar-winning Japanese-born actress, died in Licking, where she lived with her only son.
Lone Jack
Lone Jack is the home of the 2006 Class 1 State Championship Cross-Country Team,[5] the first state championship in school history. Team members included: state champ Grant Brown, Sean Feehan, Nathan Pickering, Arron Ginnings, Luke Pilgrim, Zach Bahner, Stephan Albin, Greg Brown, Jack McGowen, Austin Warren, Brock Sears, and Tyler Becvar. Troy Brandes was the Coach.
Macks Creek
Controversy For years, Macks Creek had one of the most infamous speed traps in the entire nation, with a strictly enforced 45-MPH speed limit along US 54, which currently has a 60-MPH speed limit on either side of town. However, in 1995, that all came to a screeching halt when the State of Missouri passed a law prohibiting Missouri cities and towns from collecting more than 45% of their total revenue from speeding tickets—and Macks Creek had been collecting approximately 85% of its revenue from speeding tickets. Since the officers' hands were tied with the new law, the entire police department quit and the mayor resigned from office.[4] In 1997, a state audit of Macks Creeks treasury uncovered major financial woes. Shortly afterward, virtually every town official resigned from office and the city itself declared bankruptcy
Macon
Notable People
Frederick W. V. Blees, chief benefactor of Macon, founder of Blees Military Academy, (1860–1906).
Henderson Forsythe, (1916–2006), American Actor
James P. Kem, United States Senator from Missouri, 1947-1953.
Milton A. Romjue, long-time US Congressman for Missouri's 1st district.
Malden
Notable People
Narvel Felts, singer
Derland Moore, professional football player and member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
Hub Pruett, major league baseball player
Gary Blaylock, Major league pitcher, and Pitching Coach of the 1985 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals
Henry Rogers, Midsouth Wrestling Promoter (1963through1987)
Mansfield
Notable People
In 1894, Laura Ingalls Wilder, along with her husband, Almanzo Wilder, and their daughter Rose Wilder Lane moved from South Dakota to Mansfield. The family remained in the area for the next 60 years and established a large, successful poultry, dairy and fruit farm on the outskirts of town. Today, their unique 10-room farmhouse is a National Historic Landmark, and the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder-Rose Wilder Lane Home and Museum, which attracts thousands of visitors to Mansfield each year.
Marshall
Censorship Debate
In October 2006, a resident of Marshall attempted to have the graphic novels Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Blankets by Craig Thompson removed from the Marshall Public Library.[5] Supporters of the books' removal characterized them as "pornography" and expressed concern that they would be read by children.[6] Marshall Public Library Director Amy Crump defended the books as having been well-reviewed in "reputable, professional book review journals," and characterized the removal attempt as a step towards "the slippery slope of censorship". [5][6] On October 11, 2006, the Marshall Public Library Board of Trustees appointed a committee to create a materials selection policy, and removed Fun Home and Blankets from circulation until the new policy was approved.[7][8] On March 14, 2007, the board voted to return both Fun Home and Blankets to the library's shelves.[9]
Notable People
Bob James, jazz musician
Twila Tanner, contestant on Survivor: Vanuatu
Notable Animal
Jim the Wonder Dog - Noted hunting dog with a park in town named for him
In 2006, the city made the national news as it welcomed the largest gathering of Presidential relatives in the history of the nation. The historic gathering occurred for the announcement ceremony of the National First Families Library and Museum, which is located on the city square.
Notable People
Edwin Hubble. The stretch of Interstate 44 through Marshfield is named the Edwin Hubble Highway.
Joe Haymes, Swing Era orchestra leader, was born in Marshfield in 1907.
Mike Cunningham, Missouri State Representative, grew up and lived in Marshfield.
Dan Clemens, Republican member of the Missouri State Senate,
Darren King, current member of the band Mute Math, grew up in Marshfield.
Justin David, Country music singer; was a contestant on the show Nashville Star.
Maryville
Notable People
Sarah Caldwell - Boston opera diva
Dale Carnegie - Author of "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
Homer Croy - Author and screenwriter who wrote about life in Maryville
Albert David - Medal of Honor recipient for capture of U-505 during World War II
Forrest C. Donnell - Missouri Governor
Raymond Gunn - a black man burned to death by a mob of townsfolk in 1931
Darius Kinsey - Photographer of logging industry
Truman H. Landon - Air Force General
Edward H. Moore - U.S. Senator in Oklahoma
Albert P. Morehouse - Missouri Governor
Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones - Horse Trainer
Lynne Overman - Actor sidekick from the 1930s and 1940s
Jim Spainhower - State Treasurer
George S.E. Vaughn - Accused Confederate spy who who claimed to have been pardoned by Abraham Lincoln an hour before the President's assassination
Elwood (horse) - Kentucky Derby winner born at Faustiana Farms
Matthews
The former actor Conlan Carter, who appeared on the television series The Law and Mr. Jones with James Whitmore and Combat! with Rick Jason and Vic Morrow, both on ABC, was reared in Matthews. He was the 1952 Missouri champion pole vaulter.
