WELCOME to historic Hannibal, Missouri -- "America's Hometown"

Welcome, friends, to the new Historic Hannibal Tours blog! How do you do? I'm Lisa Marks. I'll be your fearless leader for this adventure...

First, some background: My husband Ken and I were born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri (one of the most overlooked gems of American cities). We relocated to Hannibal on September 12, 2009. What prompted the move, you ask? Well, it's a long story...

Before last spring, Ken was a manager at the Chrysler truck mfg. plant in Fenton, MO. The plant closed and his last day at Chrylser was May 1st, 2009. At that time, I was a self-employed antiques dealer. Through the antiques grapevine, I heard about a big auction happening in Hannibal, MO and began to investigate...

It turned out that Rockcliffe, a 13,500 sq. ft. mansion, was up for sale and the contents were being auctioned away. After further research, Ken and I realized that the contents included priceless stained glass fixtures, wonderful antique furniture, books, clothing, etc. However, these were no ordinary antiques; they were actually original furnishings from the Cruikshank family who built the mansion in 1900. Rockcliffe had been a museum open for tours since 1968 -- and now the artifacts were about to be scattered to the wind, and the mansion, which had been untouched by time and was a perfectly preserved home of the Gilded Age, could be sold to someone who would convert it into a 21st century private home!

Well, we decided our new career would be Rockcliffe -- we'd simply buy the mansion and the contents and "save" the museum, keeping it open as a tourist attraction and Bed and Breakfast. We would need a loan for the purchase, but Ken had excellent credit and his "buy-out" money from Chrysler for a down payment, and friends and family also contributed to the cause. We contacted the owner, Rick Rose, and put a contract on Rockcliffe, its contents and the four and one-half acres of property that came with the mansion. We offered $700,000 to Mr. Rose, signed a contract with him, and sat down to write our business plan.

One week later we emerged with an 82-page plan. Our vision was to keep Rockcliffe as perfectly preserved as possible and keep it open as a museum. We believed the B and B was hard on the mansion and artifacts, and as soon as we could afford to eliminate this component of the business we would. We wanted to turn the 3.5 acres to the east of the mansion into a small botanical garden for guests to enjoy and to be used for special events like weddings, art fairs, antique shows, etc. The cellar of Rockcliffe, a wonderful labrynth of 18" limestone walls and arched doorways, would be converted into a small museum featuring Hannibal's history and the story of the lumber barons of Hannibal, one of whom was J. J. Cruikshank, Rockcliffe's original owner.

We then proceeded to secure the necessary financing. From the first week of August until the last week of September, for eight weeks, we went to every bank and lending institution we could find. We contacted the SBA, the USDA, our state representative, our US Senator, and the governor's office. We talked to folks in Hannibal, too, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitor's Bureau, downtown merchant's groups, and private investors. In the summer and fall of 2009, during the height of the recession, there was no one who was willing to give us a loan for Rockcliffe. The credit freeze had frozen us out, too.

While we were looking for funding, Mr. Rose was forced to declare Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Now, we were dealing with the bankruptcy trustee in Louisiana who controlled the property. We petitioned the court to ask if we could lease Rockcliffe from the court to keep it open as a business and the judge approved our request. Even after our purchase contract expired, we were still able to stay and keep the mansion open to the public.

We fought off potential buyers who wanted to 'renovate' the mansion and turn it into their private residence. We held a rally on the front steps of the mansion, invited the press, and asked Hannibalians to sign a petition to keep the mansion open to the public. We mowed the grass, we scraped away the ice and snow, we paid extraordinary utility bills during the winter months, but we kept the mansion open and the artifacts secure.

Then, in late March 2010, we received a call from a couple in Miami, Florida. The caller said they were interested in buying the mansion and asked if we would be willing to stay on to manage the business.

Please understand, this was either the sixteenth or seventeenth such call we'd received over the previous six months, and none of these potential investors panned out -- the mansion needed too much work. No one was willing to buy the mansion and then invest in the necessary exterior painting, landscaping, and business promotion to make Rockcliffe a viable business. It would take too long to recoup the investment, they said; it seems most were looking for a "quick flip". So, when we got this call, it was simply "here we go again".

Well, long story short, the couple from Miami paid cash for Rockcliffe. We signed a contract with them to manage the property for a year. The agreement was such that we were asked to pay half of all expenses, including insurance, taxes, utilities, payroll, advertising, promotion, etc. and then split whatever profit was generated. We had no ownership stake in the business, and little operational authority, but we could remain a part of Rockcliffe's future and keep it open as a museum and B and B.

The problem for us was that the business of Rockcliffe, in its current condition, was not profitable. Further, the business model that the new owners were interested in pursuing was not going to bring Rockcliffe to profitability quickly enough for Ken and I to manage our personal finances successfully. There was no negotiating with the new owners -- we had signed an agreement, and they were only required to pay us from the profits. They did not offer us an alternative plan that would have allowed us (financially speaking) to stay on and manage Rockcliffe. So, because we did not see significant profits possible in the near future, we had no choice but to resign. We could not work for little or no compensation, or somehow try to hang in there until the business would be profitable; we'd already exhausted our savings and actually gone into considerable debt while keeping Rockcliffe open.

Were we crazy to risk so much of our own money (and money from family and friends) just to save an old house? Maybe. Was our original business plan unrealistic? We'll never know for sure. Would we do it all again? Absolutely!

We truly believe that Rockcliffe Mansion is a national treasure. It is part of our American history. The guests we've entertained since last September have marveled at its grandeur and, time and time again, thanked us for or efforts. Seniors, couples celebrating their anniversary, even schoolchildren ages 10 to 17 have toured the house, and their reaction to Rockcliffe always confirmed to us that we were doing something important, significant, worthwhile.

It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever made to put in our resignation and leave Rockcliffe Mansion. In the past three days, I've had at least one moment on each tour that I had to fight back tears -- and one poor tour group actually cried with me when they heard our story and learned that Ken and I were leaving!

But Rockcliffe brought us to Hannibal, and we're here to stay. Last January, as a contingency plan in case we were unable to stay at Rockcliffe, Ken and I bought a wonderful, three-story Second Empire home just four blocks away from the mansion and sold our house in St. Louis. So, we are official "Hannibalians" now. We are absolutely fascinated by Hannibal's amazing history, pre- and post-Twain, and want to continue to learn about Hannibal's colorful past and share it with guests who come to visit "America's Hometown".

And this brings me to the reason for this blog -- our goal is to continue to tell the story of Rockcliffe, Hannibal's Lumber Barons, and the rich history of Hannibal to guests from our house at 306 N. 6th Street. We'll offer historic walking tours, Haunted Hannibal tours, guided tours with the Hannibal Trolley Company, and group tours through the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau. Later this year, we also plan to open our home to guests as a Bed and Breakfast as well.

In the future, we dream of one day opening a History of Hannibal museum to share more of the stories of this wonderful river town. We'd like to encourage people to travel to Hannibal not just to learn of Mark Twain but also of our own region's history, the extraordinary life led by Hannibalians during the Gilded Age, and the resilience of the many generations of residents who lived here near the magnificent Mississippi River.

We welcome your comments -- feel free to share your own personal stories of Hannibal here! And let us know what you think about the possibility of a Hannibal History Museum -- with community support, we would be able to turn our dream into reality!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and I hope you will join us regularly as we explore Hannibal's history. We are delighted to have the chance to share it with you!

Best regards, Lisa Marks