Hannibal, Missouri
city in Marion and Ralls counties in Missouri, United States
Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in Missouri, United States. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 17,108, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Marion County, with a tiny sliver in the south extending into Ralls County.
Nestled on the Mississippi River, commerce and traffic has long been an integral part of Hannibal's development, including by river, rail and the interstate/highway system. Today the city is intersected by Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36, and 61. Hannibal is approximately 110 miles (180 km) northwest of St. Louis (also bordering the Mississippi), 195 miles (314 km) east-northeast of Kansas City and 194 miles (312 km) miles east of Saint Joseph (both cities on the Missouri River), and approximately 100 miles (160 km) west of Springfield, Illinois.
Hannibal is not the county seat, but it has one of two county courthouses. There is also one in Palmyra, the county seat of Marion County, which is located more centrally in the county. Hannibal is the principal city of the Hannibal, Missouri micropolitan area, which consists of both Marion and Ralls counties.
“Hannibal, Missouri” enters the record as city in Marion and Ralls counties in Missouri, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hannibal, Missouri and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Hannibal, Missouri” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hannibal, Missouri and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q961975. VIAF identifies the subject as 144116394. The Library of Congress control number is n82211785. Authority coordinates are 39.704, -91.377. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Hannibal, Missouri” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.