Graham was one of the original settlers of what would later become downtown Maryville, and the city was named after his wife, Mary.

[8][9] The first house in Maryville was built by Jack (John) Saunders, who was a large slave owner.

The current courthouse was built in 1881 with a design by Edmond Jacques Eckel and George R. Mann.

[11] The courthouse is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places[12] and is adorned with a sculpture of a pineapple, the sign of welcome.

[13] The city was incorporated in 1856, annulled in 1857, reincorporated in 1859, annulled during the Civil War, reincorporated in 1869, disincoporated again in 1869 and finally formally incorporated on July 19, 1869,[14] when the Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Council Bluffs Railroad (later acquired by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad) arrived.

[citation needed] In 1872 Albert P. Morehouse started the Nodaway Democrat, which became the Maryville Daily Forum.

The Forum was a chain-owned newspaper for nearly 100 years, and in 2013 it reverted to local ownership by the Cobb Group.

Howell's device ran more smoothly and did not permit crumbs to fall into the space between the Lazy Susan and the table.

In 1901, the horse Elwood was foaled at Faustiana Farms, owned by Mrs. J.B. Prather, on the west side of Maryville.

Mrs. Prather also has connections with the second horse to be owned and bred by a woman to win the Derby – Black Gold in 1924, which was the great grandchild of Faustus, the namesake of the Faustiana farm.

Memorabilia from their horse racing days are St. Francis Hospital and at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum.

[citation needed] In 1905, Maryville won a contest to get the Fifth District Normal School, which would become Northwest Missouri State University.

The most significant structure on the land transferred to the state was the Thomas Gaunt mansion, which is also on the National Register and is the college President's residence.

It is on the National Register and resembles Brookings Hall at Washington University in St. Louis, which was the Administration Building of the 1904 World's Fair in St.

[citation needed] In 1931, a notorious lynching occurred in Maryville when a mob of 2,000 to 4,000 people burned alive African American Raymond Gunn,[19] who was awaiting trial, charged with the attempted rape and killing of a 20-year-old white school teacher.

[22] After the fire was out, hundreds of the mob poked around in his ashes for souvenirs, with the pieces of his charred remains and teeth and bone fragments divided among them.

[23][24][25][26] In 1928 there was speculation that Maryville would become the "Western White House" for Herbert Hoover when it was discovered that he owned a farm 15 miles south of town.

The farm was actually only 80 acres and he had acquired it after holding the mortgage for his Stanford University Class of 1895 roommate Samuel Wilson Collins.

[27] Hoover's vice president Charles Curtis visited Maryville on October 4, 1932 where spoke at the Administration Building after being rained out of a planned appearance at the Courthouse.

During World War I Truman was a member of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment in the Missouri National Guard, which is headquartered in Maryville.

During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I in 1918, Truman prophetically told his troops, ""Right now, I'm where I want to be – in command of this battery.

[31] Truman dedicated the 129th's armory on the northwest side of Bearcat Stadium on the college campus on February 20, 1955.

[34] Many of Maryville's most active citizens have ties to the 129th, including Leigh Wilson (1881–1978), who rose to rank of Brigadier General.

[citation needed] In 1987, the Palms Bar in town began sponsoring the "World's Shortest Saint Patrick's Day Parade."

[42] Adam Dorrel, a Maryville High graduate, succeeded his former boss Tjeerdsma when he retired as coach in 2010 and kept up the tradition winning the national titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

[43] A controversial case arose in 2012 when a boy, 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested for the rape and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

[46][47] A significant controversy arose in 2013 when the county prosecutor dropped felony and misdemeanor charges against the first boy, who was related to an influential former state representative Rex Barnett, despite the Sheriff's office reporting absolute confidence that the evidence they had gathered being sufficient for a prosecution, including the boy's confession recorded on video.

The first boy pleaded guilty to misdemeanor second-degree endangerment of the welfare of a child for leaving her outside her house, and was sentenced by Missouri Circuit Judge Glen Dietrich to four months in jail that were suspended in favor of two years probation.

North Central Missouri College has a satellite campus located at the Northwest Technical Center in Maryville.

Route 71 is at least a four-lane and some cases an interstate highway for the entire length of Missouri, from the Arkansas border and there had been considerable delays in converting the last remaining two-lane section from Savannah to Maryville.