Riverview Park - Hannibal, MO — greatriverroad.com

2000 Harrison Hill
Hannibal, Missouri
573-221-0154

Riverview Park is 465 acres of forested land located on the limestone bluffs of north Hannibal and offers scenic views of the Mississippi River. The park is the brainchild of Wilson Boyd Pettibone, a lumber magnate and philanthropist. Pettibone began buying land for a park in the early years of the twentieth century, envisioning a time when the park overlooking the river would offer a peaceful retreat for the growing community of Hannibal.

Pettibone acquired 200 acres and then brought in Ossian Cole Simonds, a highly regarded landscape gardener whose work at Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery in the 1880s won him international renown. Simonds designed a system of winding carriage paths that took visitors through scenic vantage points, from a central bluff overlooking the Mississippi to hollows planted with oaks, maples, and flowering shrubs.

Riverview Park opened in 1909 and was deeded to the city with the stipulation that the park was to be used solely as a “free city public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the inhabitants.” In 1920 Simonds wrote of the park “The main purpose of a park is to preserve, restore, develop, and make accessible natural scenery.” Over the next two decades Pettibone added additional acreage to the park. In 2005 Riverview Park was placed on the National Register for Historic Places.

There are memorial statues to Clemens and Pettibone located on the property. Amenities include shelters, picnic tables, a playground, restrooms, and paved and natural trails. Simonds’s trees have matured into pockets of forest that provide a brilliant display of fall foliage and the park offers excellent views overlooking the Mississippi River.