Home to the Historic Frisco Highline Railroad, Willard is a community defined by its focus on rural traditions, family, education, and service to its citizens. Willard is recognized for its green spaces, beautiful parks, and fantastic schools, and the city’s pride is reflected by generations of people who come back every year for two big events: the annual Independence Day Celebration and the Veterans Day Parade. Although its railroad days are over, the 35-mile Frisco Highline Trail provides miles of historic scenery and unlimited opportunities for new experiences. As the second-longest rail-to-trail project in Missouri, visitors can use the Willard trailhead as a place to start their next adventure while imagining a time when President Harry S. Truman used the route for his ‘whistle stop’ campaign or the time when bank robbers used old railway pump cars to make their getaway. Willard is known as the home of politician John Ashcroft and two former Olympian athletes. The latter led to the naming of a portion of US 160 as Olympian Boulevard.

Visitors destined for Willard come to see small-town America spring to life every day along the Highline Trail.