Memphis
Notable People
Tom Horn, range detective, gunfighter, outlaw
Mexico
Mexico hosts the annual Miss Missouri Pageant; the winner goes on to represent the state of Missouri in the Miss America pageant.
Notable People
Tyronn Lue, a basketball player with the Orlando Magic, was born in Mexico, but finished high school in the Kansas City suburb of Raytown, Missouri.
United States Senator and Governor, Christopher "Kit" Bond.
Edward D. "Ted" Jones, son of Edward D. Jones, opened Edward Jones Investments' first single broker office in Mexico.
Charles Henry Hardin, Missouri governor served a two-year term (1875-1877).
Milan
Notable People
Steve Riker - drummer for Head East (1991-1994)
Miller
Movies
The movie A place to grow was filmed in Miller.
Moberly
Notable People
Russ Ball, NFL executive
Omar Bradley, US Army general
Brent Briscoe, actor, writer and director[5]
Melvin B. Tolson, poet and professor at Wiley College, poet laureate of Liberia
Mike Wilson, filmmaker
Monroe City
Notable People
Helen Cornelius, Country music singer-songwriter, actress. Born Monroe City, 1941.
Mount Vernon
It is regionally known for its annual Apple butter Makin' Days festival in October
Naylor
Notable People
Ernest Lenard Hall - The first Paul.
E. Geier Professor of Robotics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
Neosho
Neosho has made a number of contributions to the cultural fabric of America by producing and inspiring several individuals who are notable in U.S. history including painter and Regionalist muralist Thomas Hart Benton, ragtime composer and pianist James Scott, and celebrated African-American inventor and botanist George Washington Carver.
Neosho has also played a key role in several historic events, including Missouri's secession during the Civil War and serving as home to the rocket engine program responsible for carrying the first American into space and carrying the first men to the moon.
Neosho also seems poised to play a pivotal role in America's transition to alternative energy. Neosho's Crowder College has been deeply involved in education and research since the early 1980s, building the first solar-powered vehicle to successfully complete a coast to coast journey across the United States in 1984. In the spring of 2009, the college is scheduled to break ground on the MARET (Missouri Alternative & Renewable Energy Technology) Center, a facility entended to provide an experimental platform to develop alternative energy systems
Notable People
Thomas Hart Benton - painter and Regionalist muralist
Donn Clendenon - Major League Baseball first baseman; World Series Most Valuable Player for the 1969 champion New York Mets Hugh
Armstrong Robinson - aviation pioneer
James Scott - ragtime composer and pianist
George Washington Carver - celebrated African-American inventor & botanist
John Q. Hammons - hotel magnate & philanthropist
H. Waldo Hatler - World War I hero and Medal of Honor recipient
Hermann Jaeger - Missouri wine pioneer & French Legion of Honor recipient
John Marshall Cheary - CEO/Founder Grammy award winning John Marshall Media Studios NYC
Neosho also served as a stopover in the lives of other celebrated individuals, including:
cowboy philosopher and humorist Will Rogers who, as a young man, briefly attended Scarritt College;
Dick Van Dyke who was stationed at Camp Crowder during World War II, inspiring fictionalized events portrayed in The Dick Van Dyke Show, episode #6, November 6, 1961 on CBS;
Billy James Hargis, a sometimes controversial Christian evangelist.
Also stationed at Camp Crowder was cartoonist Mort Walker who used Camp Crowder as the inspiration for Camp Swampy in His cartoon series Beetle Bailey.
Noted writer Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Legends & Folklore
Confederate gold Legend suggests that Confederate gold is buried somewhere within the town. Some believe that a cave holds both the remains of the soldiers as well as the gold itself. Others contend that the cave, adjacent to Big Spring Park, was closed after a number of local children were lost forever while exploring the cave in the early 20th century.
The Spooklight
The Spooklight, also called the Hornet Spook Light or Devil's Promenade, is a mysterious visual phenomenon allegedly experienced by witnesses in a small area known locally as the "Devil's Promenade" on the border between Newton County, Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma west of the small town of Hornet, Missouri, a few miles northwest of Neosho.
Nevada
Notable People
Eva Bowring – United States Senator for Nebraska
Patricia Breckenridge – Associate Justice of Supreme Court of Missouri
Forrest DeBernardi – member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
John Huston – actor, director, and producer (born there)
Frank James – guerrilla and outlaw, brother of Jesse James
Joshua Person – subject of the novel Generation Kill and HBO miniseries Generation Kill (TV Series)
Bill Phelps – former lieutenant governor of Missouri
Sue Thompson – Country and pop singer, born Eva Sue McKee
The area is famous for being the site of a series of over 1,000 earthquakes in 1811 and 1812, ranging up to approximately magnitude 8, the most powerful non-subduction zone earthquake recorded in the United States. New Madrid, Missouri lies far away from any plate boundaries, although it lies on what is called the
New Madrid Seismic Zone. The earthquake was felt as far away as the East Coast.[4]
The city is also remembered as being the nearby location for the Mississippi River military engagement, the Battle of Island Number Ten, during the Civil War.
