Missouri

Taking its cue from St. Louis architecture, the Show Me State operates as a gateway to discovery. The wonders of the 1904 World’s Fair, the scenic passage of Route 66 and the quest for that perfect meal in Columbia all testify to that exploratory drive. But like the restless rivers that gave Mark Twain his alias and inspiration, Missouri’s history proves no frontier provides uncontested passage. In the vicinity of Civil War guerillas or Prohibition Era bootleggers, an unlocked door could invite calamity. Crack open our catalogue of Missouri history books for a portal into the state’s adventurous heritage. [View all Missouri books]

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Sedalia

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Hidden History of Downtown St. Louis

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Richmond Heights

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

St. Louis Gateway Rail

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Kansas City's Parks and Boulevards

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Steelville

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Kansas City Chronicles

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Country Club District of Kansas City

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

St. Louis Fire Department

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Warren County

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Carthage

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Central West End

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Jefferson City

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Ste. Genevieve

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

West Plains

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Hermann

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Mexico

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Forgotten Tales of Kansas City

$14.99 $10.49 Save 30%

Nodaway County

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

People's History of the Lake of the Ozarks, A

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Southwest Garden

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Independence

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Lincoln University

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

St. Louis Garden District

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Monett

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Lafayette Square, St. Louis

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Brentwood, Missouri

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

University City, Missouri

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

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Sedalia

9780738550879

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Sedalia, now a bustling hub of central Missouri, began as a mere interruption to a vast expanse of prairie grass. George R. Smith purchased 337 acres of treeless prairie in 1856, leading his neighbors to question his sanity. When he persuaded the Pacific Railroad to locate a depot on his land, his image--and that of his Sedville--began to change. Sedville, later Sedalia, soon became the county seat of Pettis County and earned a reputation as the "Queen of the Prairies." Sedalia chronicles the transformation of a rugged prairie town to the home of the Missouri State Fair and host to the international Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Sedalia's history is illustrated through more than 200 vintage images, showing the people, places, and events that shaped the town.

Hidden History of Downtown St. Louis

9781467136839

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

A reputation as the town of shoes, booze and blues persists in St. Louis. But a fascinating history waits just beneath the surface in the heart of the city, like the labyrinth of natural limestone caves where Anheuser-Busch got its start. One of the city's Garment District shoe factories was the workplace of a young Tennessee Williams, referenced in his first Broadway play, The Glass Menagerie. Downtown's vibrant African American community was the source and subject of such folk-blues classics as "Frankie and Johnny" and "Stagger Lee," not to mention W.C. Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues." Navigate this hidden heritage of downtown St. Louis with author Maureen Kavanaugh.

Richmond Heights

9780738539928

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The city of Richmond Heights, located in St. Louis County, is a community rich in history. Incorporated in 1913, Richmond Heights was established as a residential suburb of St Louis. Early residents included the McCutcheon, Barron, Niesen, Grove, Brennan, Gay, Buehning, and DeBolt families. The introduction of modern highways and commerce altered the city's physical character, which prompted this publication. The authors hope this book encourages the citizens of Richmond Heights--and others--to embrace the city's history and promote preservation of its historic resources.

St. Louis Gateway Rail

9780738540702

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Though the city of St. Louis is located on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, for the railroads, the St. Louis Gateway extends into Illinois, north and south along both sides of the river. Two factors conspired against St. Louis's aspiration to become the preeminent rail center of the 19th-century American Midwest: there was no bridge across the Mississippi, and Missouri's loyalty to the Union during the Civil War was suspect. Chicago beat out St. Louis to attain the region's top railroad billing. Fast forward to the 1970s, when the Gateway Arch, dedicated in 1968, redefined the St. Louis riverfront and when the St. Louis Union Station closed to rail service. The 1970s was a decade of railroad debuts--Burlington Northern, Illinois Central Gulf, Family Lines--and a decade of railroad demises--Rock Island and Frisco. It signaled the end of a century of rail domination of the American transportation scene.

