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Source:
1904 The State of Missouri
Hannibal,
the metropolis of northeast Missouri, is a substantial and
beautiful city of 16,000 inhabitants. Here in 1846 was held the
first public meeting west of the Mississippi River to promote the
building of a railroad between that great river and the Pacific
ocean. In 1865 the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad was opened
for through traffic, and Hannibal began its continual growth. In
1870 the Wabash railroad was built to Buffalo. In 1871 a bridge
across the Mississippi river was finished, and the same year the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway was completed, thus giving to
Hannibal a through line to the east, to central Missouri, to
Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1878 the St. Louis and Hannibal
railway was opened to traffic, giving to the city two independent
passenger and freight lines to St. Louis and the south.
The
site of Hannibal was not selected by accident. It is located along
the river, and on the north slope of a fertile valley and the
surrounding hills. The neighboring farming counties are reached
from Hannibal by extensive systems of free rock and gravel roads.
The drives in the city are famous. One, overlooking the
Mississippi river and the great valley beyond, leads to the famous
"Mark Twain" cave in which "Tom Sawyer" lost
his way. Another to the north, one-half way between the water and
the hill top, brings into view the noble river, here and there
studded with green isles, with the Illinois heights rising from
its opposite shore.
The
city was a pioneer in municipal ownership of public utilities. In
1887, it established the first municipal electric light and power
plant in Missouri. Cheap electric power is supplied to
manufacturers, and all comers are offered this remarkable
inducement. The tax rate is low in Hannibal, being for city
purposes but 60 cents on the one hundred dollars valuation. The
United States Circuit Court, and the United States District Court
for the Eastern Judicial District of Missouri, hold each two terms
a year in Hannibal. The city is well organized municipally with a
non-partisan board of public works and the machinery necessary to
good government. Its positive receipts indicate its commercial
expansion. In four years they have grown over thirty per cent.
Within four years, four important mail trains, two rural free
delivery routes. and two sub-stations have been added to the post
office facilities.
Hannibal
is strong financially, not having had a bank failure in twenty
years. Her four banks have a capital stock of $230,000, have
gained in surplus and undivided profits over 45 percent in
fourteen months, and over 18 per cent in deposits. Hannibal
citizens, as a rule, own their own homes. Four prosperous building
and loan associations have helped to this good end. The assessed
valuation of four million dollars, or an actual valuation of ten
million dollars, indicate the worth of Hannibal property. In 1900,
according to the federal census, the city had a population of
12,790; while in June, 1903, the population is shown by actual
count to be 16,529 a gain of over 30 per cent in two years.
The
topography of the site is such as to afford the best possible
natural surface drainage, which has been aided by a complete
system of sewerage, that drains into the Mississippi river, and
insures freedom from accumulating refuse. There are many miles of
splendidly paved streets and avenues, in the construction of which
the natural drainage has been systematically aided, insuring at
all times a remarkably clean city. To the exceedingly favorable
climatic conditions prevailing at Hannibal, the abundant supply of
good water and good drainage, is attributable the exceedingly low
death rate and the almost total absence of typhoid fever and
similar diseases.
The
water supply at Hannibal is taken from The Mississippi River, the
water plant being owned and operated by a private corporation. The
pump station is located on the river but one mile above the city,
with filtering appliances and storage reservoirs. The plant has a
pumping capacity of eight million gallons daily, and a storage
capacity of seventeen and one-half million gallons. There are 21
miles of delivery pipes and 160 miles of double fire hydrants. The
water as delivered to the consumer is clear and wholesome and the
water rates reasonable.
The
Hannibal gas plant to owned by a private corporation. The gas
which it furnishes for fuel and light is at the ordinary rate in
cities comparatively situated. The Hannibal Railway and Electric
Company, a private corporation, operates four and one-half miles
of electric road, affording rapid transit for all principal parts
of the city, and enabling men of moderate means to occupy homes in
the suburbs.
Hannibal
has the advantage of being located on the Mississippi river, that
great regulator of freight rates, and enjoys the distinction and
the benefits of having more railroads and better passenger and
freight traffic facilities than any other city located on the
Mississippi river between St Louis and St. Paul. Hannibal, as a
railway center, possesses numerous advantages not enjoyed by any
other city of equal size and Importance in the west. With the
exception of St. Louis, there to not a city of 10,000 Inhabitants
and upwards, that is anything like so favorably located. This city
is practically on the same rate basis to all points as St. Louis.
It has the same rates as St. Louis, to all points In the out and
northeast. to the north and northwest, to the west and southwest,
and practically the same to the lower Mississippi valley and the
southeast. There are four different systems entering the city,
with five trunk lines leading in every direction.
The
river transportation is in Important factor, boats plying
regularly between Hannibal and St. Louis, and Hannibal and all
river towns and cities north, to and including St. Paul. On
account of the river grade of the St. Louis, Kansas and
Northwestern. It is possible to haul longer trains and with less
expense than is possible on any other railroad in the State. For
this reason, the freight rates between St. Louis and Hannibal are
the lowest in the State and considerably less than that fixed by
the Missouri statutes.