Ningua
United States Senator Roy Blunt was born in Niangua.
Evangelist and gospel singer, Scott Fraker
Army Colonel Bob Yates.
Nixa
Film and TV References
Nixa is the birthplace of fictional character David Webb (who becomes Jason Bourne) in the Robert Ludlum novels and films. Several streets in a residential neighborhood northeast of downtown are named for performers on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, including Nixa native Slim Wilson. They include Slim Wilson Boulevard, Red Foley Court, Zed Tennis Street, Bill Ring Court, (Speedy) Haworth Court and Ozark Jubilee Drive
Noel
Noel is one of a few "Christmas Cities" in America, along with North Pole, Alaska, Christmas, Michigan, Santa Claus, Indiana and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Each year, tens of thousands of Christmas cards and letters are sent to the USPS Noel Post Office during the holiday season to be stamped with a postmark reading, "Noel, Mo. - 'The Christmas City in the Ozark Vacation Land.'" This practice became popular by the late 1940s when Kate Smith, a radio and television singer, began telling the "Noel Story" during her broadcasts
Soybeans - Norborne, MO
Norborne
Norborne is the self-proclaimed Soybean Capital of the World and holds the Soybean Festival every year during the weekend of the second Saturday in August. The Festival begins on Thursday evening and concludes on Saturday night.
Notable People
Harold L. Wright Vice president, F. W. Woolworth Co.
Bob Walkenhorst, singer, songwriter and former member of The Rainmakers
Odessa
Notable People
The composer H. Owen Reed was born in Odessa in 1910.
Joe C. Specker, Army sergeant and (posthumous) Medal of Honor recipient in World War II.
Actor Holmes Osborne is a graduate of Odessa High School.
Gymnast Terin Humphrey, who won an individual silver medal on the uneven bars, and another silver with the US women's team in the all-around competition at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, is a graduate of Odessa High School.
Oakland Athletics' pitcher Brad Ziegler, who made his major-league debut in May 2008, is a graduate of Odessa High School.
Dean Vogelaar, past Vice-President and Director of Public Relations for the Kansas City Royals, is a graduate of Odessa High School.
Olivette
Notable People
Lou Brock - former St. Louis Cardinals baseball outfielder
Jay Randolph - current St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster
Johnny Roland - former football Cardinals player
Jim Hart - former football Cardinals player
Jim Bakken - former football Cardinals player
Ken Holtzman - former Major league baseball pitcher
Oregon
The 1928 Oregon boys' basketball, which featured future University of Missouri coach Wilbur Stalcup, won the state basketball tournament at a time when Missouri did not have divisions for its schools. The team reached the quarterfinals of the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament to determine a national champion. At the time, Oregon did not have a gymnasium
Orrick
The hamlet a mile northeast of Orrick was where Bloody Bill Anderson was killed during the American Civil War
Osceola
The town was the site of the September 1861 Sacking of Osceola by Jayhawkers in which the town was burned and courthouse looted. The event inspired the 1976 Clint Eastwood film The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Charles A. Lindbergh once lived in what was at the time the northeast edge of Overland, the Home Heights area. In October 1920, he took a series of aerial photos of the Overland area.[11][12]
The following individuals grew up in the Overland area and graduated from Ritenour High School in Overland
Maj. Gen. James L. Day, USMC, Medal of Honor recipient
Ron Hunt, major league baseball pitcher
Mike Keefe, editorial cartoonist for The Denver Post
Ted Kulongoski, Governor of the State of Oregon
Jerry Reuss, major league baseball pitcher and national sports broadcaster
Bob Scheffing, major league baseball catcher, coach and general manager of the New York Mets
Bob Todd, retired head baseball coach at Ohio State University
Billie Lou Watt, stage and television actress
Mayoral Controversy On April 3, 2007, Overland residents voted to recall Mayor Ann Purzner, who had been accused of lying about her career credentials and exceeding her power as mayor. She was temporarily replaced by Alderman Jerry May, and in the August, 2007 election, Councilman Mike Schneider was elected
Palmyra
In 1862 the city was the scene of the Palmyra Massacre, in which ten Confederate prisoners were killed in retaliation for the disappearance of a local Union man
Notable People
Harry Richard Landis, one of the last surviving World War I veterans was born near Palmyra.
