West Commercial Street, 1920

As America expanded west from St. Louis, a road has always run through Lebanon, Missouri. At first it was just a rough Indian trail, as tribes like the Wyota and Osage roamed the Ozarks hunting for game. During the Civil War that trail became known as the “Wire Road” because of the telegraph lines installed along it between St. Louis and Springfield. Then, in the late 1920s, Route 66 was born and roughly followed that same path the Indians had marked. Today the road is called I-44.

Although Lebanon appears flat if you just drive through it, the original part of the town was actually built on a bluff overlooking what is now the main part of the city. Water, provided by the Gasconade and Osage Fork Rivers, was plentiful. Nearby forests provided game to feed the early settlers. Self-sufficiency was the byword for these hardy pioneers, as a round trip to St. Louis in the 1840s took nearly a month.

Lebanon really came into its own as a town in the 1850s. It took its name from the Tennessee hometown of one of its leading citizens, the Reverend Benjamin Hooker. The Academy provided higher education to the area’s young people, and also served as the cultural center of the community.

During the Civil War, Lebanon was continually occupied, usually by Union troops trying to protect the telegraph line. Sentiment for and against both sides ran strong in a town populated by people from border states. Sometimes the divisions even split up families.

The railroad came to Lebanon in 1869 and it changed the town forever. The Frisco Railroad built the station a mile away from the main part of town, because the city fathers had refused to donate land to them. A “new” town grew parallel to the tracks and Lebanon on the hill started to decline.


Lebanon Magnetic Plant

Perhaps the most unique piece in Lebanon’s history is the magnetic water. A worker digging a new city water well in 1889 found that his tools could pick up nails. The water had magnetized them. Bathing in the magnetic waters was said to have healing powers and visitors came to bathe in them. The Gasconade Hotel was built to accommodate them and no grander building has ever been seen in Lebanon. The frame structure could house up to 500 guests, who were transported from the depot via an electric railroad. Never a great success, the Gasconade burned after only 10 years.


The Gasconade hotel, 1890

Another important building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is the Ploger-Moneymaker House. Built in 1870 by a Pennsylvania architect, the two-story, white-framed house was purchased in 1903 by Professor Frederick Ploger. He served as Lebanon’s superintendent of schools and later as its mayor. Ploger’s daughter, Minnie Moneymaker, occupied the house until her death in 1969. Today it is adjacent to the grounds of Wallace Park.

Two important politicians have made their homes in Lebanon. Richard Parks Bland, a native Kentuckian, represented Missouri in Congress from 1872-1899 and was a leading Democratic candidate for president in 1896. Phil Donnelly was a hometown boy who became the first man in Missouri history to serve two terms as the state’s governor. Donnelly occupied the Governor’s Mansion from 1945-49 and again from 1953-57 (consecutive terms were prohibited at the time).

Harold Bell Wright, author of “The Shepherd of the Hills,” served the First Christian Church as pastor from 1905-07, the time period when his most famous work was published. Wright set his next book, “The Calling of Dan Matthews,” in the fictional town of Corinth. Lebanon residents recognized many similarities with their town, however, and weren’t happy with the depiction of their city.

Today Lebanon is an energetic, thriving town of 13,000 residents. It is known as the “aluminum boat capital of the world” with companies such as Tracker Marine, G3 Boats, Lowe Boats, Landau Boats, Sundancer Pontoons, and Osagian Canoes all having factories here. Our major employers are Copeland Corporation, The Durham Co., Carmeco, ATW, Detroit Tool Metal Products, and Marine Electrical Products.

A local success story is that of Shepherd Hills Factory Outlet. In 1972, Ida Reid started a small Case Knives store on the west edge of Lebanon. With just one employee, Ida worked to put her two sons, Randy and Rod, through the University of Missouri’s engineering school in Rolla. Today Ida has 100 employees, seven stores throughout the country, a catalogue division – and Shepherd Hills is the largest Case Knives dealer in the world. Sons Randy and Rod? They work in the business.

The Reids’ story says a lot about their community – Lebanon, Missouri, where friendly people work hard to make things happen.