Samuel Clemens lived in Hannibal for only 13 years of his childhood, but his time there made an impact that has lasted more than a century.
After leaving Hannibal to work on riverboats, Clemens became an author and was introduced to the world as Mark Twain. Although Twain never lived in Hannibal again, the small Missouri town and the area surrounding it inspired many of his most famous stories, including those with characters like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
As a result, Twain’s legacy has become the hallmark of Hannibal, a riverfront town on the Mississippi River where groups can take riverboat cruises, visit Twain’s boyhood home and be entertained by a Mark Twain re-enactor.
The best place to begin is the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum complex, which comprises eight buildings in the middle of downtown Hannibal. The interpretive center gives visitors an overview of Twain’s life and experiences in town using many text panels with passages from Twain’s writings.
“It focuses on Twain’s life in his own words,” said Megan Rapp, assistant director and group sales manager for the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They made it sort of a low-tech experience so it would be more authentic to the period. They’re trying to make the museums as interesting as the man.”
Next, visitors walk through Twain’s childhood home, where they see period furniture and some life-sized statues of Twain as an adult inserted into each room’s scene. Also in the complex is the drugstore, whose upstairs apartment Twain’s family occupied during a difficult financial period.
Huck’s house
The complex also includes the homes of two of Twain’s childhood friends. These houses are now called the Huckleberry Finn House and the Becky Thatcher House, named after the characters these young people inspired.
A short walk from the homes, the Mark Twain Museum has a variety of artifacts from Twain’s life, as well as exhibits representing some of his most famous stories. Visitors will find one of Twain’s signature white suit jackets on display and the ceremonial gown he wore when speaking at an Oxford graduation.
Other exhibits deal with nonliterary aspects of Twain’s life.
“The museum gallery is really interactive,” Rapp said. “There’s a replica of a pilot’s house, because Mark Twain was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi.”
For an enjoyable afternoon ride and a look at more Twain sites, groups can take a tour with the Hannibal Trolley Company. The trolley goes to the Mark Twain Cave Complex on the outskirts of town, which was depicted in the Tom Sawyer stories; it also visits some historic homes overlooking downtown.
For a more in-depth look at the famous writer, a local man offers a re-enactment show called “Mark Twain Himself,” which takes place in a historic theater in downtown Hannibal. The actor is also available to give groups guided walking tours of the historic district in his Mark Twain character.
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Hannibal as America’s hometown
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