Patti Woodward, Actress
Jane Darwell born Oct. 15, 1879. Appeared in Grapes of Wrath. Best supporting Actress 1941
Park Hills
Notable People
Darrell S. Cole, Medal of Honor recipient and namesake of USS Cole (DDG-67)
Ferlin Husky of country music fame.
Bill Upton, Major League Baseball player
Tom Upton, Major League Baseball player
Parkville
The city is home to Park University
Notable Alumni:
James J. Barry, Jr. (1969) - former New Jersey General Assemblyman and New Jersey Director of Consumer Affairs
Ralph von Frese (1969) - American geologist
Don H. Compier (1985) - founding Dean of the Community of Christ Seminary
Melana Scantlin (2002) - former Miss Missouri USA, television personality
Chance Browne - American musician, painter, and cartoonist
Robert E. Hall - eleventh Sergeant Major of the Army
Edwin Kagin - attorney, founder Camp Quest
George Kelly - American psychologist, therapist and educator
Texe Marrs - American preacher
Cleland Boyd McAfee (1884) - American theologian
Newell A. George - United States Congressman, 1959–1961.
Carl McIntire - radio broadcaster
Stephen M. Veazey - Prophet-President of the Community of Christ
Lewis Millet, U.S. Army (1964) - Medal of Honor - Korea
Faculty
Kay Barnes (Distinguished Professor for Public Leadership) - Former mayor of Kansas City and candidate for Congress in 2008
Peculiar
Notable People
Paul Coffman: Played Football for the Green Bay Packers from 1978–1985, and for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1986-1987. Paul went undrafted in the 1978 NFL Draft. He is a three time pro bowl selection as a tight end in 1982, 1983 and 1984. He was inducted into the Packers hall of fame in 1994.
Chase Coffman: Attended Raymore-Peculiar High School where he was a four year starting Wide Receiver. He earned First-Team all-state honors three times and was a two-time First-Team all-district and all-conference pick. During his senior year in 2004 he was named conference player and won the Simone Award of the year after catching 41 passes for 886 yards and 16 touchdowns. Chase played football for the Missouri Tigers while following in his father's footsteps, he too played as a tight end. Chase had an outstanding College career, and was selected in the third round by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Carson Coffman: Starting Quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats. Brother of Chase Coffman, and son of Paul Coffman
Pierce City
1901 lynching incident - In 1901 a white lynch mob killed several African Americans in Pierce City and the rest of the black community fled the town. This incident prompted Mark Twain to write the essay The United States of Lyncherdom. A 2007 PBS documentary, Banished, featured the incident
Pilot Knob
The Battle of Pilot Knob in the fall of 1864 was a notable clash in the area during the Civil War. A museum near the battle site is dedicated to this event.
Poplar Bluff
Notable People
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason: Television producer (Designing Women)
Tyler Hansbrough: University of North Carolina basketball and National Basketball Association
Ben Hansbrough: Notre Dame basketball
Josh Innes: radio host[6]
Scott Innes: radio broadcaster and voice actor for Scooby-Doo
Tim Lollar: professional baseball pitcher
Julie McCullough: actress/model (Growing Pains and Playboy Playmate)
Derland Moore: professional football player
Gene Bess: college basketball coach from Three Rivers Community College
Portage Des Sioux
The Treaties of Portage des Sioux in 1815 were signed here ostensibly settling Native American and United States conflicts in the War of 1812. The treaties consolidated affirmed the Treaty of St. Louis (1804) in which the Sac and Fox ceding northeast Missouri and much of Illinois and Wisconsin and the 1808 Treaty of Fort Clark in which the Osage Nation ceded all of Missouri and Arkansas. The results were to ultimately result in the Black Hawk War and the tribes being forced to move west of Missouri.
Portage Des Sioux was also one of the main film sites for the TV reality show on the CW a Farmer Wants a Wife (the farmer in the 2008 season, also lives in Portage Des Sioux).
Portageville
Portageville High School has won the Missouri State 2A Basketball championship five times. Their most recent state championship was in 2009. During the early 1990s, Portageville won the state championship four years in a row, going undefeated twice in those four years.
Princeton
Popular culture
Princeton, Missouri is also mentioned in the New York Times bestselling book, "American Gods," written by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman. On page 449, the protagonist finds himself in Princeton at dusk
Purdy
School Dance Controversy
Dancing is not allowed in the Purdy school without permission from the school board. The authority of the school board was upheld by the Supreme Court when it refused to hear a challenge by a group of students and parents
Quitman
Notable People
Former Missouri governor Forrest C. Donnell
John S. Bilby founder of the Bilby Ranch, which in the early 1900s was the second largest ranch in the U.S.
Professional wrestling Hall of Famer Harley Race.
