The city is the honorary hometown of the 40th Airlift Squadron, "The Screaming Eagles," from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

Austin is said to have chosen the name because the limestone ledges overlooking the Mississippi River resembled a Roman amphitheatre.

Lead smelting by the Doe Run Company is no longer operating and under a shutdown process.

[5] In 1798, Moses Austin, a settler from Connecticut, obtained a Spanish land grant of one square league (approximately 3 square miles) of land after learning of the richness of the area's rich mineral deposits.

After bringing in equipment and workmen from Virginia, he began mining and smelting lead despite frequent problems with the neighboring Osage tribe.

The purpose of the new town was to serve as a shipping point for the lead smelted at mines in Jefferson and Washington Counties.

These were designed for the production of shot balls by dropping molten lead through copper sieves.

The balls were then caught in a water basin and taken to an adjoining building, to be turned through cylinders to round and smooth the pellets for use as projectiles in firearms.

At this time Herculaneum was described as a town having between thirty and forty homes, three stores, a post office, a jail, a court building, and a school.

Herculaneum's fortunes declined when the county seat was relocated to Hillsboro in 1839 and when the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway bypassed the town in the early 1850s.

The smelting operations are the largest in the United States, producing approximately 225,000 tons of refined lead annually.

On September 15, 1971, the Jefferson County Circuit Court took under advisement the petition to reactivate the incorporation of Herculaneum.

Attorneys presented evidence that Herculaneum was incorporated on July 27, 1819, two years before Missouri became a state.

In 2013, Doe Run Company announced that it would cease operations of its smelter, citing rising regulatory costs.

The December 31 closing of the smelter on the west bank of the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis, marks the end of an era in a region that has supplied most of the nation's lead since the 1700s.

[5][9] In August 2001, Herculaneum officials became concerned regarding residue and began investigating; leading to state officials testing the residual dust on the road and discovering that the lead concentration was 300,000 parts per million, 750 times exceeding the hazardous minimum.

[10] At the end of 2013, Doe Run shut down smelter operations in Herculaneum, although refining and other activities continue.

The sermon was delivered not on Missouri soil, but near Bates Rock at the mouth of the Joachim Creek as it flows into the Mississippi River.

The original Herculaneum Public School (built in 1912) housed all grades until a Christmas Day fire in 1947.

One of the most prominent features of the Herculaneum High School Campus is the stone bleachers at the football and track field.

The Roy E. Taylor Elementary building, also located in Herculaneum, is owned by the district and is currently used by the Early Childhood Learning Center.

The fire department supports the Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District on all calls of a life-threatening nature.

Kade's Playground, a volcano-themed, all-inclusive playground- is located in the Herculaneum City Park.

It is home to three baseball fields, the Joachim Loop Trail and All Bark Village Dog Park.

Other annual events held here include the city Easter egg hunts, Evening with Santa, Things That Go, the City Festival and Fourth of July Celebration, Veterans Day Program, and other events sponsored by various organizations.

The park, named in honor of former Municipal Judge Nicholas Bates, includes a boat ramp, a pavilion, fishing areas, and a portion of the Joachim Loop Trail.

Dunklin-Fletcher Memorial Park is located on North Main Street and overlooks the Mississippi River.

Shot Tower Memorial Park is located at the intersection of Dunklin Drive and North Main Street.

The park sidewalks are lined with memorial bricks celebrating the history and townspeople of Herculaneum.

It is a regulation nine-hole golf course with four sets of tee boxes to accommodate golfers of all skills.