Strange, True or Urban Legend? Missouri Trivia

More than a State Motto - The Show Me State:  The unofficial motto for the State of Missouri is "The Show Me".  The phrase was coined by U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan.  While giving a speech at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, he uttered the line: "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."  It is debatable whether or not he was the first to coin the phrase, but his offthe cuff comments made the phrase popular.

State Animal - Stubborn as a Missouri Mule:  The official state animal for Missouri is the Missouri Mule.  However, no man represented the stubborn spirit of the Missouri mule more than Valentine Tapley from Pike County, Missouri.  During Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the presidency, he swore that he would never shave again.  True to his word, Tapley did not shave from 1860 to his death in 1910.  His beard, as reported in the New York Times, was over 12 feet long.

State Capital - Three Cities, Six Building:  Missouri has had six state capitals in three different cities.  The first general assembly was held at the Mansion House in St. Louis (Third and Vine).  It was then moved to the Missouri Hotel in St. Louis (Maine and Morgan).  In 1821, the state capital was temporarily moved to St. Charles.  Finally, in 1826, it moved permanently to Jefferson City.  The first state capital in Jefferson City burned in 1837 and the second burned in 1911.  The present state capitol was completed in 1917.

They Sure Pass Some Odd Laws:  In Missouri, there have some good and bad laws passed.  Here are some of the more interesting laws:

• Ballwin:  Vulgar or obscene language prohibited except in your own home.
• Buckner:  Yard waste may be burned any day except Sunday.
• Columbia:  Television antennas prohibited.  25′ satellite dish permitted.
• Columbia:  Clotheslines prohibited.  Clothes draped over a fence permitted.
• Kansas City:  Minors prohibited from purchasing cap pistols - shotguns permitted.
• Kansas City:  Installation of bath tubs resembling animal paws prohibited.
• Leadwood:  Pilots eating unshelled roasted peanuts or watermelon while flying is prohibited.
• Marceline:  Minors can buy rolling paper and tobacco - purchase of lighters prohibited.
• Marquette:  Illegal for more than 4 unrelated persons to occupy the same dwelling ("The Brothel" Law)
• Merryville:  Women are prohibited from wearing corsets.
• Mole:  Frightening a baby is prohibited.
• Natchez:  Provide beer or other intoxicants to elephants is prohibited.
• Perryville:  Throwing hard objects at birds prohibited.
• Purdy:  Dancing is strictly prohibited.
• St. Louis:  Sitting on curb and drinking beer from a bucket prohibited.
• St. Louis:  Milkman running while on duty prohibited.
• St. Louis:  Parking an auto without turning off the engine is prohibited.
• Springfield:  Door to door salesmen prohibited from selling goods in street or screaming at cars.
• University City:  Four women renting an apartment together is prohibited.
• University City:  Owning PVC pipe is prohibited.
• University City:  Requesting someone to "watch over" your parked car is prohibited.
• University City:  Honking another person's car horn is prohibited.

However, Missourians have always found creative ways to avoid the long arm of the law.  Before 1866, it was illegal to educate blacks in Missouri. The Reverend John Berry Meachum beat the law by taking his students out on a boat and holding class in the middle of the Mississippi River.

Culinary Delights and Other Food Firsts:  The 1904 World's Fair held in St. Louis saw a number of first including the first ice cream cone, first iced tea, first sliced bread, and first use of the term "hot dog" to describe a sausage on a bun. Two iconic soft drinks where launched in St. Louis.  Dr. Pepper was introduced at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and 7-Up was created in St. Louis in 1929.  "7" was selected for the original 7-ounce containers and "UP" for the direction of the bubbles.  In 1899, the first ready-mix food (known as Aunt Jemima's pancake flour) to be sold commercially was invented in St. Joseph, Missouri. 

Mother Nature:  Warsaw, Missouri holds the state records for the lowest temperature (-40 on February 13, 1905) and highest temperature (118 on July 14, 1954)on February 13, 1905.  In 1811, the most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in New Madrid County, Missouri.  The earthquake shook over 1 million square miles and was felt over 1000 miles away.  In 1925, the most destructive tornado on record occurred in Annapolis, Missouri where over a three hour period it created a 980 foot wide trail of demolished buildings and left 823 people dead and 3000 injured.