Richmond
Notable People
Aaron H. Conrow, attorney and Confederate States of America representative during the Civil War
Jacob L. Milligan, U.S. Congressman
John Rooney, television sportscaster
Lenvil Elliott, NFL player for Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers
Michael Letzig, professional golfer
Beryl Wayne Sprinkel, economist
Forrest Smith, Governor of Missouri 1949-1953
Austin Augustus King, Governor of Missouri 1848-1853
Alexander William Doniphan, A 19th century American soldier and political figure who spent his last years in Richmond.
Robert Ford (outlaw), The man that shot Jesse James.
Rocheport
Notable People
William Least Heat Moon, writer
Wind Power - Rock Port, MO
Rock Port
Wind power and economy
The city of Rock Port has become completely energy self-sufficient.[3] In April 2008 Rock Port claimed to be the first community in the United States to have its electricity 100 percent generated by wind power. Rock Port, which uses about 13 million kWh a year, has its power generated by the Loess Hills Wind Farm. The farm has four Suzlon 1.25-megawatt wind turbines. Excess power is sold to the Missouri Public Utility Alliance in Columbia, Missouri.[4] The idea for the wind turbines came from the town's former mortuary worker, Eric Chamberlain.[3] The farm was built by Wind Capital Group and is by far the company's smallest wind farm developed through January 2009. Wind Capital in 2008 built the bigger 50.4MW Cow Branch Wind Farm between Rock Port and Tarkio
Rolla
Rolla was a regular stop along U.S. Route 66, as it is located almost exactly halfway between the larger cities of St. Louis and Springfield
Notable People
Jean Carnahan - former US Senator
Mel Carnahan - former Governor of Missouri
Robin Carnahan - Secretary of State of Missouri
Russ Carnahan - US Representative
Samuel Curtis - American Civil War General (Union)
Kyle Hawkins - former University of Missouri Men's lacrosse coach and gay rights pioneer
Claire McCaskill - United States Senator from Missouri
Shannon Miller - Olympic Gold Medalist
Tom Shipley - member of popular music duo Brewer & Shipley
Sarah Steelman - former State Treasurer of Missouri
It is the home of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, originating as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1870 and existing as the University of Missouri–Rolla from 1964 through 2007
Notable Alumni and Former Students
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, 2004 World Series of Poker champion.
Bruce L. Edwards, served as general editor for the recently published four volume reference set, C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy (Praeger Perspectives, 2007).
Computer Sciences
Steve Sullivan, 2001 and 2006 Academy Scientific and Technical Award winner for visual effects; a principal engineer with George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic special effects company[31]
Jack Dorsey, American software architect and businessperson best known as the creator of Twitter.[32]
Engineering
Joe N. Ballard, retired Army General and former commander of the United States Army Corps of Engineers
George Mueller, an electrical engineering graduate instrumental in managing NASA's fledgling Apollo program in the 1960s
Dr. Joan Woodard, Executive Vice President and Deputy Laboratories Director for the nuclear weapons program at Sandia National Laboratories[33]
Richard R. Paul, retired Air Force General and commander of Air Force Research Laboratory[34]
Braden Lusk, assistant professor of mining engineering at the University of Kentucky, co-host of the Discovery Channel series The Detonators; received bachelor's and Ph.D. in Mining Engineering from Missouri S&T[35]
Scientists
Clyde Cowan, co-discoverer of the neutrino
Farouk El-Baz, Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning in NASA's Apollo Program
Mining
Daniel C. Jackling, discovered the porphyry copper deposit that created the Bingham Canyon Mine and later founded the Utah Copper Company (later bought by Kennecott Copper).
Astronauts
Thomas Akers, retired Air Force Col., a veteran of four space flights, holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from UMR ('73 and '75), made a guest appearance on the TV show Home Improvement on season 3 episode 24 "Reality Bytes."
Janet Kavandi, whose debut space shuttle flight in June 1999 was the final Mir-shuttle docking, holds a master's degree in chemistry from Missouri S&T ('82).
Sandra Magnus, who became a NASA astronaut in 1996, holds a bachelor's degree in physics ('86) and a master's degree in electrical engineering ('90) from Missouri S&T.
Business
Gary D. Forsee, former CEO of Sprint; he became the 22nd president of the University of Missouri System on February 18, 2008.[36]
Ted Weise, former president of FedEx, one of the first employees of FedEx (formerly Federal Express) when the company started in the early 1970s, and worked his way up to the position of president. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T ('67).[37]
Joseph D. Rupp, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Olin Corporation. He holds a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from Missouri S&T.[38]
Michael M. Sears, managed Super Hornet development at McDonnell Douglas, senior executive at Boeing, convicted in Air Force tanker procurement scandal.
