In St. Louis in the 1850s, citizens were tiring of the crowded and unhealthy conditions of urban living, but there were few convenient alternatives for those who worked in the city. When the Pacific Railroad decided to build a line through an outlying area then known as Collins Station, Hiram Leffingwell and Richard Elliott seized an opportunity and bought the surrounding land. Using Leffingwell's experience in planning additions to the city, he and Elliott developed the first planned suburban community west of the Mississippi River. The area was named Kirkwood after the chief engineer for...

After its founding in 1836, Mexico was named county seat of the newly formed Audrain County. Growth in the primarily agricultural region was slow until the coming of the North Missouri Railroad and the Graduation Act that made land available from the federal government for 12.5cents an acre. With the introduction of breeding and training saddle horses, the discovery of fire clay deposits, and the implementation of more efficient means of turning the clay into heat resistant brick, Mexico's star ascended. During its heyday, the city was known as the "saddle horse capital" and the "firebrick...