Mark Twain Museum works to save "Becky Thatcher House"
By
KSPR News
Story Created:
Jul 30, 2008 at 5:04 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jul 30, 2008 at 5:04 PM CST
The Mark Twain Museum hoped throngs of summer tourists in Hannibal would spread the word about its urgent efforts to save the Becky Thatcher House.
Downtown Hannibal has remained dry. But enough visitors shied away from the Mississippi River town due to flooding concerns that peak summer attendance at Samuel Clemens' boyhood home is down about 30 percent.
That has hampered efforts to raise money to restore the little wood-frame house Twain enthusiasts desperately want to protect.
Museum officials are asking everyone from schoolchildren to fans of Twain's writings around the world to help them bring in $250,000 by this fall, if possible. It's just part of the tab.
Built in the 19th century, the Becky Thatcher Home was the home of Laura Hawkins, Twain's muse for his famed character Becky in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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