Saint Charles
Notable People
Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer
Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox pitcher
Chuck Gross, former Missouri senator
Randy Orton, professional wrestler
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, founder of Chicago
Ste. Genevieve
Notable People
Philippe-François de Rastel de Rocheblave - Canadian military and political figure in the 18th century
Pierre Gibault (1737–1802) - Jesuit priest in the 18th century
Charles Nerinckx (1761–1824) - Founded the Sisters of Loretto missionary in 1812 and the First Congregation of Black Women in 1824
Lewis Fields Linn (1796–1843)- U.S. Senator (MO, 1795–1843)
Lewis Vital Bogy (1813–1877)- U.S. Senator (MO, 1872–1877)
William Pope McArthur (1814–1850) - American naval officer and hydrologist. First to survey and map the U.S. Pacific Coast
Robert Moore - Oregon pioneer and founder of Linn City, Oregon
Nathaniel Pope (1784–1850) - Representative of the Illinois Territory
John Hardeman Walker - U.S. Congressman
Henry Dodge (1782–1867) - U.S. Senator (WI, 1848–1857)
Augustus Caesar Dodge (1812–1883) - U.S. Senator (IA, 1848–1855)
Jean Ferdinand Rozier - (1777–1864) Historic businessman and partner of John James Audubon
John James Audubon - (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter
Prospect K. Robbins - (1788–1847) Surveyor who established the Fifth Principal Meridian in 1812 (after the Louisiana Purchase) prior to Missouri entering the Union
Savannah
Notable People
Joseph Baldwin – "father of the Normal school"
Charles Bruffy -Grammy Award winner
Owen Bush – actor Andrew J. Harlan – U.S. Representative from Indiana
Joseph Toole – first Montana Governor
Eminem – rap artist (lived in public housing in the community)
Sedalia
State Fair Since 1901, the Missouri State Fair has been held in Sedalia every August, with the exception of 1943 and 1944 because of World War II. Many singers and actors make the annual trip to the fair. Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and other presidents have given speeches on the fairgrounds, though not during the State Fair.
Film
In the American television movie The Day After (1983), aired by ABC, Sedalia is destroyed when enemies attack the Minuteman II Missile silos around the area. At the time of the movie's release, 150 of the missiles were located in the Sedalia area in underground silos. They had been sited there since activation in early 1964 of the first Minuteman missiles under the control of the 351st Missile Wing located at Whiteman Air Force Base. The release of the movie led to a significant (if belated) increase in local community concern about the missiles. Concern remained higher until all the missiles were dismantled between 1992 and 1997 as a result of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and Russia. Sedalia was featured in two widely seen 1977 films: Heroes, starring Henry Winkler and Harrison Ford; and the made-for-TV movie Scott Joplin, starring Billy Dee Williams.[24] Sedalia was mentioned briefly in the motion picture MASH. Parts of the 1941 film Bad Men of Missouri are set in Sedalia. The city was mentioned in Old Yeller.
Television
The classic, long running Western series Rawhide, which ran on CBS from 1959 to 1966, featured Sedalia as a destination for cattle drives. It starred Eric Fleming as the "trail boss", Gil Favor, and the emerging Clint Eastwood as the "ramrod" (i.e., second in charge), Rowdy Yates.
Music
Sedalia is well known as the adopted home of ragtime music's most well known musician and stylist Scott Joplin.
Senath
Notable People
Onie Wheeler - bluegrass/country/rockabilly musician who died onstage at the Grand Ole Opry.
Steve Gaines - Seneca, MO
Seneca
Notable People
Steve Gaines - Guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Morris Watts - Former assistant football coach at Michigan St. University.
Scott Elbert - Pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cassie Gaines- Back up singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Skidmore
Notable People
Two sensational killings that made front page headlines around the world occurred here. In 1981, Ken McElroy was shot while sitting in his truck in front of the pool hall in town. Though dozens of people saw the event, all denied seeing anything that would help identify the shooters.[1] McElroy had a reputation as the "town bully" was alleged to have committed several area thefts and violence. Town residents had been upset over the inability of the courts to deal with him. In 1991 it was made into a made-for-TV movie starring Brian Dennehy and Cloris Leachman (although filmed in Texas).[2] The Ken McElroy shooting was also the focus of the A&E program City Confidential, season two, episode twenty-two entitled, "Skidmore: Frontier Justice".
On April 11, 2001, Branson Kayne Perry, twenty years old at the time, mysteriously disappeared from near his home in Skidmore. Branson was last seen by his friend on April 11 at approximately 3:00 p.m. They were cleaning house for his father before he came home from the hospital. He told his friend he was putting jumper cables in the shed and would be right back. He has not been seen since. He left behind his van and personal belongings. The jumper cables weren't in the shed, but a few days later, they were placed there by an unknown person. The family is currently offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Branson Perry and/or the arrest and conviction of the person and/or persons responsible for his disappearance, and Castle Records is offering [3] a $25,000 recording contract for any information in regards to Branson Perry's disappearance.