Kansas City's Parks and Boulevards

9781467112598

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

A fast-growing frontier community transformed itself into a beautiful urban model of parks and boulevards. In 1893, East Coast newspapers were calling Kansas City "the filthiest in the United States." The drainage of many houses emptied into gullies and cesspools. There was no garbage collection service, and herding livestock through the city was only recently prohibited. Through the diligent efforts of a handful of recently arrived citizens, political, financial, and botanical skills were successfully applied to a nascent parks system. "Squirrel pastures," cliffs and bluffs, ugly ravines, and shanties and slums were turned into a gridiron of green, with chains of parks and boulevards extending in all directions. Wherever the system penetrated well-settled localities, the policy was to provide playgrounds, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, pools, and field houses. By the time the city fathers were finished, Kansas City could boast of 90 miles of boulevards and 2,500 acres of urban parks.

Steelville

9780738584133

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The settlement of Steelville, Missouri, was named in 1835 in honor of its first mercantile store and property owner, James Steel. Since then, the little town has survived devastation, with the flood of 1898, and destruction, with the great fire of 1904. Yet while many neighboring towns such as Midland and Sankey have vanished, Steelville has been resilient and survived. This is thanks to its founding fathers who realized the importance of education, with the construction of the Steelville Academy in 1851, the Steelville School System in 1886, and bringing to town the Steelville Normal and Business Institute in 1890, where many a young lad and ladies commenced with a formal education. Many graduates went on to be successful, like John Zahorsky, who would become known internationally as the world's most influential pediatrician; Judge Albert L. Reeves, who helped settle this great nation's civil rights cases; and John T. Woodruff, the great attorney for the Frisco Railroad. The photographs of this book have been collected for years by those locals wanting to keep track of their heritage--from the building of their railroad, to the flood, to the simple pleasures of their lives, like picnics on the courthouse lawn.

Kansas City Chronicles

9781596299863

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

From guerilla warfare and martial law to the elegant dresses of the Harzfeld Parisian Cloak Company, discover how everything became up-to-date in Kansas City (including the phrase "up-to-date" itself, which predates the song in Oklahoma!). Watch as the Jackson County Poor Farm became the state-of-the-art Truman Medical Center and learn why Old Westport is the real McCoy. Meet the resident mouse of the Laugh-O-Gram studio on Thirteenth and Forest, which took food from Walt Disney's hand as Mortimer before taking shape on Disney's drawing board as Mickey. In this collection of his best historical columns, David Jackson delivers a vivid portrait of the people, places and events that continue to shape this fascinating town.

The Country Club District of Kansas City

9781626199149

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

ONE OF THE GRAND EXPERIMENTS OF AMERICAN URBAN PLANNING lies tucked within the heart of Kansas City. J.C. Nichols prized the Country Club District as his life's work, and the scope of his vision required fifty years of careful development. Begun in 1905 and extending over a swath of six thousand acres, the project attracted national attention to a city still forging its identity. While the district is home to many of Kansas City's most exclusive residential areas and commercial properties, its boundaries remain unmarked and its story largely unknown. Follow LaDene Morton along the well-appointed boulevards of this model community's rich legacy.

St. Louis Fire Department

9780738531922

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The St. Louis Fire Department was established in 1857 and is the second oldest paid fire department in the United States. This pictorial history portrays the department's rich history and exemplifies why its motto is "Justifiably Proud." The St. Louis Fire Department history is one of leadership and innovation. It was one of the first departments to purchase a 100' aerial ladder truck. It was also one of the first to establish an academy for the study of fire and the training of fire fighting recruits. In 1987, the department was the first in the nation to use a "Total Quint Concept," which combined the traditional fire truck and hook and ladder truck into one piece of equipment.

Warren County

9780738582900

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

By 1833, when Warren County was officially created by the State of Missouri, its pages of history were already filled with the lives of famous people. It would become the final resting place of American pioneer and trailblazer Daniel Boone after the Spanish government promised him land in return for bringing settlers. In 1804, when Lewis and Clark and their corps visited, it was the last settlement of whites in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. This led German-born writer Gottfried Duden to come and see what made this area so appealing to the American pioneers. He returned to his homeland and in 1829 published A Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America, filled with glowing descriptions of a promised land. His book opened the floodgates of German immigrants coming to this nation in the 1830s, and by 1850 nine out of ten residents were German born or of German descent--the largest concentration of German Americans in the state.

