Mayberry. Stars Hollow. Hallmark movie towns. We’ve all seen these Hollywood depictions of idyllic—and, at times, quirky—small towns, and we’ve no doubt used them to describe many communities we encounter. When we hear these names, we picture a quaint town square, townspeople greeting each other on the street, and a slower-paced lifestyle where everyone has time for family dinner, community events, and leisurely chats on the sidewalk. But let’s not leave it to Hollywood. Small Town Missouri invites you to discover for yourself what the often overlooked small communities in the Show Me State have to offer.
Why Small Towns? And Why Now?
Small towns have always fascinated people. They are portrayed in a myriad of ways in the media and on our screens, but they’re not often portrayed accurately, or at least not with the “whole story.” It is my goal that this book inspires readers to go discover a small town’s story for themselves.
Now more than ever, we need to emphasize the importance of building a “sense of place” and place attachment. It is often said that the more a person feels a sense of attachment to a place, the more they want to contribute to its well being. My hope is that this book helps build that attachment by educating about and representing small town Missouri, and by extension, small town America. On one hand, the tourist might pick up this book to find their next weekend getaway, but on the other, the resident will pick up this book, see their town represented, and feel a sense of pride.
There’s also seemingly a bit of an “us and them” mentality with city vs rural lifestyles, but they rely on one another, and this book sheds some needed light on both the small communities that are frequent destinations and those that aspire to be.
Through my “day job,” I have spent many years building relationships with Missouri’s small towns by hosting programs and workshops for and with these communities. In addition, in 2021, I created and implemented a new initiative for Missouri Humanities called “Small Town Showcase,” which strives to highlight the uniqueness of Missouri’s small communities and showcase the bigger picture of what Small Town Missouri really is and why it shouldn’t be overlooked, overshadowed, or underappreciated. Through this initiative, I’ve worked closely with many Missouri small towns to bring their stories to bigger audiences and broaden reach for their people, places, and events. I feel this book is taking those efforts to the next level, and helping to provide yet another outlet to bring our smaller communities to the forefront, when they often get drowned out.