In December of 2004, Skidmore was once again the focus of national attention when Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered and had her unborn baby cut from her womb.[4] The baby, Victoria Jo Stinnett, was found two days later in Topeka, Kansas.
Slater
Notable People
Steve McQueen - Iconic actor of the 1960s and 70s who resided with great uncle Claude Thomson on Thomson Lane for a short time during his childhood. He attended Orearville school.
Joe Kleine - member of the gold medal 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team; 15-year NBA career.
Stockton
Notable People
Emil Liston (1890–1949), basketball coach and administrator, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
Stotts City
Notable People
Capt. Greene C. Stotts USA, 1821-1876—American military officer and Missouri state legislator
PFC Charles Denver Barger, USA, 1892-1936—American soldier and hero of World War I, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
Rev. Dr. H. Dale Jackson, 1930-2003—Baptist minister, denominational leader and ethicist
Sugar Creek
On June 25, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on an island[4] in the Missouri River opposite what is modern day Sugar Creek.
Sullivan
Notable People
Jim Bottomley, baseball Hall-of-Famer
William S. Harney, 19th Century General (Mexican-American War, Civil War, etc.)
George Hearst, U.S. Senator from California, father of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst
Sumner
Goose Capital of the World - Sumner, Missouri is the "Wild Goose Capital of the World". A few miles South of Sumner is Swan Lake which attracts regular geese each fall. Sumner also has a goose statue which is one of a kind, and the largest Goose in the world. The goose is named Maxie (which is a female), she is made of fiberglass, and is not just a monument but has rollers on the bottom of the goose, and the beak points the direction in which the wind is blowing.
Syracuse
KMOS-TV Syracuse contains a major new transmitter facility, built in 2003, for KMOS-TV, operated by Central Missouri State University. At 2000 ft, it is the tallest structure in Missouri, and is tied with many other structures as the third tallest structure in the world
Taos
Taos is also the home of former major league baseball relief pitcher, Tom Henke (known in his playing days as "The Terminator") who won the 1992 World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays and, in the final season of his career, pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Trenton
The city claims to be the world's largest producer of vienna sausages (at its biggest employer ConAgra Grocery Foods plant).
Notable People
Yank Lawson, Dixieland trumpet player
J. M. Whorton, Politician
Troy
Notable People
William L. Hungate - U.S. Congressman Frederick G. Bonfils - Publisher of the Denver Post
Dennis Tankersley - Baseball Player San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals (Minor League), Detroit Tigers (Minor League), Washington Nationals (Minor League)
Union
Notable People
Jack Wagner - Attended East Central College, Union Actor/singer. Best known for roles on “The Bold and the Beautiful" and “General Hospital." Also had a hit song in the 1980s titled “All I Need."
On May 22, 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from O'hare Airport Chicago, Illinois to the downtown Kansas City, Missouri airport, crashed in a clover field north Unionville, near Lake Thunderhead killing all 37 passengers and 8 crew. The building trades and the ag classes of Unionville High school were provided with Continental Airlines coveralls in case of broken glass and other things and they were sent up there to clean up the mess. Investigators subsequently determined that one of the jetliner's passengers, Thomas G. Doty, detonated a bomb inside the Boeing 707 in a suicide-for-insurance plot.
Notable People
John C. McKinley -- former Missouri Lieutenant Governor.
Versailles
Notable People
Bud Walton (co-founder of Wal-Mart)
Dwight Bolinger (linguist)
William E. Morris
Joyce Riley (The Power Hour)
Bryan W. Fields (children's author - Lunchbox and the Aliens, Froonga Planet)
Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses and 2nd President of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society) Other references list his birthplace as Boonville, Missouri
Walnut Grove
Notable People
Ken Gables (1919–1960), Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, born and died in Walnut Grove
Wardell
Notable People
Jeff Stone, Professional Baseball player
Warrensburg
Warrensburg is close to the site of a horrific Missouri Pacific train wreck that occurred in 1904. An eastbound passenger train collided head-on with a westbound freight, killing 30 people. The passenger train was packed with people en route to St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair
Notable People
John William 'Blind' Boone (1864–1927), African-American concert pianist, composer and principal for the Blind Boone Concert Company, Mr. Boone is considered by many to be a pioneer of modern music. The BBCC played over 8000 concerts in the U.S., Canada & Mexico. He spent his youth in Warrensburg where a park and festival was subsequently named for him.
Dale Carnegie (November 24, 1888–November 1, 1955), author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, and the developer of numerous highly influential courses in self-improvement, corporate communication, and related fields, studied communication at the Missouri State Teacher's College, now University of Central Missouri.
Errett Lobban Cord, U.S. automobile manufacturer & advocate of front-wheel-drive vehicles. He founded the Cord Corporation & established a holding company that produced the Cord Automobile (designed in 1935 by engineer Gordon Buehrig) along with the Auburn and Duesenberg Automobiles in Indiana.
