User talk:Krjarch

Mississippi Valley Research Project

David V. Kromm, AIA


 * President


 * Kromm, Rikimaru and Johansen, Inc.

Jerry Walters


 * Professor, Department of Fine Arts


 * Mineral Area College

Dr. David Browman


 * Professor, Department of Anthropology


 * Washington University

The Mineral Area College, directed by Dr. Kohn, is sponsoring this program in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Missouri.

Objectives
 * To study the wealth of history, through architecture, found in the Mineral Area of Missouri and the "River Heritage" area along the Mississippi.
 * To discover answers to the questions of why and how these cultures defined and represented themselves.
 * To share this information with the communities in order to educate them about the rich history and culture the buildings represent.
 * To use this information to assist in keeping the community, and its heritage strong and vibrant.

Introduction

This study examines the Mineral Area historic building landscape through an architect's eyes.

Preface

When this project began it was expected that there would be a simple and homogeneous track of old world architecture for the Mississippi Valley. Instead, it was found that there is a variety of heritage from Italy to Ireland and France to Poland.

Unlike other areas of the country, early builders did not have books out of which to copy. The availability of materials and resources were limited to what could be hauled on barges or horseback. Stonework appeared in towns that developed later as railroads came to the Mississippi Valley. Crafted work, however, such as Italianate windows, always had to be prefabricated and imported. Therefore, crafted work was used sparingly.

Construction labor was often voluntary, especially for major community buildings such as churches and courthouses. Builders put their hearts and souls into the construction of these buildings, and they had to. Lacking materials and books, they built from limited drawings and what they carried in with them in their minds. These limitations forced them to improvise.

This improvisation occurred in many ways. The forms that resulted have their own intrinsic beauty and are responsive to the materials and methods that shaped them. The builders created a sort of new art form, a form of Jazz in architecture.

Notes


 * At the end of every site entry is a date preceded with P.O. The dates mark the point at which the community had an official post office, and the date at which the post office, in some cases, was terminated. These dates are an indication for when the individual communities thrived as a growing important locus. Construction dates of churches also mark prosperous times for small towns. They provide a way to get a feel for the context against which to access construction.
 * The location of each site is marked on city maps throughout by red dots. A few of these are approximate locations and are duly marked with asterisk.

St. Joachim Catholic Church
The Old Mines church began as a mission church to Ste. