New London

The Salt River the plaque ties to the saying 'Up Salt River' no longer runs free through Ralls County. The Army Corps of Engineers' Clarence Cannon Dam, first proposed in 1937 and formerly called Joanna Dam, was authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Act of October 1962 and dedicated in 1984. Behind it, Mark Twain Lake spreads over 18,600 acres of water in Ralls and Monroe counties, inside 54,000 acres of public land and water. The dam serves hydroelectric power, flood control, water supply and navigation, and the lake draws boaters, anglers and campers.

What the plaque says

New London New London, renowned for its handsome courthouse, was founded, 1819, on the route of the historic Salt River Road by William Jamison. By 1820, it became the seat of a newly organized county named for Daniel M. Ralls, local legislator. Settled mainly by Ky. and Va. pioneers, attracted by the area's salt licks and other resources, Ralls County was once part of the northeast frontier of settlement in Spanish Upper Louisiana. Near New London at the present Spalding Springs, Maturin Bouvet had a salt factory in 1792. Indians harassed and finally killed him at his depot on the Mississippi in 1800. Chas. Fremon Delauriere (called Freemore), worked two salt licks in the area, 1799. Sac and Fox tribes ceded the region in 1804. In the War of 1812, Rangers and Winnebagoes engaged in combat, July 4, 1813, near Fort Mason, a stockade at what is now Saverton. The courthouse, Ralls County's third, was built, 1858, by Francis Kidwell with Chapel Carstarphen as superintendent, for $18,000. Wings were added, 1936. Missouri buildings at 1939 New York and San Francisco World's Fairs were copies of the courthouse facade. (See other side) Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1957 New London (Continued from other side) New London serves a county devoted to limestone industry and diversified farming. The high school here was first in Missouri to give a course in Vocational Agriculture, 1917, and one of the State's biggest cement plants is at Ilasco. Salt River, called Auhaha by the Indians, flows through Ralls County. The river is associated with the expression of chagrin, "Up Salt River." In the Civil War, skirmishes and raids put a stop to the growth of town and county. Mark Twain's brief Civil War service was with pro-Southern troops of Ralls County. New London benifited when the St. Louis and Hannibal R. R. was completed to here, 1876. Other county towns include Saverton, laid out, 1819, on the Mississippi. Near there is Federal Lock and Dam No. 22, opened, 1938. Southwest at Perry, laid out in 1866, is the Mark Twain Research Foundation. Buildings of Van Rensselaer (Presbyterian) Academy, opened, 1851, are north of here. Educator Henry J. Waters (1865-1925) was born in Center. Over 400 Indian village campsites have been found in Ralls and two major Indian trails ran through the county. Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1957

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum — 9.0 mi
  The Hill Street house where Samuel Clemens lived from 1844 to 1853, and the blocks of Hannibal the town has spent more than a century arranging around his books.
• Jim's Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center — 9.0 mi
  Hannibal's first African American history museum, built around Daniel Quarles, the enslaved man Clemens named as his model for Jim, and the Black town around him.

More markers nearby

• Palmyra — 16 mi
• Bowling Green — 20 mi
• Mark Twain — 22 mi