Missouri

Early 20th-century promotional piece for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway.

“If you desire to engage in poultry-raising, fruit-growing, general agriculture, stock-raising or timber business, and want either a grain farm, stock farm, poultry farm, fruit orchard ,or a timber proposition, you will find it on the Frisco System.” – pg. 8.

This definitive map of Missouri’s railroad network was published around 1905 by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, commonly called The Frisco. From Kansas City to St. Louis, the majority of the Show Me State is criss-crossed by a robust web of iron rails, with the Frisco System brightly highlighted in red. The rail lines were crucial to transporting the state’s agricultural products to market – eggs, corn, livestock, fruits, and berries are among the goods discussed in the attached ‘story of Missouri.’

Undated, but the text also mentions the recent World’s Fair (the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904) and James Wilson as the Secretary of Agriculture (quoted as saying “the best investment in the country is Missouri farm land.”