Carthage

9780738507651

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Translated as "New City," Carthage was founded in 1842 as the county seat of Jasper in southwest Missouri. The town prospered for two decades until
military advances during the Civil War destroyed the entire town and dispersed its population. This volume, assembled by the Powers Museum, offers a pictorial glimpse into the rebuilding and growth of
this historic city during its most influential years.
The citizens of Carthage quickly rebuilt the city during the late 1860s and early 1870s, and eventually
reclaimed its pre-war prominence as an agricultural
and trade center located at the edge of the northern
prairies and the Ozark foothills. When lead, zinc, and limestone were discovered and developed into
prosperous industries, families began to arrive from
all over to take advantage of the area's economic
opportunities. Carthage's trademark Victorian
architecture, still in place today, is a result of the economic affluence of the town during this late
nineteenth and early twentieth century period.

Central West End

9780738508009

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In the 1860s, with bustling river traffic alive with boats and men, St. Louis was a picturesque river town. This was the St. Louis that Mark Twain, Edna Ferber, and T.S. Eliot wrote about: a town on the mysterious but profitable Mississippi. After the Civil War, profits from contracts with the Union and river trading brought increased wealth to the community. Prosperous residents were challenged to find land that could hold their prestigious mansions and gardens. Their eyes turned to the western section of the town, which in time became known as the Central West End.

Jefferson City

9780738560168

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Named in honor of Pres. Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson City was established specifically as the home of Missouri's state government. The city has a rich history as the seat of the Missouri General Assembly and state government operations. Beginning in the 1820s with the construction of a capitol building and commercial developments, people came to the new capital city to work and live. The vintage postcards in this collection illustrate and enliven the historical significance of Jefferson City as capital of the Show-Me State-vivid history is interwoven with informative text that both entertains and educates.

Ste. Genevieve

9780738551838

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the French established forts, such as Fort de Chartres, in the mid-Mississippi Valley, as well as villages, such as River des Peres and Mine la Motte. Ste. Genevieve was founded in the late 1740s when French Canadians settled on the rich soil of the floodplain. They built homes, cultivated crops (including corn and cotton), and mined the rich veins of lead and the bluffs for stone. The great flood of 1785, referred to by early residents as l'année des grandes eaux, swept away the tiny village, and the mighty Mississippi River reclaimed its riverbed, forcing residents to move their village several miles farther west to higher ground. Today much of the early French culture remains in the numerous 18th- and 19th-century Creole houses that line the ancient streets. Germans began to arrive in the early 1800s and left their mark using the abundant clay and limestone for brick buildings and limestone houses. Ste. Genevieve is dotted with landmarks: the famous Bolduc House, the "post-in-the-ground" Amoureux House, the Felix Vallé House, and many other historic and architectural treasures.

West Plains

9780738560236

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The Great Depression hit West Plains hard, but people were resilient and bounced back during World War II. The postwar years brought rural electrification, television, and paved roads. As the economy began to move away from agriculture to new industries, a flooring mill and shoe factory came to town, accompanied by a community hospital. Big band slipped into rock and roll, radio to television, and iceboxes to refrigerators. In 40 years, people went from Ford Model Ts to Mustangs and from silent films to the big screen at the 63 Drive In. By the end of the 1960s, the Beatles had arrived, and everyone was looking in their world atlas for a place called Vietnam. This is a pictorial journey through a small town in the Ozarks from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Hermann

9780738584034

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Hermann, Missouri, was named for Hermann der Cherusker, a German folk hero of the first century who led a successful battle against the Romans that many feel changed the course of history. In 1837, the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia, whose members hoped to establish a colony where their German language and customs could be preserved, founded Hermann and named the town for the young warrior. By the turn of the century, Hermann was a thriving river port and growing wine producer. The Hermann American Viticultural Area was officially designated in 1983, one of the earliest to be recognized by the U.S. government. Hermann hosts many events each year, including Maifest, which featured a historic pageant in the years 1952 through 1964, and Wurstfest, a celebration of the art of German sausage making. Approximately a quarter of a million tourists visit Hermann each year to enjoy a taste of "Little Germany" in the heart of the American Midwest.

