Missouri
The rivers arrived first, carving their priceless art into the Missouri landscape. They were our first trails, cutting a path for hundreds of explorers and thousands of settlers. The early pioneers branched out, forming their own trails, establishing towns along the way.As you follow those first settlers through the Gateway to the West, you too will carve a path. One filled with memories from an adventure second to none. Branch out, like the pioneers did, covering the trails that launched thousands of prairie schooners.
Along the way, experience Missouri's natural beauty and neighborliness, with a lifetime of navigable rivers. Just ask the ghosts of Lewis and Clark, who started - and ended - their 1804 Corps of Discovery in St. Charles. Carve your own path of discovery along Missouri's rivers. Blaze your own trails and write your own journals.
All across the state, you'll find plenty of opportunities to take home Missouri memories. Our shops are like our rivers. No two are the same. Each offers something new. So take off antiquing through Missouri's rich history. Browse through hundreds of shops at two of the world's largest railroad stations turned into shoppers' paradise, they're the state's biggest bookends, both named Union Station - one in Kansas City, one in St. Louis. From either spot, you can do more than read about Missouri's past, you can jump right in.
Explore Missouri
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum & Home
Visit the home where the Little House books were written. The Museum exhibits include artifacts spanning over a century of the lives of the pioneering history described in the "Little House"
Mansfield, MO MuseumsSt. Patrick's Church
Catholicism in Peirce City is as old as the town itself when in 1870 the Frisco railroad laid the first tracks through here going west to Kansas. Many of the railroaders were Irish Catholics.
Pierce City, MO Historic Churches
Lawrence County Courthouse
Built in 1900 of native limestone, this is the third courthouse on this site. A statue of Justice graces the top of this historic landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The first courthouse was built of wood in 1846
Mt. Vernon, MO Historic CourthousesTable Rock Fishing
While the lake boasts an abundance of bass, crappie, white bass, catfish, and bluegill, Table Rock is acclaimed as one of the best bass fishing lakes in this hemisphere. It�
, MO FishingOzark Lake Area Caves
Missouri is truly the cave state, with over 5,380 registered and mapped wild caves. 300 of the wild caves are in the counties of Camden, Miller, and Morgan which surround the Lake of the Ozarks. Show Caves are wild caves that have been "tamed"
, MO CavingSmithville Lake Area Hunting
The public may hunt on more than 7,000 acres in the Smithville wildlife management area. Areas marked as "Wildlife Management Areas" are open year round. However, about 2,200 acres of land and water in the Honker Cove Waterfowl Refuge closes seasonally (October 15 – January 15)
, MO HuntingSoldiers Monuments
A bronze Civil War soldier stands facing south in the square. Its orientation caused great controversy among the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic when it was first erected.
A marble soldier commemorates the dead of World War I. The statue was carved
Mountain Grove, MO MonumentsHiggerson School Historic Site
Restored to the one-room school that operated at Higgerson Landing on the Mississippi River in 1948
New Madrid, MO Historic SchoolhousesVeterans Memorial
A "Jeannie" howitzer stands aside the veteran's memorial located on MacArthur Blvd. at Miner'
Webb City, MO Memorials