Hannibal (1983: Doomsday)

Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 20,500. The Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area is composed of Marion and Ralls Counties.

History
The site of Hannibal was previously occupied by early settlers and Native American tribes. It was laid out as a town in 1819 by Moses Bates. Its origin goes back to Spanish land grants, which gave rise to much litigation. Although the city initially grew slowly to a population of only 30 by 1830, access to Mississippi river and railroad transportation fueled growth to 2,020 by 1850. The town of South Hannibal was annexed to it in 1843. Hannibal had gained "city" status by 1845. The city served as a bustling regional marketing center for livestock and grain as well as other products produced locally, such as cement and shoes, throughout the remainder of the 19th century and on to the present time.

The community is best known as the boyhood home of author Mark Twain and as the setting of his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with numerous historical sites related to Mark Twain and sites depicted in his fiction. The Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse was constructed in 1933 and has been lit at two separate times by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and President John F. Kennedy. Rockcliffe Mansion, the new home of the governor, sits upon a knoll overlooking the Mississippi River.

Doomsday
On the peaceful fall evening of September 25, 1983, the citizens of Hannibal received word that there was a first strike of apocalyptic proportions headed their way. Actually, few figured that the small town itself would be a target. And they were right. However, like many along the Mississippi River, the view in the west that night was lit by the fires and eerie sunlit mushroom clouds over what had been the silos of western Missouri. In addition, bombs were spotted over the capital city and St. Louis. To the north Burlington, Iowa was ablaze and debris from that city was seen within hours as the Mississippi's waters flowed tirelessly past.

Before the bombs began to fall, though, a communication came from the governor's office informing the mayors office that most of the state government officials - executive and legislative branches - would be working their way up US 54, 19 and 24 to safety in the hamlet. Shortly after that call, though, an EMP far above them would destroy all communication. The governor's motorcade cleared the city limits with a police escorts just fifteen minutes before a 10 kt nuclear bomb took out the city. The lieutenant governor's motorcade, with a smaller group of officials, had departed the city in the opposite direction as a contingency plan. The vehicles of both motorcades had been on the road even before the EMP, so most kept running, but were warned against turning the engines off due to the electronic ignitions. As a result of the precautions the motorcade had arrived in Hannibal within three hours of the destruction of Jefferson City.

A New Home
Governor Chip Bond would never hear from Lt. Gov. Ken Rothman again, but most of his own staff had made it out of Jefferson City with him. He would serve without a lieutenant for over a year before declaring the position open and asking for a special election among the communities of Marion and Ralls counties. Later expeditions would stretch across the northern part of Missouri in search of survivors, finally forming a coalition of towns and villages reaching all the way to the northwest corner of the state. Though more centralized locations were discussed for the new capital, Hannibal was established as the seat of government for the provisional government of Missouri by the end of Bond's second term.