The Lunch Box Journals

Heading to Columbia, Missouri (I-29 to St. Joseph, MO; Hwy 36 east to Macon, MO; Hwy 63 south to Columbia)

Sioux Falls is the largest city in South Dakota and the point where the trip turns south on I-29. This is interstate country and we zip right along. The interstate skirts the eastern edge of the valley formed by the Missouri River. The river hugs a line of bluffs on the west, a flat plain lies east of the river before it, too, reaches a low line of forested bluffs. The skyline of Omaha, Nebraska, briefly interrupts the monotony of the drive.

At St. Joseph we leave the interstate and head directly east on Hwy 36 into the heart of Missouri. This is new territory and it leaves the impression of an old green shag carpet from the 1970’s. You know the kind, multi-colored shades of green, worn down in the traffic paths down hallways and to bathrooms, yet a still a verdant green in spots where you move the furniture. It’s even come loose in areas, bunching up in waves of shag. That’s Missouri.

OK, maybe that’s a bit much but I have to say that I can’t believe how densely forested this state is. Yes, there are places where the forest has obviously been cleared and used for agriculture, but trees and undergrowth crowd in on all sides. Yet, even here in the middle of the forests, there are little jewels of experiences to be had. Who knew that J.C. Penney was born in Hamilton, Missouri? Check it out.

Hamilton, MO

A sign announcing the presence of the J.C. Penney museum promises a break from cruising across shag carpet so I leave the highway and follow temptation. Hamilton was first settled in the 1850’s anticipating the arrival of the railroad but was not officially incorporated as a town until after the Civil War. The town prospered during the 1880’s, which is when most of the brick buildings in the small town were built, and had a population of around 1,800 by 1885. Prosperity has come and gone over the years, and today the population of the town is again around 1,800. The Missouri Star Quilt Company is now the largest employer in the town and sewing dominates the few short blocks of town.

The other thing of note is that the name “Penney” is everywhere and it was not a problem finding the J.C. Penney Memorial Library and Museum. The right half of the building is devoted to memorabilia from J.C. Penney’s life with a statue of him greeting you at the entrance. James Cash Penney was born in 1875 near Hamilton and lived there until 1899 when he moved west to Wyoming and founded his first store in 1902 (called the Golden Rule). He later moved to Salt Lake City, expanded the number of his stores and in 1913 incorporated his business as the J.C. Penney Company and renamed his stores. The rest, as they say, is history.

He never forgot his roots and in 1947 founded a shoe company in Hamilton to help the local economy. In the rather bizarre collection of memorabilia in the museum is the very first pair of shoes to come off that production line in 1947.

Items on display include his desk (left) and furniture from the church founded by his father, Rev. John Penney, in 1834.

The local high school is named Penney High (but fortunately not named the Clerks, but rather the Hornets!) in his honor. Fully briefed on the life of J.C. Penney I head back to Hwy 36 and continue my way across western Missouri. In the next 30 miles I have the opportunity to visit the boyhood home of WWI general Joe “Black Jack” Pershing and Walt Disney, but I pass and continue on to Macon, turning south on Hwy 63 to my base for the exploration of central Missouri, Columbia.

Columbia, MO

Columbia is roughly in the center of the state and sprawls across more of the densely forested hills that I have come to associate with Missouri. Founded in 1818 as a stop along the Boone’s Lick Trail, a path between salt licks developed by two sons of Daniel Boone about 40 miles northwest of the city along the Missouri River and St. Louis to the east. The city (population approximately 115,000) has long been known as a center for higher education in the state, with three colleges essentially surrounding the small downtown area: Stephens College (1833), University of Missouri (1839) and Columbia College (1851). The center of town is defined by the “Avenue of the Columns”. Anchored to the south by six columns in the middle of Frances Quad in front of Jesse Hall on the University of Missouri campus (left) and four columns that remain from the original Boone County Courthouse (right).