Mexico

9780738584485

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

After its founding in 1836, Mexico was named county seat of the newly formed Audrain County. Growth in the primarily agricultural region was slow until the coming of the North Missouri Railroad and the Graduation Act that made land available from the federal government for 12.5¢ an acre. With the introduction of breeding and training saddle horses, the discovery of fire clay deposits, and the implementation of more efficient means of turning the clay into heat resistant brick, Mexico's star ascended. During its heyday, the city was known as the "saddle horse capital" and the "firebrick capital of the world." Today Mexico continues to survive and thrive as "main street of the Midwest."

Forgotten Tales of Kansas City

9781609496159

$14.99 $10.49 Save 30%

Meet the folks who slip out of history books like they're playing the Kansas City shuffle. In this fascinating collection of stories, Paul Kirkman has dug up all sorts of head-scratchers: how did Jesse James rob a bank with John F. Kennedy, and how could a Beatles concert in the 1960s fail to make money? Watch a cow explode in a kitchen, frogs rain down from the sky and dogs pay for a public library system. Learn how Harry Houdini was trapped in a phone booth, why Clark Gable haunted street corners in a clown outfit and what kept Kansas City in Missouri.

Nodaway County

9780738552217

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

One of six counties carved out of the Platte Purchase, added to Missouri in 1836, Nodaway County appeared to its first white explorers to be a rolling prairie, marginal for agriculture but full of opportunity for those willing to bring hard work and ingenuity to the land. Within a generation of building cabins and experimenting with a wide variety of agricultural enterprises, the county boasted at least 17 towns, four railroad lines, 16 newspapers, and all the economic and cultural institutions necessary for boosters to lay claim to progress and civility. While residents of towns and the countryside often drew distinctions between one another, their lives were intertwined by mills, horse farms, livestock shows, new technology, churches, schools, public entertainment of every sort, and occasional times of hardship. By the 1920s, the communities of Nodaway County, supported by a vibrant and diverse rural economy, reached a zenith of locally generated economic growth and community activity, captured artfully by photographers during the decades that bracketed the turn of the 20th century.

People's History of the Lake of the Ozarks, A

9781467135504

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

For tourists, the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks must seem in complete harmony with the natural order of its surroundings. Even lifelong natives can struggle to imagine a time when the reservoir created by the Bagnell Dam didn't exist. But beneath the placid waters of the lake that draws bustling visitors to its shores lies the drama of a remote Ozark community suddenly thrust into an urban world. True locals Dan William Peek and Kent Van Landuyt piece together the fascinating story of how that community adapted to the lake that redefined their home.

Southwest Garden

9780738561851

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The Southwest Garden neighborhood borders two internationally known St. Louis landmarks, the Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859, and Tower Grove Park, established in 1868. The land for both the garden and the park was donated by their founder, Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist. Both destinations are designated as national historic landmarks--the garden is one of the oldest in the United States, and the park shares the honor of being on the National Register of Historic Places with only three other municipal parks in the nation. The botanical garden is the best place to start a historical walking tour of the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

Independence

9780738552194

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Founded in 1827 as the county seat of Jackson County, Independence, "Queen City of the Trails," prospered through outfitting pioneers as they began the journey west on the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails. The city persisted through various travails: a bloody war over slavery, fought between the Kansas Jayhawkers and the Missouri Bushwhackers; the rise of William Quantrill; the enforcement of the infamous Order No. 11; and Civil War action on the town square. By 1900, Independence was a prosperous community, the location of the headquarters of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (renamed the Community of Christ), and the hometown of a young man who became the 33rd president of the United States--Harry S. Truman. This book illustrates the history of Independence in more than 200 vintage images, detailing the people, businesses, churches, schools, organizations, and events that played important roles in the city's past.

