the State Historical Society of Missouri
Thomas Allen was among the most prominent and powerful individuals who led St. Louis in its transition from…
![Henry J. Childers (left) and his children Bonnie, Bernice, Elbert, and Raymond help a customer at the family’s shop in Clementine, Missouri. [Phelps County Historical Society, Elbert I Childers Collection]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2025-08/1.-basketville.jpg?h=052689e3&itok=c2tC-xgM "Henry J. Childers (left) and his children Bonnie, Bernice, Elbert, and Raymond help a customer at the family’s shop in Clementine, Missouri. [Phelps County Historical Society, Elbert I Childers Collection]")
Route 66 was fully paved across Missouri by 1931. Its completion provided Missourians with new opportunities…
![John Homer Bothwell. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Missouri General Assembly Portraits, P0217]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20John%20Homer%20Bothwell.jpg?h=357b2635&itok=GCDDnAWE "John Homer Bothwell. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Missouri General Assembly Portraits, P0217]")
John Homer Bothwell, a capitalist, philanthropist, attorney, and state representative, was…
![Robert Campbell. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N38642]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20Robert%20Campbell.jpg?h=85a0f5f3&itok=g-85bsQq "Robert Campbell. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N38642]")
Robert Campbell’s lengthy life bridged the transition from fur trade to modern capitalistic…
![Jean Pierre Chouteau Sr. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N22207]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-02/1.%20Jean%20Pierre%20Chouteau.jpg?h=3c8849c0&itok=Tmt5XONW "Jean Pierre Chouteau Sr. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N22207]")
Jean Pierre Chouteau, known as Pierre, was a pioneer settler in St. Louis and the territory that was to…
![Pierre Chouteau Jr. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, 1922-024-0001]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-11/1.-pierre-chouteau-jr.jpg?h=134f337b&itok=N51TRSGp "Pierre Chouteau Jr. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, 1922-024-0001]")
Pierre Chouteau Jr., scion of the powerful early St. Louis family and the most influential…
![Note of Jacques Clamorgan agreeing to pay skins worth $153 to Pierre Chouteau on July 19, 1807. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Clamorgan Family Papers, A0288-00017]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-04/1.-jacques-clamorgan.jpg?h=21c28b04&itok=oTKoxJDn "Note of Jacques Clamorgan agreeing to pay skins worth $153 to Pierre Chouteau on July 19, 1807. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Clamorgan Family Papers, A0288-00017]")
Jacques Phillippe Clamorgan arrived on the Missouri frontier in the early 1780s and spent the rest of his…
![Howard A. Cowden (right) with former president Harry S. Truman. [Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, 64-1411]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-03/1.%20Howard%20A.%20Cowden.jpg?h=6e1caf6f&itok=Jv0Nn8tA "Howard A. Cowden (right) with former president Harry S. Truman. [Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, 64-1411]")
The founder of the Consumers Cooperative Association (CCA) and the original field man for…
![James Eads. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, P0004-1016]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-06/1.%20James%20B.%20Eads.jpg?h=ff10fb74&itok=eL4n5_kH "James Eads. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, P0004-1016]")
Born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on May 23, 1820, James Buchanan Eads became an engineer of…
![John Wesley Emerson, circa 1880. Photograph by John A. Scholten. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, P0233-2542]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-John-Wesley-Emerson.jpg?h=698ee15c&itok=_VkQiIl9 "John Wesley Emerson, circa 1880. Photograph by John A. Scholten. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, P0233-2542]")
John Emerson, a lawyer in Ironton, Missouri, became a small-town Victorian gentleman who…