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Hannibal, Missouri is well known as the boyhood home of Mark Twain. It was in "these parts" that he absorbed much of his inspiration for his future writings about Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher and the mighty Mississippi. One can gaze in awe at the Mississippi River while crossing the Bridge into Illinois. The river extends for as far as the eye can see, both north and south. One can also sense the breadth of the Mississippi River as you drive south on Highway 79, out of Hannibal, on your way to the Continental Cement plant. Looking east across the river it seems to be "close enough you can touch it and mighty enough to swallow you up."(Click here to See Map)

The Mississippi has played an important role to the Hannibal area, back to 1673. Hannibal got its name from the Hannibal Creek, now known as Bear Creek, around 1800. The New Madrid earthquake of 1812, which made the mighty Mississippi flow backward and change course in many places, played a major part in the founding of Hannibal in 1819. A town of 30 in 1830, Hannibal had grown to over 2000 people by the year 1850. After the turn of the century, the shale and limestone bluffs attracted one of the largest cement manufacturing plants in the nation, and Atlas Portland Cement opened its doors around 1903. That plant site still produces cement today as the Continental Cement Company, LLC.

The Continental Cement plant has long been recognized for consistent quality and has been selected for notable construction projects, such as the Empire State Building and the Panama Canal. The original plant was operated until 1966 when it was replaced by the current facility. Today, the Hannibal kiln is the second longest cement kiln in the world, with annual production of over 600,000 tons of clinker, which ultimately is used to make cement. Continental Cement has been a part of the community for nearly 100 years and still plays a major role in the local economy.