There
are one hundred and twelve factories In Hannibal, besides the
great Burlington and other railroad shops, which are factories of
a most profitable and desirable character. The employee of these
concerns number over four thousand, and are paid in wages annually
a sum in excess of three and a half million dollars. The
wonderfully rapid growth in the number factories in Hannibal, the
capital invested in them, the value of the annual output, the
number of employees and the annual pay roll was over one hundred
per cent during 1902 and 1903, yet the growth has been of a
substantial and permanent character, and the year 1904 promises
even greater gains, as is indicated by the new buildings and
extensions already under way.
The
business men of Hannibal, anticipating the growth of manufacturing
in the central west, and especially in the cities on the
Mississippi river, and further anticipating the rise in value of
Hannibal real estate, took advantage of a liberal offer to sell,
made by the owners, and purchased a tract of land of 33 acres,
situated within six blocks of the Union Station, for the purpose
of giving it away as sites for factories desiring to locate in
Hannibal. The tract of land has a frontage of 2,000 feet an the
main line of the great Burlington railway system, and 4,000 feet
on the main line of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway, and is
accessible to the Wabash and other roads. Splendid switching
facilities, in connection with these great railways, can be had.
Several large manufacturing plants have recently located on this
tract of land and are prospering. The board of directors of the
Business Men's Association, holding the title to the land, will be
glad to entertain a proposition from any firms or individuals
desiring to locate a new factory, or contemplating moving
factories now in operation elsewhere, to the city.
Among
the notable manufactories of Hannibal are flour, boots and shoes.
cigars, lime, and cement. Hannibal has long been famous for the
rare quality of its flour. The Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe
Company, The Bluff City Shoe Company, and the Hannibal Shoe
Company sent out last year 1,500,000 pairs of shoes. The first
named, with the addition under construction, will be the largest
shoe factory in the west outside of St. Louis, having an annual
capacity of 2,000,00 pairs of shoes. There are 12 cigar factories,
employing 125 men. The Duffey-Trowbridge Stove Foundry
manufactures over 53,000 stoves annually, valued at $350,000; has
a yearly pay roll of $120,000 for 225 men. The larger part of the
tonnage of the Burlington railway system is carried on car wheels
made by the C. A. Treat Manufacturing Company of Hannibal. The
Bear Creek White Lime is of marvelous parity. Three firms have a
capacity of 50,600 barrels of lime annually. The city is a
wholesale center for lumber. There are three large planing mills.
The Atlas Portland Cement Company of Pennsylvania has erected at
Hannibal the largest and most complete Portland Cement plant in
the world, with a capacity of from eight to nine thousand barrels
of Portland cement daily, which means that the outgoing freight
from this immense industry alone is seventy car loads daily, while
the freight received by it, which is mostly coal, will average
thirty cars daily. The company employed 1,600 men during 1903 and
paid them in wages the sum in excess of $850,000.
On
account of the central location and superior shipping facilities
which Hannibal enjoys, the wholesale business in many staple lines
has long been table, and there are now twenty-one firms doing a
wholesale interstate corn business. The following lines are
represented: groceries, drugs, paints, furniture, lime and cement,
lumber, stationery and blank books, stoves and re, produce,
cigars, tobacco and liquor. The retail interests of Hannibal In a
flourishing condition. There are now 523 firms doing business in
the city, an increase of 53 in two years. Cold storage is a
comparatively now venture. A plant recently constructed has a
capacity of 50,000 barrels of apples.
The
churches, schools, and various public buildings at Hannibal are of
the highest order of excellence and efficiency. There are ten well
furnished and well equipped public school buildings. The new high
school under construction is to be the price of the city. The
Evangelical Lutheran Parochial School, the St. Joseph Academy,
Catholic, and Hannibal Commercial College, are doing much for
education. Hannibal's Free Public Library was one of the first in
the State to be established and maintained from public revenue.
The John H. Garth Memorial Library building recently donated to
the city, is one of the most complete in the west. All religious
denominations are represented by large and aggressive churches or
congregations. There are two daily newspapers In Hannibal: the
Morning Journal and the Evening Courier-Post. The Standard
Printing Company has a large business extending into several
States.
Hannibal
is particularly rich in fine public buildings. The county court
house, which is constructed of unexcelled limestone; Levering
Hospital, donated by A. R. Levering, is maintained from public
funds: the John H. Garth Memorial Library building is a gem of
architecture; the United States Government building was one of the
first built in the west. The Park theater is an admirable place of
amusement.
There
are two commercial clubs in Hannibal, working harmoniously for the
promotion of the commercial interests of the city: the Business
Men's Association and Merchants' Association. The Country Club is
a generous patron of amateur outdoor athletics. The Labinnah or
"Hannibal Club," is purely social in character, owns a
splendid building, and is influential in the city's social
affairs.
Hannibal
is now an important city of manufacturing and industrial activity,
having been made so by those who appreciated her superior
advantages. In the Immediate future, as the great manufacturing
institutions of the east move to the center of population and
wealth, which is along the Mississippi river, a movement which is
now on, and which will grow in importance in the near future.
Hannibal will expand by leaps and bounds as she has never done
before. With her natural advantages as a commercial and industrial
center, with the spirit of enterprise which permeates and
dominates all classes of her citizens, her expansion In the next
few years will be on a scale calculated to amaze those who are not
familiar with the trend of industrial development in the
Mississippi valley, and especially the peculiarly favorable
conditions which surround the and commercial center called
Hannibal. |
