"According to historians, the Confederate Army, under Gen. Price, launched a last-ditch campaign to regain Missouri, hoping to reach the armaments in the St. Louis arsenal.
The Union Army, dispatched from St. Louis, got off the train at Dozier Station and started west, meeting the Rebel forces at approximately the location of the sign. Union forces drove the Confederates back into Pacific where a brief battle occurred before the Rebels were driven out of town.
Pacific history buffs have memorialized the short military action as the Battle of Pacific.
The new sign is being made of cast aluminum to make it less attractive to thieves who might want to take it for salvage.
The genealogy society plans to install the new marker on Oct. 1, the 150th anniversary of the armed action described in the sign. The location will be on the north side of the roadway, facing motorists driving into Pacific.
Wayne Winchester, owner of the Lookout, also known as Jensen’s Point, approved placing the sign on his property east of the foot of the Lookout. The location would allow motorists to pull off East Osage (Historic Route 66) onto the paved former driveway entrance to the Lookout.
Walter Arnette, aldermanic liaison to the tourism commission, said the new location serves a greater purpose for tourism. Not only can motorists stop to see the sign, but also stop to look at it.
“I always wondered why the sign was facing drivers as they were leaving Pacific,” Arnette said. “This way they are coming into Pacific when they see the sign. This might make them want to stop and see other things in Pacific.”
The genealogy society is seeking funds to help pay for its half of the sign. Contributions should be sent to MVGHS, Sterling Price Marker, 300 Hoven Drive, Pacific, MO 63069." (
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A Franklin County town is among the first in eastern Missouri to recognize its Civil War heritage.
A three-hour skirmish in Pacific in 1864 was the closest the Civil War came to St. Louis.
The recognition is part of a larger effort to market Missouri during the Civil War’s 150th anniversary.
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