100th Anniversary of Mark Twain Birthplace State Historical Site and Mark Twain Lake

Mark Twain Lake is a reservoir located in Ralls and Monroe Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was created by the Clarence Cannon Dam (formerly called Joanna Dam), which impounds the Salt River and is located about 20 miles southwest of Hannibal. The lake was named for Missouri author Mark Twain and part of the area around it is Mark Twain State Park. The village of Florida, the birthplace of Mark Twain, is mostly surrounded by the lake. Mark Twain Lake provides opportunities for outdoor recreation - boating, swimming, fishing, picnicking, hiking, and hunting. There are recreation areas equipped with facilities such as campgrounds, beaches, and picnic shelters, as well as areas that are being managed for wildlife habitat. All visitors can enjoy the 54,000 acres of land and water at Clarence Cannon Dam and Mark Twain Lake. 
In the village of Florida, Missouri, (the oldest town in Monroe County was platted in 1831) a reddish-colored granite monument marks the original location of the humble two-room cabin where Samuel Langhorne Clemens - Mark Twain - was born on a November night in 1835, Samuel joined the family of John and Jane Clemens. 
The house was moved to the present location in June 1930. Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site located in Florida, Missouri has the two-room rented cabin Samuel Clemens - Twain's real name - was born in, first editions of many of the author's works, a manuscript of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and many of the furnishings from Twain's Connecticut home. The Mark Twain Lake Visitors Center Shrine Museum at Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site was officially dedicated on June 5, 1960. When the museum was dedicated to the personal items of Mark Twain, it was the largest single building that the Missouri State Park Board had undertaken in the state park system. The design was unique and endorsed by Mark Twain's daughter, Clara Clemens Samossoud, who felt it expressed her father's forward thinking. It includes a dramatic concrete hyperbolic paraboloid roof line that attracted the attention of the public even as it was being poured in 1959. More than 7,000 people, including representatives from 11 countries, attended the day-long dedication ceremony. 
The monument to Mark Twain was first placed at the main crossroads of the earlier town in 1913 by the State of Missouri. It was done by the famous sculptor, R.P. Bringhurst. The words on the monument are by Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain's Biographer. 
The old hewn log house with the wide hallway was a pioneer residence. A second floor and wing were added to it and it was long used as an Inn and stat coach stop. In the 1880's the inn was run by Mrs. Isaac Greening and Mr. Greening ran the "hack" to Stoutsville. The present-day "Baker" house was U.S. Grants's field headquarters for a day in July 1861, after his first attack mission of the Civil War. Col. Grant led his regiment to attack the encampment of Col. Tom Harris near Florida. The two large lots on which the schoolhouse was built were the "Public Swaure" of the early town. Here was the first cemetery and a large boulder marks the grave of Mark Twain's maternal grandfather, Benjamin Lamton, who died in March 1837. In Florida Cemetery are marked graves of Mark Twain's sister, Margaret, and his favorite aunt and uncle, John A. and Martha Ann Quarles. Large Indian burial mounds were located on the old Pollard Place above an ancient village site. The Violette house is built on one. Another mound was used for burials by the pioneer Pollard family. The Quarles farm on which Sam Clemens spent several summer-long vacations is three miles northwest of Florida on State Highway 107. 
Mark Twain State Park is nestled in the Salt River Hills in north-central Missouri. The Mark Twain Memorial Park Association raised more than $10,000 to purchase 100 acres of land overlooking the Salt River. Additional land was purchased by the state, and Mark Twain State Park was established in 1924. It is the third-oldest state park in Missouri and the first established north of the Missouri River. It became a State Park in 1925. 
At normal pool, Mark Twain Lake encompasses 18,600 acres, providing a variety of fishing opportunities for large and smallmouth bass, crappie, walleye, catfish, bluegill, and others. Approximately 45,000 acres of land and water are available for hunting. 
Mark Twain State Park held anniversary celebrations throughout the year in 2024. Currently, the level of the lake is around 600 feet datum. 
Mark Twain Birthplace is located at 37352 Shrine Road adjacent to the village of Florida in Mark Twain State Park. The park is off Highway 107, east of County Road U in Monroe County. 
"Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest," as Mark Twain often said.

Governor Blair Dedicated the Mark Twain Shrine to the Park-On June 2, 1960, right in the lower part of the picture is James T. Blair, Jr., Governor of Missouri, who dedicated the Mark Twain Shrine building in Florida. On the left is Rex Allaman, Forsyth the chairman of the State Park Board. In the background is a mural on the walls of the Governor's reception room at Jefferson City, showing Mark Twain as he appeared in later years and as he appeared in his younger days as a river pilot.