Rocheport, Missouri - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

From   Missouri - A Guide to the "Show Me" State - Route 1 section:

ROCHEPORT (596 alt., 396 pop.), a senescent river town.  A ferry was established near here by John Gray in 1819, and by 1820 Arnold's Warehouse was in operation.  The town was platted in 1825.  During the exciting presidential campaign of 1840, the Whigs held a State convention here.  Rocheport later suffered from recurrent cholera epidemics, and, during the Civil War, from constant plundering.  Bill Anderson and his bushwhackers called it "our capital."  The inscription "H.W. 1844" carved in the cobblestone gutter on the west side of Main Street, near the railroad tracks, marks the high water level of a flood of 1844.

Rocheport was a dying community with the loss of river trade and highway by passing it.  The community was revived from decay in the late 1960's when local preservationists recognized the historic nature of the community  and started restoration of homes and buildings.  The quiet town now has many bed and breakfast inns and antique shops.  The rail road tracks mentioned in the Guide are no longer present, however the railroad bed is now used by the Katy Trail which stretched nearly across Missouri.  Rocheport is a popular trailhead for the Katy Trail because of the tunnel just west of town (the only along the trail) and the beauty along the trail to the east as the trail follows along the Missouri River at the base of high limestone cliffs.  The entire community was listed as an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.