Pacific (formerly Franklin) is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri in eastern Franklin County and extending to the east into southwest St. Louis County. The population was 7,414 at the 2020 census.
History
Early history (1820–1864) Throughout the early 19th century, the area that would eventually become Pacific slowly developed, with the first log cabin being constructed in 1820 and a covered bridge across the nearby Meramec River being constructed in 1838.
The Town of Franklin, Missouri was platted in 1852 by Major William C. Inks. The following year, the Pacific Railroad laid tracks in the town, and the railroad opened on July 19, 1853. A post office was opened in 1854, and has continuously operated since. The first city school was constructed in 1855.
In 1859, Franklin was incorporated as a fourth-class city and, in honor of the railroad, changed its name to Pacific.
The Battle of Pacific (1864) On October 1, 1864, as a part of former Missouri governor and Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's unsuccessful Missouri Expedition, a brigade of the Arkansas Cavalry of the Confederate States Army under the command of Gen. William Cabell was sent to Pacific from near Saint Clair. The brigade entered Pacific at sunrise and burned major city structures, including the rail depot and a number of bridges.
Union authorities in nearby Saint Louis quickly dispatched three divisions of the 16th Army Corps originally destined for Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in Atlanta to Pacific to deal with Cabell's troops, who had, by most accounts, set up four pieces of artillery around the town. The troops from St. Louis encountered Confederate troops just east of Pacific, near what is now Allenton, who shelled the train and the troops. The two brigades engaged in battle for a few hours, and when additional Union supports from Saint Louis arrived, Cabell's troops were forced out of the city to nearby Union, Missouri.
Given Pacific's proximity to the St. Louis County line, the city was seen as the last defense against an attempted Confederate invasion of Saint Louis. The casualties numbered about a dozen on each side, but Cabell's troops had done the bulk of their plundering earlier in the day.
Post-war development (1864–1925) The first issue of the Franklin County Democrat was published in Pacific in 1871, marking the first time a newspaper was published in the city. Production was moved to nearby Washington, Missouri on May 31, 1878, where the newspaper was published weekly until 1882.
A new railroad depot was opened in 1882. It was used continuously until 1961, when regular service between Pacific and Saint Louis was discontinued due to declining ridership, and the Frisco Railroad abandoned the depot in 1976. It was demolished shortly thereafter.
In 1891, a fire at the center of town broke out, destroying all buildings on Saint Louis Street, the main commercial thoroughfare in Pacific, between First and Columbus Streets. In the following years, the Meramec River flooded the southern extent of Pacific a number of times, most notably in 1895 and 1915. The old covered bridge south of town was severely damaged by the former flood, and was demolished.
The Missouri Botanical Garden purchased 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) of land immediately to the west of Pacific in 1925 when pollution from coal smoke in Saint Louis threatened the garden's extensive plant collection, notably its orchids. The orchids were moved to the land, then called the Gray Summit Extension, the following year, but were restored to the original location of the garden when pollution waned. The Missouri Botanical Garden kept the land, and over the next fifty years, amounting eventually to the 2,444 acre (9.89 km2) parcel currently known as Shaw Nature Reserve.
The Route 66 era (1925–1977) U.S. Route 66 was commissioned by the federal government in 1926, but it originally did not go through Pacific; it was routed along what is now Missouri Route 100 east of Gray Summit going into Saint Louis until 1933. That year, U.S. Route 50 took over the 1926 alignment, and Route 66 was routed down what is now Osage Street through downtown Pacific. As Route 66 exploded in popularity through the 20th century, new attention was brought to Pacific, as cross-country motorists would stop in the city to eat and stay the night. The Red Cedar Inn, The Al-Pac Motel and Beacon Court, constructed in 1933, 1942 and 1946, respectively, are examples of bed and breakfasts that opened in Pacific along Route 66.