We've pinpointed a few locations on the map where Mark Twain left an impact.  This will help to understand the importance of Mark Twain as a national symbol

The links below will bring you to outside pages which are not affiliated with this web site.

San Francisco, California

In 1864, Mark Twain ventured West worked as a newspaper reporter for the San Francisco Daily Morning Call.  In an article for the newspaper, Twain describes the historic 1865 San Francisco Earthquake

"A month afterward I enjoyed my first earthquake. It was one which was long called the "great" earthquake, and is doubtless so distinguished till this day. It was just after noon, on a bright October day. I was coming down Third street. The only objects in motion anywhere in sight in that thickly built and populous quarter, were a man in a buggy behind me, and a street car wending slowly up the cross street. Otherwise, all was solitude and a Sabbath stillness. As I turned the corner, around a frame house, there was a great rattle and jar, and it occurred to me that here was an item!–no doubt a fight in that house.

Hotel Mark Twain 

345 Taylor Street,
San Francisco, CA 94102

http://www.hotelmarktwain.com/

Florida, Missouri

Mark Twain was born November 30, 1935 in Florida, Missouri.  He was born in a rented two-room cabin just north of the site of the museum where the cabin is now located.  They moved the whole cabin to this museum which features year-round exhibits and a few of his first editions.

Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site

37352 Shrine Road
Florida, MO 65283   

http://www.mostateparks.com/twainsite.htm

Hannibal, Missouri

This small frame house was occupied by the John Marshall Clemens family from 1844 to 1853. Sam grew up here and used many incidents from his real life as patterns for Tom Sawyer and other of his characters.
     From 1853 to 1911, the home was a rental property. When the home was scheduled for demolition in 1911, the local Hannibal Commercial Club started a campaign to purchase the home, but progress was slow. A local attorney, Mr. George A. Mahan, purchased the home and gave it to the City of Hannibal on May 15, 1912.

Mark Twain Museum
208 Hill Street
Hannibal, MO 63401

http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/

Cairo, Illinois

This is a major location in Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."  In the book, Huck Finn is trying to help his friend Jim, reach Cairo via the Mississippi river.  The duo encounter all sorts of adventures on the way.

Mark Twain's Mississippi River

Hartford, Connecticut

Opened in November 2003,the museum provides the richest possible treasury of Twain's triumphs and tragedies, contemporaries and the Gilded Age. Brush up on Twain's life at I Have Sampled This Life, our orientation exhibit in the Aetna Gallery. Experience a biography from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns. And for a penetrating look at Twain's notable peers, period influences, and enduring legacy, visit the 2,000–square-foot gallery with changing exhibits. You'll see rare manuscripts, photos, artifacts, fine and decorative arts never before on display.

The Mark Twain House & Museum
351 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105

http://www.marktwainhouse.org/

Concord, Massachusetts

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first banned in Concord (1885) for being "trash suitable only for the slums."

The book has also been ranked by the American Library Association as one of the 50 most challenged books of the 1990s. It does use the word "nigger" hundreds of times.

Mostly, their concern was the use of offensive language and the treatment of slavery and racial themes.
 

Should Huckleberry Finn be banned?