In what Missouri town did Mark Twain grow up?

Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S.state of Missouri. Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36, and 61 intersect in the city, which is located along the Mississippi River approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 17,606, making it the largest city in Marion County.

The river community is best known as the 19th-century boyhood home of author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain). The settings of Twain's novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are inspired by this town. Numerous historical sites in Hannibal are associated with Mark Twain and places depicted in his fiction.

Based on the important river steamboat traffic and trade, Hannibal was Missouri's third-largest city when the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was organized in 1846 by John M. Clemens (Mark Twain's father) and associates. It was built to connect to St. Joseph, Missouri in the west, then the state's second-largest city. This railroad was the westernmost line before the Transcontinental Railroad was constructed. It transported mail for delivery to the first outpost of the Pony Express.

Hannibal's business community emphasizes its low taxes, local resources, and its close proximity to major highways and cities. A thriving artist community has developed here because of its central location between the east and west coasts, and affordable and stable real estate prices.