It is the year 1931, and the Union Electric Co. has just completed the construction of the massive Bagnell Dam on the Osage River. “It stands as a monument to the courage and vision of men, an awe-inspiring engineering triumph, impressive and majestic through its 2543 feet of length,” the June 1931 issue of our magazine marveled. Union Electric, now

Earlier this year, the Missouri General Assembly passed a right-to-work bill that was signed into law by Gov. Eric Greitens. The whole process took less than five weeks — lightning speed in legislative terms. However, what seemed like a swift passage actually ended what was likely one of the longest advocacy campaigns in state history. As reported in the archives

Many of Missouri’s small town centers are filled with old Victorian-style buildings with overhanging cornices and quaint cupola domes. Today, these historic buildings are treasured. But 80 years ago, Missourians regarded them differently — as eyesores. In the mid-1930s, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Better Housing Committee created a statewide campaign with a goal to “Lift the Face

In the mid-1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, Missouri leaders pursued a lofty idea to establish Missouri as the nation’s central hub for aviation. The capabilities of airplanes were expanding rapidly at the time. Charles Lindbergh had made his transatlantic flight less than a decade earlier. The public was enthusiastic about this new mode of transportation. However, what

This year, Missouri Business magazine is celebrating 90 years of publication with a look back at some of our earliest issues. This month, we remember a 1928 feature article by Missouri native Charles Phelps Cushing. When he wrote the article, Cushing was working in New York City as a photographer. The article focuses on his trip back to Missouri to