Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri.

The site of Hannibal was originally inhabited by various cultures of indigenous Native American tribes.

[7] The river community was the mid-19th-century boyhood home of author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain, 1835–1910).

Numerous historical sites are associated with Mark Twain and the places depicted in his fiction.

Heritage tourism contributes to the Hannibal economy, as the city attracts both American and international tourists.

[8] After the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi in 1803, European-American settlers began to enter the area.

[10] The name is derived from Hannibal, a hero of ancient Carthage (in modern Tunisia).

[12] This railway was built to connect to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the west, then the state's second-largest city.

Construction of railroads to the area and increased steamboats on the Mississippi River had stimulated growth.

[13] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city served as a regional marketing center for livestock and grain, as well as other products produced locally, such as cement and shoes.

[15] The Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse was constructed in 1933 as a public works project under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It has been lit on ceremonial occasions at three separate times by Presidents Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton.

Rockcliffe Mansion, a private house on a knoll in Hannibal, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Several songs were written especially for the project and refer to Hannibal, including "Huck Finn Blues" by Brad Paisley and "Run Mississippi" by Rhonda Vincent.

Other artists include Jimmy Buffett as Huckleberry Finn, Clint Eastwood as Twain, and Garrison Keillor as the narrator of the project.

The Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area is composed of Marion and Ralls counties.

A thriving artist community has developed because of its central location between the East and West coasts, and affordable and stable real estate prices.

[25] The Underwood Company built the General Mills plant here because its founder appreciated Mark Twain's writing and wanted to help his hometown.

[27] Because Hannibal is a Missouri Certified Local Government, residents, and business owners have access to federal and state tax credits, grants, and other funding sources.

[33][34] The city is served by the Hannibal Courier-Post newspaper, printed daily on Tuesday through Saturday.

KHQA is a television station licensed to Hannibal and located in Quincy, Illinois.

Future plans call for extending Interstate 72 west along U.S. Route 36 to Cameron, Missouri.

This will give Hannibal an east-west link connecting Kansas City to Springfield.

Freight railroad tracks link Hannibal in all directions: Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tracks lead north to West Quincy, Missouri, and Burlington, Iowa, and south to St. Louis.

Norfolk Southern (NS) tracks lead west to Kansas City and east to Springfield and Decatur, Illinois.