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MISSOURI STATE SYMBOLS
STATE SILVER CITY OF THE ROCK ISLAND TRAIL
Bland |
In 2026, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed HB2576 and SB1544, doubly designating the town of Bland the official silver city of the Rock Island Trail.
Starting as a small trading post on the border of Gasconade and Osage Counties, the town of Bland, Missouri was incorporated in 1877 and is named after former U.S. Congressman Richard Bland. A lawyer nicknamed “Silver Dick,” Bland was a prominent supporter of bimetallism and was a leading advocate of the free silver movement, even sponsoring and passing the Bland–Allison Act in 1878 that required the U.S. Treasury to buy silver and put it into circulation.
Today, the proposed Rock Island Trail will run through Bland as part of the “rails to trails” initiative that follows a former railway corridor of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The symbol is named to connect the history of Richard Bland’s strong support of silver and the city of Bland’s location on the trail.
Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo)
§10.289. City of Bland, officially known as the silver city of the Rock Island Trail. – The city of Bland is selected for and shall be officially known as "The Silver City of the Rock Island Trail" for the state of Missouri. (L. 2026 H.B. 2576 merged with S.B. 1544)
approved 13 July 2026
effective 28 August 2026
Photo Gallery:
Click on an image below to enlarge and read a caption. This will open a new window in the Missouri State Symbols Flickr album.
Additional Resources:
Eaton, David W. How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. Columbia, MO: The State Historical Society of Missouri, 1916-1918.
Dufur, Brett. The Complete Rock Island Trail Guidebook. Rocheport, MO: Pebble Publishing, Inc., 2024.
Hoogenboom, Ari. Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1995.
Meramec Regional Planning Commission. Bland Active Living Community of Practice Plan. September 2023.
Unger, Irwin. The Greenback Era: A Social and Political History of American Finance, 1865-1879. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964.
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