13 of the most endangered buildings and places in Missouri in 2017
The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation recently announced its 2017 list of historic "Places in Peril" at an Unhappy Hour event at the National Building Arts Center in Sauget. Seven new places were added to the list, and six were carried over from last year’s list. The non-profit group established the list to call attention to historic places statewide that are threatened and to advocate for their preservation. All information and photos this slideshow are from the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, and contact information for the sale of some buildings is listed on , as well as more information about them.
--Valerie Schremp Hahn
Emmaus Home Complex, Marthasville, Warren County
This complex of buildings, the oldest of which were completed in 1859, began as a seminary for the German Evangelical Church in Missouri. Four of the original five limestone buildings remain in various stages of repair. The seminary moved from the site in 1883 and became Eden Seminary in Webster Groves. In recent years it has become a home for the disabled and known as Emmaus Homes. Emmaus has said they want to move their clients away from the complex by 2020, the alliance said.
359 Rue St. Jean, Florissant, St. Louis County
This home, known as the Bellissime-Ouvre House, may have been built between 1810-1830. It has original windows and a four-panel rear door, as well as all original interior millwork. The house is currently in foreclosure.
* This address has been updated.
The Demaree House, House Springs, Jefferson County
The Cornelius Demaree House, near Main Street and Gravois Road in House Springs, was originally a log structure completed in 1837. The house has been expanded over the years to a two-story house with a center hall and a two-story gallery in the front. The current owner is open to selling the property to a buyer who could have it preserved and moved to another location, according to the alliance.
The Lincoln School, Jackson, Cape Girardeau County
The original Lincoln School was built in 1894 for Jackson’s African-American students, and it was destroyed by a flood in 1946. A second Lincoln School was built, and it was used for educating black children until 1953, when the schools were integrated. The school was used as administrative offices from the late 1950s until 1988, when it was renovated as a support services building. The historic Jackson High School was demolished in June and the school superintendent was quoted as saying Lincoln School would be “the next to go,” according to the alliance.
Kirksville High School Building, Kirksville, Adair County
This Elizabethan/Collegiate Gothic style building was built in 1914, and is the only remaining example of the style known in Kirksville. It was used as the main high school until 1960 and the meeting place for the school board until 1978. It has since had several owners and has not been well-maintained, and has been condemned by the city, but the demolition costs were higher than the city anticipated, according to the alliance.
The Miller Mausoleum, Holden, Johnson County
This roadside curiosity along Highway 131 near Warrensburg sits alone, not not surrounded by a cemetery. It was built between 1915 and 1918 and has been the final resting place of 18 members of the Miller family, the last being entombed there in 1931. Descendants have moved away from Missouri, and about five years ago, a descendant, Carl Cranfill of South Dakota, began the process of interring the bodies to a local cemetery and raising money to preserve the mausoleum.
Westland Acres, Chesterfield, St. Louis County
This subdivision contains a handful of wood-framed houses along Church Road and was established in 1881 by recently-freed slaves William and Pollie West. The property was divided by descendants of the original family, and now there are fewer than ten families living there. Property values and property taxes have skyrocketed, and tax bills are driving residents out.
The Harry S. Truman National Historic Landmark District, Independence, Jackson County
This historic district was established in 1972 and contains 567 structures, including the Truman National Historic Site. The setting of the home within a residential district helps tell Truman’s story, and through the years several homes have been lost and the district borders have changed, with some buildings within the district inappropriately planned or in need of work, according to the alliance.
The Old Phillipsburg General Store, Phillipsburg, Laclede County
This store was built in the late 1800s and is now the only historic building in the village, and the trains that pulled up on the tracks alongside it supplied the store with provisions. The second floor contained a theater and a meeting space and space for quilters. The building was used in the 1990s for quilting and antique sales but a roof leak has caused extensive damage to a rear wall, which is in danger of collapsing.
Jefferson Avenue Foot Bridge, Springfield, Greene County
This bridge was built in 1902 and was restored about twenty years ago, but was closed in 2016 due to corrosion and steel loss in a support tower. Because of the closure, people have used alternate routes to get to their neighborhoods and it has thwarted tourism in the Commercial Street District, and support to save the bridge is widespread but sluggish, according to the alliance.
The Phillip Kaes House in Castlewood State Park, St. Louis County
This house sits on land that was part of a Spanish land grant to Samuel Pruitt, one of the first English-speaking settlers west of the Mississippi River. A private cemetery on the property contains Kaes family inscriptions. The house has been designated a St. Louis County Landmark and is part of Castlewood State Park, but the house has continued to fall into disrepair because of lack of state parks funds.
The Old Post Office Building, Nevada, Vernon County
This post office was built in 1910, and the upgrade to the old post office was needed partly to process the mail coming into the Weltmer Institute, built in the town in 1897. The practitioners there “performed mental healing through telepathy and mental suggestion,” and treated hundreds of people daily, according to the alliance. The building was designed by James Knox Taylor, who had designed several notable buildings. A new post office was built in 1961 and the old one was taken over by the county sheriff’s department and jail. A new jail and sheriff’s department was built, and the former building was auctioned off in 2012, and has been empty since then. The current owner is interested in selling it.
4200 Cook Avenue, St. Louis
Decorated Civil War veteran Frederick W. Fout developed the home on this block in the 1890s as part of several buildings to be held as rental property. This home and this is the last remaining building of that development. It is Richardsonian Romanesque in style and constructed with red brick, with arched window openings and a tower. It was acquired by the city’s Land Reutilizatioin Authority and is for sale.
North St. Louis building housed George Edick's popular music club. It was bought at a delinquent tax auction this summer.