Missouri is a state that can often be overlooked and unnoticed. It doesn’t have the sunshine of Florida, the surfers of California, nor the attitude of a New York. However it did have a decisive role in industrializing the United States.

On this day August 10, in 1821, Missouri becomes the 24^th state of the United States. Missouri was acquired during the Louisiana Purchase and later became the Louisiana Territory. During the industrial revolution, circa 1840, steam boats were sent between the south and St. Louis along the Mississippi River. Missouri was the heart of American industrialization.

Prior to American settlement, Missouri was inhabited by Frenchtraders, and of course numerous Native American Tribes. As of 2010 Missouri had a population of roughly 6 million people. Missouri’s economy is still dependent upon agriculture, and it’s the 5^th largest producer of soybeans in the states, as well as being 6^th for hogs and 7^th for cattle. Missouri’s capital, St. Louis, holds nearly half of the state’s population within its metropolitan area.