Mr. Smith's Class invites you to
Hannibal, Missouri
Below, you will find information about our town, its geography, its weather, and details about a few famous people from our area of the country. When you're done reading, try our short Quiz!
About Hannibal, Missouri
Sometime in 1673, Father Marquette and Louis Joliet came down the Mississippi River exploring. They were probably the first to see the spot that would later be named Hannibal. Frenchman Louis Hennepin was actually the first explorer to land a boat here in 1680. Moses Bates founded Hannibal in 1819 and built the first building, made from logs, near the corner of Main and Bird Streets. Mr. Bates also owned the first steamboat in town, called the General Putnam. The town was very small in 1830 having only 30 people! By 1850, there were more than 2000 people.
Huge riverboats churned up and down the Mississippi River loaded with goods and passengers. Some of the businesses in the early days of Hannibal were pork packing, soap and candle making, lumber mills, rope making, curing leather, and grain mills.
Today, two bridges cross the Mississippi River at Hannibal and connect Missouri with Illinois. One is a railroad bridge and the other is a bridge for trucks and cars. Just recently, the old car bridge was exploded and a new bridge was built. The old bridge, called Mark Twain Memorial Bridge, had stood over the river since 1936 when President Roosevelt came here to dedicate it.
The population of Hannibal is about 18,000 people living among the bluffs and steep hills of our town. The approximate number of families is 7896. The land area of Hannibal is 29.332 square kilometers (you can convert to sq. miles if you want). If you traveled from Hannibal to Washington, D.C. you would travel 816 miles. As the crow flies, it is only 90 miles to Jefferson City, the state capital of Missouri. St. Louis is the nearest really big city. If you go there, you can see the famous St. Louis Arch!
What Can You Do Here?
We have many wonderful old historic buildings in town and statues
also. A statue of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn is at the foot of
Cardiff Hill, and up on the bluff in Riverview Park, you can see a
huge statue of Samuel Clemens. If you like to explore underground, we
have the Mark Twain Caves! You can also ride a riverboat and see a
jumping frog contest!
Latitude and Longitude: Hannibal is 39.7 degrees north of the equator and 91.4 degrees west of the prime meridian.
Our School is named after Eugene Field, the Children's Poet. Have you ever heard of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod? Read more below. Our school was built in 1925 and has students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. You can find out about all the schools in Hannibal at the Hannibal Public Schools web site.
How's Our Weather?
Summers here are HOT -- really hot
and humid and in July and August; it can stay in the high 90s F. Our
Midwestern fall season is cool and crisp and beautiful with many colored
changing leaves. Then.... winter roars in -- Whooosh! Our
temperatures sometimes go below zero, but winter is also lots of fun. Kids get to use their
toboggans, snowboards, and sleds! And sometimes school closes because
of the snow and ice! Sometimes the river takes in so much rain that we
have floods! Here are photos from June 2008.
Samuel Clemens, who wrote
under the name of Mark Twain, is the most
famous person who lived in Hannibal. He lived here as a boy and used
this town as the setting for many parts of his famous books. More
about Mark Twain.
Harry S Truman, the 32nd president, is from Barton County, Missouri.
Here are some facts about him:
Eugene Field was one of the few
poets who wrote only children's poetry.
That is how he got his nickname, The Children's Poet. He was born in
Saint Louis on September 2, 1850, at 634 South Broadway. His mother
died when he was only six. While living on his cousin's farm in
Massachusetts, Eugene wrote his first poem . He was nine then, and
the poem was about their cousin's dog, Fido.
Eugene went to college at William's College in Massachusetts, at Knox College in Illinois, and then to the University of Missouri. He worked for many newspapers including the Chicago Daily News. He wrote many poems loved by children. In 1895, Eugene Field died at the age of 45. One of his most famous poems was Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Here is one verse:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew,
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