Look closely at the picture on the above right and you can see how narrow the historic entrance to the campus is. Little did I know that not only was it narrow but it lead to a dead-end round-about. Normally this would not have been a problem, but two people decided not to obey the “No Parking” signs and so I had to try and squeeze by them while turning around. It was a bit traumatic but thanks to the guy in the dark hoodie in the picture above on the left who took it upon himself to guide me so that I didn’t hit the cars, I made it. But I have to say I was a bit nervous for a moment… The University of Missouri is one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the United States with over 35,000 students. An athletic powerhouse in the famed (and perhaps detested!) SEC, the center of the universe in the fall is Faurot Field (sister-in-law Cathy, these are for you!).

The small downtown area is called “The District” and between the hills, the narrow streets and the traffic I just wasn’t able to find a place to park the Lunch Box (especially given my earlier brush with disaster), so you’ll have to Google if you want pictures! Columbia served as a central base for me with day trips to a couple of nearly towns.

Booneville

Salt was a precious commodity and hard to find away from the east coast so pioneers in the interior of the country had to rely upon salt “licks”, naturally occurring springs that contained salt amongst other minerals. Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, sons of Daniel Boone, established a salt business near here in the early 1800’s that processed salt and then delivered it to the St. Louis area. The area was called “Boone’s Lick” and the trail was called “Boone’s Lick Trail”. The trailhead near Boonville was the original start of the Santa Fe Trail and the location on the banks of the Missouri River made the town a center of transportation and trade. Boonville was formally founded in 1817. There are over 400 buildings in the area listed on the National Historic Places Listing. The Frederick Hotel sits at the western foot of the Missouri River Bridge at the intersection of Main Street and High Street. Originally built in 1905, it has been recently refurbished and is now a boutique hotel.

On the other side of the bridgehead and down the hill sits the Ballantine House. One of the oldest brick structures in Boonville, the two story section on the right was built in 1822 to serve as a hotel for travelers heading west. The three story center section and the two story section on the left were added in 1840. Today to houses various social agencies for the State of Missouri. You can see the Missouri River in the background.

Main Street runs perpendicular to the river and High Street runs along the bluff parallel to the river. Many of the buildings along Main Street were constructed during 1850-1880.

Boonville now has a population of around 8,000 people, many of them commuters who work in Columbia twenty minutes away. The downtown area is full of small shops and restaurants and was pretty interesting. Anchoring the south end of the old town area across the street from each other are Thespian Hall and the First Presbyterian Church. Thespian Hall was built in 1855 and is the oldest surviving theatre west of the Allegheny Mountains. The First Presbyterian Church was built in 1841 and later expanded in 1872.

Marching along High Street east of the Frederick Hotel are magnificent old and historic homes. One of the oldest is the Clark House, built in 1829 by R.P. Clark, the first circuit clerk of Cooper County.

One of the finest restorations is the Williams/Kemper house, built in 1898.

Down the street is the Bell House (1886), built by Charles Bell, “Missouri’s Apple King”. He wanted to preserve his view of the river so he bought the lot directly across the street from his house and did not build on it.

All of these homes are along High and Morgan Street east of Main.

On Morgan Street just off of Main is the Old Jail. The jail (right side) was built in 1848 from stone quarried on the river bank and constructed by slaves; the attached sheriff’s house on the left was added in 1871.

Back to Columbia and then twenty miles south on Hwy 63 to the second side trip of the day, Jefferson City.

Jefferson City

Jefferson City was selected as the capital of the new state of Missouri in 1821 due to its location near the geographic center of the state. Now over 40,000 people call the bluffs above the Missouri River home. Tucked on and around lushly forested hills, the town is dominated by the state capitol building. The south side (back of the building) faces the red brick Missouri Supreme Court Building (1905) and the small downtown area.

The ceremonial front faces the Missouri river and the lush land fading away to the north past a fountain celebrating statehood.

Much like in Columbia, my efforts to visit town were confounded by narrow streets and a lack of parking. In addition, it was homecoming weekend for Lincoln College and the homecoming parade was about to commence, leading to closed streets. Oh well…