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Founded in 1837, Weston served as a major Missouri River port town in the decades before the Civil War. Settlers from the Upper South moved to Platte County to take advantage of the area’s fertile soil and easy access to the Missouri River. Platte County farmers quickly emerged as major commercial producers of tobacco and …
Tobacco Barn
1831 - present
James Cook, Sr., and his wife Susan Angel Cook, migrated west from Kentucky and settled along Swan Creek in the lower reaches of what was then Greene County (now Taney County). As was the case with many early settlers, they came to Missouri as part of a larger group migration that included multiple families from …
Cook Cabin
1836
This wooden wine barrel assembled in Hermann, Missouri, represents the heart and humble beginnings of the state’s historic wine industry. Carved into the face of the barrel is an image of a man surrounded by fruitful grapevines. This etching symbolized the grapevine-covered land that the first German settlers purportedly found when they arrived at Hermann’s …
Wine Barrel
1875
The Kansas City Board of Trade was unofficially formed in 1856 when merchants organized a trading association for buying and selling grain. A testament to the city’s rapid economic growth, the group underwent significant changes over the next two decades. In 1876, the Kansas City Board of Trade officially incorporated and began trading in commodity …
Kansas City Board of Trade
1900
In April 1904, St. Louis opened the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Popularly known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, the exhibition showcased the city’s grand achievements and the wonders of technology, agriculture, art, history, and culture. Throughout the fairgrounds, gardens displayed beautiful landscaping, sculptures, and waterways that …
Shi Statue, Chinese Pavilion, World’s Fair
1904
In the late 19th century, the convergence of transportation, livestock, industry, and commerce made Kansas City a booming Midwestern metropolis. Within fifty years, the Stockyards spanned more than 200 hundred acres and employed 20,000 people, primarily Black, Southern and Eastern European, and Mexican workers. The multiple businesses that comprised the Stockyards positioned Kansas City as …
Kansas City Stockyards Map
1917
First published in 1917 by prominent agricultural scientist and educator Dr. George Washington Carver, this bulletin on growing and preparing peanuts speaks to Carver’s larger mission throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Witnessing how decades of cotton and tobacco farming had depleted soil in the rural South, Dr. Carver encouraged farmers to grow …
Bulletin No. 31 – George Washington Carver
1925
These moonshine still photographs were captured by folklorist Vance Randolph in 1930. Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Randolph moved to Pineville in the 1920s, and spent the rest of his life documenting and writing about life in the Ozarks. His first book, The Ozarks, offers a look into the customs and traditions of the region ranging …
Moonshine Still
1930
This photograph features the banks of Roaring River State Park lined with people fishing for trout, highlighting the popularity of the park and pastime. Roaring River State Park is best known for its clear streams stocked with Rainbow Trout from its onsite fish hatchery. The fish hatchery was constructed in 1910, making it one of …
Roaring River State Park
1930s - Present
The area that encompasses Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site and Park was originally settled by Waltus Lockett Watkins in the 1830s. His first dwelling was a small log cabin, but by the 1850s Waltus had begun his stately brick home that can still be viewed today. Around the same time, the woolen industry was …
Watkins Woolen Mill State Park & State Historic Site
1939 - Present
During the Great Depression, decreased demand for cotton, the major cash crop in the Missouri Bootheel, resulted in the loss of profit for landowners and loss of work for sharecroppers. The federal government destroyed the Mississippi River levee on the Missouri bank to protect Cairo, Illinois, during a 1937 flood, placing additional economic pressure on …
Highway Officials Moving Sharecroppers Photograph
1939
Former President Harry Truman and a Missouri mule at the state fair on August 23, 1955. As a young man, Truman worked on his family’s farm for eleven years where he plowed many fields with mules. The sturdy animals were first brought to Missouri by traders along the Santa Fe Trail in the 1820s. Mules soon became …
Missouri Mules
1955
The American Royal (officially the American Royal Livestock and Horse Show) has been a major event in Kansas City for over a century. In October 1899, the American Royal began as the National Hereford Show. As the first national exposition of purebred cattle, the show attracted 55,000 attendees from across the country to see and …
American Royal Queen’s Gown and Boots
1963
This photograph depicts Bernard and Bernard Jr. Francka inspecting corn on their family farm in Bolivar, Missouri. In 1901, the Francka family and other Czech immigrant families built a church and founded the town of Karlin, just south of Bolivar. The Francka family has continuously farmed the area since focusing on dairy operations. Missouri is …
Francka Farm
1983
Joe Peebles, photographed on his dairy farm in Boaz, faced declining diary prices alongside other Missouri farmers in the 1990s. In 1992, decreasing dairy prices helped fuel a rash of family farm sales and closures as larger corporate farms replaced smaller operations and drove down prices. On April 6, 1992, a convention was held at …
Peeble’s Dairy Farm
1992
Immigrants and refugees have historically created communities in Missouri’s large cities. In the late 20th and early 21st century, however, industries have drawn new populations to the state’s rural areas. Noel, a two-square-mile town with a population of about 2,000 people, has experienced rapid growth over the last two decades. Latinx immigrants as well as …
RAISE Community Garden
2020