Hannibal Missouri

April 2008 - Hannibal Missouri

Age is mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. (Mark Twain)

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. (Mark Twain)

Photos taken on our driving trip to Branson Missouri in 2008.

The most notable reason to visit Hannibal is Mark Twain. The town is very proud of its relationship with him and has preserved many of the buildings. 

Museum properties includes eight properties: six properties are on the National Register of Historic Places, and two exciting, interactive museums whose collections include fifteen original Norman Rockwell paintings, Mark Twain's Oxford gown, and many priceless artifacts.

Samuel Clemens took his pen name ‘Mark Twain’ from his early career as a steamboat pilot. If shallow water measured two fathoms (3.6 meters)—deep enough to navigate—the crewmen bellowed “mark twain.”

 A self-guided tour of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home Museum properties gives you the chance to explore the Hannibal of Samuel Clemens' childhood and experience the beloved stories he created as Mark Twain through the power of his imagination.

 

The exhibits are really well done. These are just a few of the pictures we took.

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Holliday's Hill was eventually renamed by Mark Twain himself. During his travels he visited Cardiff in Wales. This town had mountains surrounding it, and when he wrote Tom Sawyer he decided to rename Holliday's Hill after the famous hills of Wales.

The steps to the Lighthouse pass through here as well.

Half a dozen buildings near the river that have been faithfully preserved, including the tidy, two-story white clapboard house where the family lived in the 1840s; the home of Laura Hawkins, who was the model for Becky Thatcher; the office where his father, J.M. Clemens, practised law; and the fetchingly old-fashioned Grant’s Drug Store with the Pilaster House on the floor above, where the family lived for nine months after J.M. went bankrupt in 1847.

This was a new thing for us. Info taken from a newspaper article at the time.

All eyes were on the mighty Mississippi. 

The final flood gate has been installed in Hannibal. It's located at the riverfront on Broadway. The river level was near 21.5 feet that morning.

The river is expected to crest near 23 feet by this weekend.

This 1906 vaudeville theatre was owned by John B. Price, who also owned the Park Theater in Hannibal. Sold to Frisina Theaters in 1946, it was destructively and dreadfully remodeled in 1948 to the plans of architect Cletis R. Foley. The theatre only survived 11 more years. After its closing, it remained vacant for several more years before becoming a bar. It stayed this way for approximately 30 years. Several floods contributed to its deterioration. It remained vacant until 2000.

After being condemned, the movie theatre was purchased one day before demolition. Over four years have been spent renovating this theatre back to its previous beauty. It is used to show classic movies with full restaurant and bar service available, with B & B style rooms upstairs. Before and after photos are amazing. Restoration was completed in September 2005.

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For my box collection.