Last spring I took a trip to try to rediscover the Boone’s Lick Road across eastern Missouri.
I was looking for the 32 pink granite Boone’s Lick Road markers that were erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the State of Missouri in 1913.
Along my trip I found 20 of the 32 markers and wrote about them and my trip from St. Louis to Boone’s Lick State Historic Site in a three-part article published in the Rivers Hills Traveler in the June, July, and August 2021 issues.
But ever since then I have been determined to find out where are, or what became of, the 12 markers that I failed to find.
I used three main sources to research the road along with several maps. Using Google Maps and the Google Street View, which only works on paved roads, I followed the route that I took searching for pink granite markers and I actually discovered a few that I had missed.
I also used a website called Waymarking (https://www.waymarking.com) that has lots of historic places listed with information about them, including some but not all of the Boone’s Lick Road markers.
And then in August while visiting the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site in St. Charles, I found a 2012 book called “Boone’s Lick Road” by Hal Jackson available in the gift shop.
This book concentrated on the original 1816-1822 northern route of the trail past Williamsburg, but also covered the later short-lived middle route and the final 1822 southern route through Fulton, Millersburg, and Columbia.
It had maps that showed pretty closely where the markers were located along the road, including gravel roads and on private property.
I discovered that I had made two mistakes on my original spring trip. First, I had followed only paved roads. But when the markers were erected in 1913, most or all of the Boone’s Lick Road was still dirt or gravel.
