Gardner House Museum

Heritage Seekers of Palmyra, Missouri

1828

History of Palmyra

The city of Palmyra, the county seat, was established in 1819. In 1860, Palmyra was called the handsomest city in northeast Missouri. Besides the fertile farmland that surrounds Palmyra, which made it a center for a successful merchant class, between 1825 and 1858 Palmyra was the site for a federal land office, which sold over 3,000,000 acres of land. Obviously, the people coming to purchase this land greatly added to the profits of Palmyra’s merchants. Several early 19^th century colleges and seminaries enhanced the taste for fine architecture.

Palmyra has six buildings individually listed on the National Register including Greek Revival and Italianate Mansions. The home of William Russell, one of the founders of the Pony Express is located within the city limits. The most recent listing, the 1858 Marion County Jail and jailer’s home, was the sight of the Civil War tragedy known as the Palmyra Massacre. The jail and home are currently being restored as a Civil War museum. Another of the listed buildings, the Gardner House, an 1828 stagecoach hostelry is also a museum of local and Civil War history.

History of Marion County

Marion County was surveyed in 1818 and organized December 23, 1826. The county is located in the northeast quarter of the state and is bordered on the east by the Mississippi River. Marion County lies to the south of Lewis County, to the east of Shelby and Monroe Counties, and to the north of Ralls County. Marion County was named for Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of Carolina.

Bay de Charles was the first settlement in Marion County, three miles above the present site of the city of Hannibal. Manturi Bouvet, a trapper and fur trader formed a settlement to carry on trade with the local Indians in the late 1700’s. Later settlements were established at Palmyra in 1818 and in Hannibal in 1819 by emigrants from Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina. Marion City was established six miles east of Palmyra in 1834. Despite the levee surrounding the entire town, it was completely washed away by the Mississippi flood of 1844.

In 1825 the United States Land Office was established at Palmyra. The land office operated between 1825 and 1858 and well over three million acres of land were sold through this office.

In 1828 a ferry across the Mississippi River at West Quincy was established. The floodwaters were a constant threat and the town was never incorporated. However the railroad bridge was opened in 1899 and the first Quincy Memorial Bridge was opened to automobile traffic in 1930.

Today the incorporated cities Hannibal and Palmyra and a small portion of Monroe City lie within the boundaries of Marion County. In addition, several small unincorporated villages are within the county.

National Register of Historic Places in Palmyra

Gardner House Museum, 1828