Lincoln University

9780738551326

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 for the education of freed blacks after the Civil War. This book focuses on the years between 1920 and 1970, a span of time during which many of the university's
most signifi cant developments occurred. During this period, Lincoln Institute was elevated to university status, and graduate programs were added to the curriculum. A court-ordered law school was established and graduated many accomplished and respected African American attorneys before disbanding in the 1950s. During this era, the university was often referred to as "the Harvard of the Midwest" due to the acclaimed reputation of its faculty. Many alumni have made outstanding contributions at local, state, and national levels. After the 1954 United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, the university integrated its student body. As a result, student enrollment changed dramatically from all black to a signifi cantly white clientele. Today the university retains its designation as a historically
black college/university.

St. Louis Garden District

9780738532592

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Found near the famed Missouri Botanical Garden, also known as Shaw's Garden, the Garden District of St. Louis encompasses the present-day environs of Compton Hill, Oak Hill, Compton Heights, Compton Hill Reservoir Square, Tower Grove East, Tower Grove Heights, and the Shaw neighborhood. Henry Shaw was one of St. Louis' most prominent landowners in the mid-nineteenth century and is directly responsible for the Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park. These, along with his other contributions, helped the Garden District flourish, and it continues to attract visitors year in and year out. The images in this book will take you on a tour of the beauty and history of the St. Louis Garden District.

Lafayette Square, St. Louis

9780738500225

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Lafayette Square has always been a reflection of the life and times of St. Louis, Missouri. Originally a common land where cattle grazed and people hunted game, the area was set aside as a public park just before the Civil War. Following that era, Lafayette Square was developed into a showplace for the Victorian era, featuring fantastic gardens, gazebos, a bandstand, an aquarium, and a boathouse. On May 27, 1896, a tornado plowed through the area and destroyed most of its foliage and buildings. Following this tragedy, many homeowners fled to the Central West End, and the once elegant Lafayette Square fell into a state of decline. During the years of the Depression and World War II, the neighborhood and its surroundings became known as "Slum D." In 1945, architect and historian John Albury Bryan purchased a residence at Benton Place and began a fierce and lonely battle to renovate the Square. His dream of restoration became a reality in the 1960s and 1970s when a group of concerned citizens, determined to recapture the area's former glory, banded together to form the Lafayette Restoration Committee.

Brentwood, Missouri

9780738520216

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The mail coaches and prairie schooners traveling west in the late 1800s on the Manchester Trail would have stopped in what is today known as Brentwood. Maddenville, as the area was then called, was named after a prominent businessman who owned a grocery store, barbershop, rock quarry, and blacksmith shop. While some travelers took respite in Porta's Tavern and pressed westward, others never left the community that later grew, along with the railroad, into a bustling community just outside St. Louis. This collection of words and images by the Brentwood Historical Society brings to life the small-town values and humble history of "The City of Warmth."

In this book, more than 200 historic photographs portray the days when the Brentwood Dinky streetcar ran from St. Louis, Link's Chicken Farm became infamous, and Louis J. "Pat" Bompart, grandson of Brentwood's founder, bought tavern patrons round after round of drinks. Pictured here are the schools, churches, businesses, and festivals that have endeared residents to Brentwood since its earliest days as a whistle stop.

University City, Missouri

9780738520063

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In 1904, from a plot of land that would soon become University City, eccentric publisher Edwin Gardner Lewis shone the beam of what he claimed was the world's largest searchlight over the World's Fair in nearby St. Louis. Several years later, he claimed an even greater possession: a city, created around his publishing complex, complete with his own mayoral office, wide boulevards, and beautiful residences. The story of University City is one of urban wonder: from the city's "Hilltop Neighbor" and namesake, Washington University, to the diversity showcased in today's University City. The historic images in this volume illustrate the area's founding and development, from the largest printing press of the time, capable of producing 300,000 eight-page newspapers an hour, to the lion sculptures at the city's famed "Gates of Opportunity," standing proud as the city's everlasting symbol.