Boonville sits on the south bank of the Missouri River in the rolling hills of central Missouri, a quiet county seat with deep roots in westward expansion and the Civil War. The town was named for Daniel Boone's sons and served as a jumping-off point for settlers heading to the Santa Fe Trail. In 1861 it saw one of the war's earliest skirmishes, when Union forces scattered the Missouri State Guard in what became known as the Battle of Boonville.
Today Boonville is a small, unhurried place worth a stop for its well-preserved 19th-century Main Street, the Old Cooper County Jail, the still-working Thespian Hall, and easy access to the Katy Trail — the country's longest rail-trail, which crosses the river here on a converted MKT railroad bridge.