Topic · The Almanac
History & Culture — page 6 of 6
Central Missouri / Missouri River Corridor
Van Meter State Park holds the Missouria people's homeland and ancient earthworks
Van Meter State Park is tied to the Missouria (Missouri) people and preserves earthworks and a Native American cultural center, deep Indigenous history that predates and underlies the county's later story
Bootheel
Commerce is one of the oldest river towns on this stretch
Commerce is a small Mississippi River town that predates much of the surrounding county and explains the river-landing origins of settlement here.
Bootheel
Sikeston's rodeo and 'throwed rolls' are its public identity
Sikeston is widely known for its long-running rodeo and for Lambert's Cafe, home of 'throwed rolls', two cultural markers that define the area for visitors.
Northern Missouri
Sharing the road with Plain communities in and around Shelby County
Northeast Missouri has several Amish/Plain settlements; whether one farms within Shelby County itself isn't confirmable from public records, so expect buggies on rural roads and confirm specifics locally — approached with respect, not as a curiosity.
Lake of the Ozarks / Osage Region
Osceola was burned in an 1861 Civil War raid
Osceola's history includes its destruction in an 1861 Civil War raid, a well-documented and locally significant event that shaped the town and is part of understanding the county's past.
Lake of the Ozarks / Osage Region
Why the St. Clair County seat sits at Osceola
Osceola became the county seat as an Osage River town, and understanding that origin explains why the seat and courthouse square sit where they do rather than at the county's center.
Southeast Missouri / Lead Belt / Mississippi Corridor
Missouri Mines State Historic Site tells the Lead Belt story
Missouri Mines State Historic Site preserves a former lead-mill complex and interprets the Old Lead Belt, anchoring the county's mining identity for visitors and new residents.
St. Louis Region
The Old Courthouse is where the Dred Scott case began
One of the most consequential cases in U.S. history started in downtown St. Louis, and the building is preserved by the National Park Service as the official source for the story.
Bootheel
Dexter grew from a railroad town as the Bootheel swamps were drained
Dexter grew as a railroad and trade town after the surrounding Bootheel swamps were cleared and drained for farming — a window into Stoddard County's land history.
Northern Missouri
Plain (Amish and Mennonite) neighbors in rural Sullivan County
Rural Sullivan County and northern Missouri have plain (Amish and Mennonite) neighbors; expect horse-drawn buggies and family-run farm businesses, and confirm whether a settled community is active near you with the county clerk.
Southwest Missouri
Nevada's Bushwhacker Museum tells a hard local Civil War story
The Bushwhacker Museum in Nevada interprets Vernon County's violent border-war and guerrilla history, a defining and difficult chapter of local identity that deserves careful, well-sourced treatment.
Southwest Missouri
Osage Village State Historic Site marks an Osage town, not a settler site
Osage Village State Historic Site preserves the location of a large Osage town, making it one of the most significant Indigenous-history places in southwest Missouri and a corrective to the idea that the county's history begins with European settlement
St. Louis Region
Daniel Boone's last years were spent near Marthasville
Daniel Boone spent his final years in the Femme Osage and Missouri River country and was originally buried near Marthasville, where a monument area marks the original grave site, anchoring the county's frontier history
St. Louis Region
Dutzow and the Missouri Rhineland wine settlements
Dutzow and Marthasville sit in the Missouri Rhineland, where German immigration, river hills, churches, vineyards, and place names shape local identity.
Southeast Missouri / Lead Belt / Mississippi Corridor
Greenville, the St. Francis River, and Wappapello Lake
Wayne County's seat, Greenville, sits on the flood-prone St. Francis River; the Corps of Engineers' Wappapello Dam (begun 1938) lies downstream, and an older Greenville site figures in local history — confirm relocation specifics with the Corps or state archives.
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