Following in Mark Twain’s Footsteps
Mark Twain’s Hannibal, fictionalized as St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is located along the Mississippi River in Northeastern Missouri at the Illinois border. A bit touristy, it’s true, Hannibal can still offer a satisfying journey into the real and fictional worlds of Mark Twain.
Begin at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum at 3rd and Hill Streets. Here you’ll tour the home where Mark Twain lived from ages 4 to 18. The museum annex includes Twain memorabilia and first editions of his works. Nearby you’ll find “Becky Thatcher’s House,” a statue of Tom and Huck, and the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse. One mile south of Hannibal is The Mark Twain Cave, once explored by Twain himself and later by his characters – Tom, Becky, and Huck. And, then, there’s Hannibal itself. Walking it’s streets and waterfront, it’s easy to imagine the days, beginning in 1839, when Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, called it home.
“Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.” – from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
Related Websites
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum
Mark Twain Cave
Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Online Edition
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Online Edition