THE MISSOURI CITIES PROJECT INITIATIVE

OUR MISSION

+1.636.533.4778

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

MOCITYPLATES.org

Thanks Cindy !

We kicked off our Missouri Cities Project Initiative in 2016.

This initiative is intended to educate the public about the history of City "Resident" license plates in the State of Missouri and to make these license plates available for Cities to display in their communities so that the public may see them.

City of Marceline, Missouri

To educate the public about the history of City "Resident" license plates in the State of Missouri

MOCITYPLATES.ORG is the charitable, not-for-profit organization of Terry Hammer, TLH Plates, LLC and Shoplicenseplates.com.

We are donating and gifting City "Resident" license plates to Cities across the State of Missouri who want to reconnect to their history.

Starting in the early 1900's through the 1930's, with the advent of the automobile and the growing number of motor vehicles, a number of Cities in Missouri started to require that their residents pay a tax and to display City "Resident" license plates. For some Cities, this was an attempt to wrestle with the growing number of motor vehicles on the road. For others, it was undoubtedly an additional source of revenue from the tax. As the number of motor vehicles grew, so did the number of Cities who required these license plates.

In many Cities across Missouri, this is truly a "LOST" history. In Missouri, the City "Resident" license plates were issued by the City Clerk in the local community. This required the City to pass an ordinance authorizing the tax and issuance of license plates. In some communities, it is difficult to find the ordinance that established the program so that a "first" year can be nailed down. You would also be required to obtain your State of Missouri license plates in addition to these City "Resident" license plates !

In general, many in the State of Missouri don't realize that these were required in the past; some have never heard of a City "Resident" license plate; most have never seen one of these in person. The shapes, sizes and colors for these were all over the board and not standardized; not even within a City from year to year. Some are round, some oval, some square and others are shaped like a badge.

These are exceedingly rare and hard to find because most survivors from the early 1900's made it to the World War II era, only to be melted down due to a metal shortage. If they weren't nailed down or set aside, they were used to make ships, planes, and ammunition to supply wartime needs.

To educate Citizens of Missouri and to have the residents of a City be able to actually see these historic license plates in person will be awesome. If you have City "Resident" license plates, pictures of these, or other information, please contact me.

The list of Cities that are confirmed to have issued City Resident license plates (a work in progress) includes: Brentwood, Carrollton (1927), Chillicothe (1916), Clarence, Columbia, Clayton (1932), Eldon (1932), Farmington, Florissant, Hannibal, Huntsville (1919), Independence (1912), Joplin (1916, Ord # 5797), Kansas City (1908), Louisiana, Maplewood, Marceline (1931), Moberly, Montgomery (1928), Nevada (1928), Owensville (1916, Ord # 27, amend 1924 Ord # 71), Savannah (1926), Sedalia, St. Charles, St. Joseph (1913), St. Louis City (1902), St. Louis County (1906), Trenton (1915), Warrensburg (1924, Ord # 51), Warrenton (1927), Washington (1924), and Willow Springs (1924).