The Grand Basin

Historical marker location:

Saint Louis, Missouri

( Marker is on Lagoon Drive east of Fine Arts Drive, on the right when traveling east.)

Heart of the 1904 World's Fair. Forest Park

The "Show-Me State" is Missouri's official nickname and is believed to have originated from a speech given by Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver in 1899. He said, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."