Why Local History Matters (for Hannibal)
In the December issue of Hannibal Magazine, we wrote an article concerning the potential future of vacant historic buildings in our downtown area, and how supporting a historic district or maintaining local history can provide real benefits to a town whose interest to the outside world is its heritage. Thanks to publisher Rich Heiser, we are able to post the article in full below....
(By Ken and Lisa Marks)
Recently, the
building formerly known as the Murphy’s Motors building on North Main Street
has been purchased by the City of Hannibal. One of the prospective plans being
considered for the property is to raze the structure and create a space meant
to augment several festivals held downtown each year. One problem: the over-130-year
old building happens to be part of the Mark Twain Historic District and does
not show signs of immediate distress. Moreover, acre after acre of
underutilized open space exists just on the opposite side of the downtown levy
wall that could be used for additional festival space. The concern that
demolition of a building considered by many to be ‘historic’ in a part of town
venerated for its historical content begs the question: why should local history
matter to Hannibalians?
Hannibal’s
history is more than its past – it is what sets the town apart from most other small
communities.
If a small town is like an extended
family, then history is its version of genealogy, a lineage that answers the
‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of Hannibal’s development.
Thanks to so many local resources, from the Missouri Room in the
Hannibal Free Public Library and the volumes of information chronicled by
Roberta and J. Hurley Hagood to the ephemera and photographic archives of Steve
Chou, access to pieces of the past are more available in Hannibal than in most
communities of similar size. The trick
is to synthesize these materials into a cohesive narrative that is accessible
to all and representative of the town’s character; without this, all of these
elements can be seen separately as trivial or nostalgic, rather than taken as a
whole as the living DNA of today’s Hannibal.
In other words, what we look like today
as a community is not our full identity. Though our economy has suffered in the
past few decades, for many years throughout the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, Hannibal was surprisingly strong in manufacturing. While most
Mississippi river towns were known for one major industry in their past,
Hannibal experienced industrial ‘booms’ repeatedly throughout its history.
Initially, the steamboat trade brought commerce to Hannibal’s shore. Next,
Hannibal became a major railroad hub; these railroads facilitated the massive
lumber firms of the Reconstruction years that brought great wealth and
prosperity. By the end of the 1920s, mostly because of the International Shoe
Company and related industries, Hannibal had the fourth largest industrial base
in Missouri despite having a population in the low-20,000s. For decades,
Hannibal managed to overachieve in spite of its population, a small city that
accomplished big things. To be aware of what those who came before us were able
to accomplish can inspire today’s Hannibalians to strive to achieve the same
level of civic progress.
Through those years, Hannibal also produced
larger-than-life characters of national prominence. Visitors may come to visit Hannibal based on
the name recognition of Mark Twain, but what also interests them is in understanding
the type of town that would mold a
young Sam Clemens or Margaret Tobin Brown into a force of nature. To be able to
walk on the same streets and look upon the same buildings that Twain would have
is the reason tens of thousands of visitors flock to our historic districts
each year.
The evidence of Hannibal’s successful
past coexists today with all of the highway-corridor malls and signs of modern
conveniences that can be found in identical fashion in thousands of other
communities. Yet, the older buildings of the historic districts tell more about
the times in which they were built, each location hinting at its own story
about the ways people functioned in society, bringing history to life in some
way that cuts through the restrictive nature of words. The problem is, it often
takes the demolition of a building, or even entire neighborhoods, before it
becomes clear that a portion of a town’s history is forever lost. In order to
save these parts of our heritage, citizens need to place a value on keeping
these structures and places intact. Numerous people have chosen to move to
Hannibal because these old homes and storefronts offer opportunities to
maintain a heritage that are no longer found in many towns across the country.
Without this heritage, would Hannibal fade into just another of a processional
of two-ramp stops along the interstate?
A view of North Main Street looking north from Hill and N. Main, c1940s; the Murphy's Motors building is on the right. Photo courtesy: Steve Chou. |
Hannibal’s history is one of its economic strengths.
Actually, this economic strength is
twofold: the built-in capability of Hannibal to attract more cultural heritage
tourism, and the financial benefit that comes from the restoration/adaptive
reuse of historic properties. In this case, cultural heritage tourism refers to
anyone who travels to Hannibal to experience those historic buildings, monuments,
parks, etc. that embody the spirit of the town. This differs from other
tourist-y type towns in that visitors are not experiencing perfection or a
sanitized version of the past -- authenticity, of which we have in abundance,
is what people desire. Visitors who come to the Hannibal History Museum are
surprised at the richness of our town’s history, finding more to Hannibal than
just that involving our most famous former resident. Passengers of the various
cruise ships that have recently begun revisiting our riverfront comment that
Hannibal is one of the most popular stops on these trips. Our cultural heritage
is a built-in asset that is marketable in ways that most towns can only dream
of possessing.
However, our historic districts and old
neighborhoods need some attention. The conditions of properties in these areas
are literally and figuratively all over the map, but these homes and buildings
tend to offer much more square footage for the dollar than more modern
properties elsewhere around and outside of town. The return on investment for
restoring or renovating one of these pieces of real estate is something that often
takes years to recover in today’s market, but the objective in these cases is the
desire to live alongside the past as opposed to attempting a quick equity flip.
Just think what might have happened if
George Mahan had not had the foresight to purchase Mark Twain’s boyhood home in
1911 for the purpose of historic preservation? The Raibles, Hartleys and
Rollers purchased Rockcliffe Mansion in 1967, just days before its scheduled
demolition. Charles Anton gathered like-minded preservationists who banded
together after the flood of 1973 and saved a significant part of North Main
Street. How different Hannibal would be today if these structures had not been
saved! And none were done with the intention of a quick profit; the love and
desire to preserve history were the main motivations. We are all so fortunate
that these individuals rose to the challenge of preserving these severely damaged
structures and invested in their restoration – and literally hundreds of
thousands of visitors have had the privilege of visiting these sites due to the
efforts of these remarkable Hannibalians.
For larger structures, such as the
Murphy’s Motors building, more creative solutions are necessary in order to
ensure such a large space can be consistently maintained after restoration or
modification. Examples exist throughout other historic districts around the
country where oversized churches and de-commissioned Federal buildings have
been put to adaptive reuse through public-private partnerships or combined
groups of non-profit organizations that agree to share the space, among others.
Once a community, especially its younger
generations, embraces its history, it collectively gains a vested interest in sustaining
its older neighborhoods, because now these neighborhoods become a reflection on
how the citizens view their own heritage. Though more than a few ‘transplants’
(non-native born Hannibalians) have taken the challenge of preserving
Hannibal’s history, there is still an embarrassment of riches when it comes to
the plethora of rehabilitation projects. The hope is that eventually more Hannibalians
will see the same potential, not only with structures like Murphy’s Motors but
throughout the historic districts, and reinvest again in these areas. Historic
preservation and heritage tourism will encourage residents and visitors alike
to embrace the unique, quirky character of this big little river town between
the bluffs – not just today, but for generations to come.