Portal:Missouri

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The Missouri Portal

Missouri (/mɪˈzʊəri/ ^ⓘ miz-OOR-ee) is a doubly landlocked state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it borders Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center and into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With over six million residents, it is the 18th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capital is Jefferson City.

Humans have inhabited present-day Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The Mississippian culture, which emerged in the ninth century, built cities and mounds before declining in the 14th century. The Indigenous Osage and Missouria nations inhabited the area when European people arrived in the 17th century. The French incorporated the territory into Louisiana, founding Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired Missouri as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South rushed into the new Missouri Territory; Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. As a border state, Missouri's role in the American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business.

Today the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouri has been called the "Mother of the West", the "Cave State", and the "Show Me State". Its culture blends elements of the Midwestern and Southern United States. It is the birthplace of the musical genres ragtime, Kansas City jazz and St. Louis blues. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and the lesser-known St. Louis-style barbecue, can be found across the state and beyond. (Full article...)

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Rear Admiral William R. Purnell

Rear Admiral William Reynolds Purnell (6 September 1886 – 3 March 1955) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II. A 1908 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he captained destroyers during World War I. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his role in protecting convoys against German submarines as commander of the USS Lamson.

He was promoted to rear admiral in November 1941. During World War II, he was chief of staff of the ill-fated Asiatic Fleet at the start of the Pacific War. He later served as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Materiel. He was the navy representative on the Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment, and, from September 1942, the navy representative on the Military Policy Committee, the three-man committee that oversaw the Manhattan Project. Purnell helped coordinate its activities with those of the navy. In 1945, he travelled to Tinian as the representative of the Military Policy Committee, and coordinated preparations for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with senior army and navy commanders in the Pacific. He retired from the navy in 1946 and died in 1955. (Full article...)

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Mark Twain in 1907

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." Twain's novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." He also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) and cowrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for both Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer early in his career, and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to his older brother Orion Clemens' newspaper. Twain then became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, which provided him the material for Life on the Mississippi (1883). Soon after, Twain headed west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Missouri-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Meramec Caverns (from Missouri)

Map of counties in Missouri by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

Black or African American

40–50%

(from Missouri)

Image 3Missouri is the only state to have two main Federal Reserve Banks (Kansas City bank pictured). (from Missouri)
Image 4Missouri population density map (from Missouri)
Image 5Union Station in St. Louis was the world's largest and busiest train station when it opened in 1894. (from Missouri)
Image 6Missouri State quarter featuring the Lewis and Clark Expedition (from Missouri)
Image 7Price's Raid in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, 1864 (from Missouri)
Image 8The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City (from Missouri)
Image 9The George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond, Missouri was the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to a non-President and the first for an African-American. (from History of Missouri)
Image 10Map of counties in Missouri by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Legend
- Non-Hispanic White
    50–60%
  