Famous (or Infamous) Missourians:  Missouri has had its share of famous and infamous Americans.  Here are a few examples:

• Jesse Woodson James was born in Kearney, Missouri.  For 15 years, Frank and Jesse James robbed trains and banks throughout the United States until 1882 when he was shot and killed by Bob Ford in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Ford shot James to the $10,000 reward from the Pinkerton Detectives.
• Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri.  As President of the United States, Truman ordered the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War II.
• Samuel Clemens, more familiarly known as Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri.  He later moved to Hannibal.  He started as a printer's apprentice of the Missouri Courier in Hannibal, Missouri, and later wrote for the Saturday Post in Keokuk, Iowa.  He is best known for his novels - Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn based, in part, on his years as a riverboat captain.
• Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, writer of Little House on the Prairie, lived in Mansfield, Missouri.  She bequeathed her copyrights and royalties to a library in Mansfield, Missouri.  However, this little library received a total of $28,000 until 1999.  In 1999, the Wright County Library Board and later the State of Missouri sued Harper Collins and others for the past due royalties.  It is believed that the case quietly settled for an estimated $875,000.

Area Attractions:  St. Louis offers more free, major visitor attractions than anyplace outside of Washington, D.C., including the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, Cahokia Mounds, Museum of Westward Expansion, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and Grant's Farm.  In 1948, architect Eero Saarinen's design for a 630-foot stainless steel arch was chosen as a part of a nationwide competition for the monument to the spirit of the western pioneers.  In 1963, construction of the Gateway Arch began.  The Gateway Arch was completed on October 28, 1965.  At 630 feet tall, the Gateway Arch remains as the tallest monument constructed in the United States.

BBQ - The Tale of Two Cities:  Kansas City is known for its barbeque.  In 1908, Henry Perry made Kansas City BBQ famous by selling his smoked meats in an alley stand in the Garment District. He later moved to an old railroad car near the famous corner of 18th & Vine.  Although Kansas City may be known for its barbeque, St. Louisans consume more barbecue sauce per capita than any other city in America.

Missouri Music:  The state musical instrument is the fiddle and the state dance is the square dance.  However, St. Louis is known as the home of the blues and Sedalia is known as the birthplace of classical ragtime.

Missouri - Split between The South or North:  In 1854, Missourians and Kansans battled over whether Kansas would become a "free-state" or a "slave state."   Some historians claim that these pitched battles were the effective start of the civil war.  Missouri was split in loyalty during the the Civil War (or War of Northern Agression).  One remnant of this split is that the Police Board for the City of St. Louis is still controlled by and its members appoint by the Governor.  During the Civil War, Missouri was the site of over 1000 battles - third only to Virginia and Tennessee.

Transportation:  In 1870, the first train of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway, later known as St.Louis-San Francisco Railway, or "Frisco," arrived in St. Louis, Missouri.  In 1912, the first successful parachute jump from a moving airplane was made by Captain Berry in St. Louis, Missouri.  Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome.  It also has more miles of freeway per capita than any other metro area with more than 1 million residents.

A Friendly State:  Missouri (tied with Tennessee) is the most "neighborly" state in the United States bordered by eight states:  Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Hauntings:  The movie and book "The Exorcist" was based loosely on an exorcism performed at the old Alexian Brothers Hospital on Broadway in St. Louis.

I hope you enjoyed the Missouri trivia.  I don't know whether the trivia is fact or fiction - but they sure have been repeated often enough.  If you are locating to St. Louis, we would like the opportunity to show you why St. Louis is a great place to call home (beyond its interesting trivia). 

Interested in Lafayette Square, Soulard or the other great neighborhoods of St. Louis?  Contact Ryan Shaughnessy at PREA Signature Realty at 314-971-4381 or by e-mail to Ryan@PREASignatureRealty.com.