E.L. Cord was born and raised in Warrensburg. His father owned a general store in downtown Warrensburg and the building still stands bearing his name.
Dean Hughes (born 1943), taught English at Central Missouri State University, now University of Central Missouri, for several years; the setting of his best-selling series of children's books starring Nutty Nutsell is based on the lab school run by the university's education program in the 1980s.
Sidney Toler (April 28, 1874–February 12, 1947), actor, writer, and the second non-Asian to play the role of Charlie Chan in films, was born in Warrensburg.
Old Drum - The phrase "Man's Best Friend" originated in a speech given given by George Vest in a trial that concerned this dog.
Kimberly Wyatt - member of female pop group The Pussycat Dolls
Mary Fallin- Representative from Oklahoma and former Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
Grant Curtis- Producer of the Spider-Man movies grew up in Warrensburg and attended UCM
David Cook - Contestant on American Idol Season 7 grew up in Blue Springs, Missouri and attended UCM, graduated in 2006
In Popular Media Warrensburg was mentioned in the 1983 American Television movie The Day After
Warsaw
On July 14, 1954, the temperature in Warsaw rose to a staggering 118°F (48°C)[4]. This remains the hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Missouri. However, on February 13, 1905, the temperature at Warsaw fell to -40°F (-40°C)[4], the coldest temperature ever recorded in the state. Thus, it is only one of two cities in the United States which has recorded both its state's extreme temperatures. The other is Millsboro, Delaware.
Washington
It is the corn cob pipe capital of the world, with Missouri Meerschaum located in Washington.
The town of Washington has 445 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, a state record.[citation needed]
Washington was the site for the third season of the television series Town Haul
Notable People
Jack Wagner - (born October 3, 1959 in Washington, Missouri) is an Emmy Award-nominated American actor. Roles on General Hospital and The Bold And The Beautiful. He also played a swinging doctor on Melrose Place.
Webb City
Notable People
Grant Wistrom - Retired Professional Football Player (NFL), WCHS class of 1994.
Lisa Myers - NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent, WCHS class of 1969.
Wentzville
The city is also the namesake of George Thorogood's song "Back to Wentzville" from his album, Bad to the Bone.
William Buffalo Bill Cody was at one time a resident of Weston, and the town was a major "jumping off" point for the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush.
West Plains
West Plains Dance Hall Explosion West Plains was the site of a disaster later remembered in folksong [6]. On Friday, April 13, 1928,[7] about sixty young people had gathered in the Bond Dance Hall, on the second floor of an East Main Street building (the ground floor was occupied by Wiser Motors). At 11:05 p.m., as the orchestra played "At Sundown," a violent explosion occurred. Thirty-seven people were killed and 22 more were injured. Twenty of the dead were never positively identified, and buried in a mass grave at Oak Lawn Cemetery, where they are memorialized by the Rock of Ages monument, erected October 6, 1929. No cause was ascertained, though leaking gasoline from the garage below was suspected. Windows were shattered throughout the Halstead block, and the heat, combined with subsequent explosions, twisted cars on the street out of shape. The nearby West Plains Courthouse was so badly damaged by the explosion that it had to be abandoned, torn down, and a replacement built. Robert Neathery, a lifelong resident of West Plains who died at the age of 96 in 2003, wrote in West Plains as I Knew It about a truck full of dynamite parked in the garage below as a possible cause for the explosion.[8] A memorial for the 20 unidentified victims is at Oak Lawn Cemetery
Wheatland
Notable People
Tom Wade Huntington - television and film actor
Wheeling
Notable People
Willis Glassgow, football player and attorney
Willard
Willard's main east-west road, U.S. 160, is known as Olympian Boulevard because two graduates of Willard High School have participated in the Olympics.
Notable People
John Ashcroft - Politician
Lori Endicott - Olympian - Volleyball (Bronze Medalist, 1992 Barcelona Olympics)
B.J. Flores - Professional Boxer
Jason Pyrah - Olympian - Track & Field (1996 and 2000 games)[4]
The infamous Bonnie and Clyde stayed briefly at the Willard Hotel during their crime-riddled run in which they kidnapped a Missouri police officer.
Willow Springs
Notable People
Bob Ferguson, RCA Record Producer and Songwriter, known famously for his song "On the Wings of a Dove" that was recorded first by Ferlin Husky in the early 1960s. He was born in Willow Springs in 1927.
Windsor
In the Movies Mentioned in The Day After near the heart of a nuclear explosion at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri
Winfield
2009 mayoral election discrepancy - On April 9, 2009, Winfield made news around both the USA and the rest of the world[5] after it elected their popular mayor, Harry Stonebraker, to a fourth term, several weeks after he died of a heart attack. This was due to the fact that ballot papers had already been printed and absentee voting had begun. He won by a landslide, securing 90% of the vote by April 9.