    60–70%
  
    70–80%
  
    80–90%
  
    90%+
  
  Black or African American
    40–50%
(from Missouri)
Image 11Köppen climate types of Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 12Missouri River near Rocheport, Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 13The Mississippi River at Hannibal (from Missouri)
Image 14A mural honoring the Kansas City Chiefs on the wall of the Westport Alehouse in Kansas City, MO. (from Missouri)
Image 15Missouri River near Rocheport, Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 16Missouri State quarter featuring the Lewis and Clark Expedition (from Missouri)
Image 17African American boy in a sharecropper shack, New Madrid County, 1938. (from Missouri)
Image 18The Mississippi River at Hannibal (from Missouri)
Image 19Brookings Hall at Washington University in St. Louis (from Missouri)
Image 20Meramec Caverns (from Missouri)
Image 21Forrest Smith, elected Governor of Missouri in 1948, was the first governor chosen under the 1945 state Constitution. (from History of Missouri)
Image 22A physiographic map of Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 23Map of Southwest Missouri Railroad Company c 1907 (from Missouri)
Image 24A mural honoring the Kansas City Chiefs on the wall of the Westport Alehouse in Kansas City, MO. (from Missouri)
Image 25Missouri has five major sports teams: the Royals and Cardinals of MLB, St. Louis City SC of MLS, the Chiefs of the NFL, and the Blues of the NHL. (from Missouri)
Image 26The states and territories of the United States as a result of Missouri's admission as a state on August 10, 1821. The remainder of the former Missouri Territory became unorganized territory. (from Missouri)
Image 27Jesse Hall on the University of Missouri campus (from Missouri)
Image 28The Lake of the Ozarks is one of several man-made lakes in Missouri, created by the damming of several rivers and tributaries. The lake has a surface area of 54,000 acres and 1,150 miles of shoreline and has become a popular tourist destination. (from Missouri)
Image 29Amtrak station in Kirkwood (from Missouri)
Image 30Ethnic origins in Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 31The states and territories of the United States as a result of Missouri's admission as a state on August 10, 1821. The remainder of the former Missouri Territory became unorganized territory. (from Missouri)
Image 32Union Station in St. Louis was the world's largest and busiest train station when it opened in 1894. (from Missouri)
Image 33Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal (from Missouri)
Image 34The Missouri Governor's Mansion is included in the Missouri State Capitol Historic District. (from Missouri)
Image 35Köppen climate types of Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 36Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election (from Missouri)
Image 37General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, was raised in Laclede, Missouri. (from Missouri)
Image 38A Rural Electrification Administration lineman at work in Hayti, Missouri in 1942. (from History of Missouri)
Image 39The historic Gem Theatre, located in Kansas City's renowned 18th and Vine Jazz District (from Missouri)
Image 40Busch Stadium, where the St. Louis Cardinals play. (from Missouri)
Image 41Missouri has five major sports teams: the Royals and Cardinals of MLB, St. Louis City SC of MLS, the Chiefs of the NFL, and the Blues of the NHL. (from Missouri)
Image 42Missouri is the only state to have two main Federal Reserve Banks (Kansas City bank pictured). (from Missouri)
Image 43Amtrak station in Kirkwood (from Missouri)
Image 44Brookings Hall at Washington University in St. Louis (from Missouri)
Image 45The Gateway Arch in St. Louis (from Missouri)
Image 46Fur Traders Descending the Missouri by Missouri painter George Caleb Bingham (from Missouri)
Image 47Fur Traders Descending the Missouri by Missouri painter George Caleb Bingham (from Missouri)
Image 48The population center for the United States has been in Missouri since 1980. As of 2020, it is near Interstate 44 in Missouri as it approaches Springfield. (from Missouri)
Image 49Kansas City Streetcar near Union Station (from Missouri)
Image 50The Bell Mountain Wilderness of southern Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest (from Missouri)
Image 51Price's Raid in the Western Theater, 1864 (from History of Missouri)
Image 52The population center for the United States has been in Missouri since 1980. As of 2020, it is near Interstate 44 in Missouri as it approaches Springfield. (from Missouri)
Image 53African American boy in a sharecropper shack, New Madrid County, 1938. (from Missouri)
Image 54The historic Gem Theatre, located in Kansas City's renowned 18th and Vine Jazz District (from Missouri)
Image 55The Shelley House in St. Louis was the focus of a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case that prohibited restrictive covenants in housing. (from History of Missouri)
Image 56Ethnic origins in Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 57American pioneers such as Daniel Boone with his sons Daniel Morgan Boone, Nathan Boone, and other family members, came to Spanish-controlled Missouri during the 1790s. (from History of Missouri)
Image 58General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, was raised in Laclede, Missouri. (from Missouri)
Image 59Price's Raid in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, 1864 (from Missouri)
Image 60Jesse Hall on the University of Missouri campus (from Missouri)
Image 61Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal (from Missouri)
Image 62Missouri population density map (from Missouri)
Image 63Busch Stadium, where the St. Louis Cardinals play. (from Missouri)
Image 64The Gateway Arch in St. Louis (from Missouri)
Image 65A physiographic map of Missouri (from Missouri)
Image 66Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election (from Missouri)
Image 67Christopher Bond became the youngest person elected Governor of Missouri in 1972 and was part of the rise of the Republican Party in the state. (from History of Missouri)
Image 68Child shoe workers in Kirksville, Missouri, 1910 (from Missouri)
Image 69St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch pioneered the use of refrigerator cars to market beer nationally. (from History of Missouri)
Image 70Most Missourians traveled longer distances by water, and large cargo was transported by bateaux (shown above). (from History of Missouri)
Image 71The Missouri Governor's Mansion is included in the Missouri State Capitol Historic District. (from Missouri)
Image 72Map of Southwest Missouri Railroad Company c 1907 (from Missouri)
Image 73The Bell Mountain Wilderness of southern Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest (from Missouri)
Image 74The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City (from Missouri)
Image 75Kansas City Streetcar near Union Station (from Missouri)
Image 76Child shoe workers in Kirksville, Missouri, 1910 (from Missouri)
Image 77Map of early Missouri settlements and trading posts (from History of Missouri)
Image 78The Lake of the Ozarks is one of several man-made lakes in Missouri, created by the damming of several rivers and tributaries. The lake has a surface area of 54,000 acres and 1,150 miles of shoreline and has become a popular tourist destination. (from Missouri)

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... that Missouri's annual Snake Saturday parade originally began in a hotel parking lot with only four floats?
... that a group of Boy Scouts provided first aid to victims of the 2022 Missouri train derailment before first responders arrived?
... that during the August 2023 Mid-South U.S. floods, 3.77 inches (96 mm) of rain fell in Columbia, Missouri, breaking a 113-year rainfall record?
... that supporters of a 2020 ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in Missouri did not use the words "Medicaid expansion" to describe their proposal in some campaign material?
... that the steamboat carrying the 9th Missouri Sharpshooter Battalion back from its military service sank in the Red River of the South?
... that a Missouri TV station blew up its call letters – literally?

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