“Jim, this is nice…I wouldn't want to be nowhere else but here.”- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Missouri’s “Way of American Genius”, a 200-mile stretch of road that winds from Hannibal to St. Joseph, is also known as Highway 36. Following this route allows travelers to see where notable personalities were shaped, become immersed in time and delve into both the fact and fiction of legendary lives and accomplishments.
A great place to begin your adventure is in Hannibal, the early home of Mark Twain, whose incisive wit took aim at the America of his time. Born in 1835, Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, was born in Florida, Missouri. His family relocated 30-miles to the port city of Hannibal in 1839 and Clemens lived there until the age of seventeen. In 1844 they moved to what is now the Boyhood Home where the family lived in a constant state of financial instability and were forced to sell their only slave, Jennie, as a result. His father died and he was forced to leave school in 5th grade to help support the family. His years growing up in Hannibal strongly influenced his writing and autobiographical glimpses can be seen throughout his works. #VisitHannibal
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum complex is made up of several original sites including the J. M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office, Becky Thatcher House, the reconstructed Huckleberry Finn House, Grant’s Drugstore and the Interpretive Center. The home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 more than forty years after it opened as a tourist site. The single story home, on Hill Street was built in 1844 and was originally only three rooms. Later three rooms were added as a second story. Self-guided tours reveal a typical home of the era furnished appropriately. The restored white fence is adjacent to the house.
The Mark Twain Museum and Interpretive Center offers a self-guided tour of its outstanding gallery and collection. The collection includes his writing desk and chair, a bronze casting of his right hand, and a signature white jacket. The two-story structure displays, within a series of rooms, memorabilia, photographs, personal items and fifteen Norman Rockwell original paintings. Other items of note include original manuscripts, several first editions and more than fifty-five of his personal letters. www.marktwainmuseum.org
Laura Hawkins was the inspiration for Becky Thatcher and her home was across the street from the Clemens’ home. She was younger than Sam but they were playmates in childhood, remained in contact as adults and on his final visit to Hannibal in 1902 they met again. Laura married and moved away but upon the death of her husband she returned to Hannibal. It is possible to tour the house and experience the exhibits.
People are familiar with the line, “I’m your Huckleberry,” from the movies and Twain found the
original Huckleberry in his childhood friendship with Tom Blankenship. Tom was, as described by Twain, as a
boy whose “liberties were totally unrestricted”. He became the model for Huckleberry Finn, one of
literature’s most recognized characters. Blankenship’s home was razed in 1911 and reconstructed in 2006.
Exhibits inside the Huckleberry Finn House relate the history of the Blankenship family and slavery in
Missouri.
Twain’s father, John Clemens, was a lawyer prior to moving to Hannibal and once there he became Justice of the Peace. His office was relocated from its original location and situated near the boyhood home in the 1950s. The office features a courtroom.
Grant’s Drugstore dates from 1836 and was partially assembled in Ohio prior to being shipped to Hannibal. The home, also known as the Pilaster House because of the exterior columns, became the home of the Clemens’ family in 1846 when they moved in with Dr. Grant and his family. John Clemens died here in 1847. It is outfitted as an early drugstore and interprets the time Sam lived there.
Jim's Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center is Hannibal’s newest museum. The one-room, native stone, structure was built by enslaved people in the 1830s and is the oldest functioning building in the city. The museum interprets the African American history of Northeast Missouri and honors the life and legacy of Daniel Quarles, the model for Jim in Huckleberry Finn. Sam spent summers on his uncle’s farm where he met the enslaved Daniel and listened as he told stories. Probably as a result of his encounters with Daniel, and the fact that he later wed a dedicated abolitionist, he is considered to have been one of the first authors to create a multi-dimensional African American character. www.jimsjourney.
There are more than 6,000 caves in Missouri and one of most visited is The Mark Twain Cave Complex. A 60-minute guided tour is offered. It is an easy walk and visitors can see signatures of Mark Twain and Jesse James. The James Gang hid there after a bank robbery in 1879.
Joseph N. McDowell was a doctor who routinely dissected bodies stolen by grave robbers in his anatomy classes. The practice was not socially acceptable, he needed to work in seclusion and so in 1840 he purchased a Hannibal cave to establish a lab. In 1849 his beloved daughter Amanda died and he stored her in a vat of alcohol and suspended her from the cave ceiling so he could communicate with her. Local children were said to have seen the body. Residents eventually forced him to bury her. He later became Surgeon General of the Confederate Army of the West. He died in 1868.
In a theater adjacent to the cave Mark Twain “Live” is presented. The one-hour production introduces audiences to the life, wit and wisdom of the author. www.marktwaincave.com
One-hour narrated cruises are available aboard the 400-passenger Mark Twain Riverboat. You can take to the river as Tom and Huck did and view Lover’s Leap as you learn the story. Refreshments are sold on board.
In 1935 the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse was erected in Cardiff Hill Park. After climbing 244 steps to an overlook visitors attain an outstanding view of Hannibal and the Mississippi River. At the bottom of Cardiff Hill stands a bronze statue of Tom and Huck. It was constructed in 1926 and is situated near the lighthouse and Main Street. Laura Hawkins was present at the dedication as was a visiting Molly Brown of Titanic fame.
“Unsinkable” Molly was born in Hannibal and was, in fact, returning home aboard the Titanic. The Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum is located in Hannibal and is open for tours.
Hannibal has been named “One of 10 Best Places in the USA to Sleep with a Ghost” and the city has been featured on major networks. Haunted Hannibal Ghost Tours, a guided bus tour, features a history-based ghost tour with several stops and an opportunity to participate in a ghost investigation in a cemetery. Every story showcased on the tour is unique. The tour ends at the notoriously haunted Old Baptist Cemetery. Members of the 54th Colored Troops are interred here. The most unique gravesite is that of a female with a large headstone that reads “enslaved” and the name of her owner. This tour is a must!
Mark Twain was born in 1835 just as Halley's Comet appeared in the sky. The comet appeared again in 1910 as Twain died of a heart attack. #MarkTwain #hannibalMS
Road Reads:
Twain’s The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson and the Comedy of Those Extraordinary Twins is a southern tale of the exchange of a black enslaved baby with a white privileged one and the ensuing events. It reflects the dilemma slavery presented.
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