Jefferson City looks really attractive. I've never been to Missouri but JC looks very much worth visiting.

It gets pretty raucous alright!

Especially during the last day of session. It's not as bad, however, as in days gone by . During the "Reconstruction" period after the Civil War there were two major hotels in Jefferson City. One hotel, located where the Supreme Court Building now sits, posted a sign out front which read "No Republicans Allowed." This was especially egregious to members of the GOP because the matron and owner of the hotel was said to have cooked and served the best meals in town! Her allegiance, however, rested with the Democrat Party and the old Confederacy. Republicans were forced to stay across the street from the Governor's Mansion in a hotel called " The House of the Rising Sun. " I'm not kidding! It was apparently a common name for hotels during that period. The accommodations were said to be nicer but the food was lousy. GOP members would occasionally try to sneak into the restaurant at the Democrat hotel (to demonstrate their bipartisan nature) but would be quickly recognized and thrown out by the matron. Abolitionists were not welcome! Period.

Our city has been named the most beautiful small town in America for 2013 by Rand McNally's Best of the Road. Our town is named for President Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States and of Welsh descent. Our first territorial governor was Meriwether Lewis who camped here on his famous expedition. The video shows a brief glimpse of the Opera House on High Street where Henry Morton Stanley (of Stanley and Livingston fame and also of Welsh descent) gave several lectures to earn enough money to resume his vagabond trip down the Missouri River by raft on his return from a trip to the Wyoming Territory. It also shows the street where Henry Morton Stanley lived while stationed here as a correspondent for the St. Louis Dispatch newspaper reporting on state government. The video also contains a brief clip of the Governor's Mansion where the famous Welsh outlaw, Frank James, surrendered in person handing his six shooter grip first to Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. A few months later a St. Louis jury refused to convict James in one of the first high profile acts of "jury nullification."

Runner-ups in the Rand McNally contest were Punta Gorda, Florida and Quincy, Illinois. See: http://www.bestoftheroad.com/contest#most-beautiful

updated by @harold-powell: 11/11/15 10:39:00PM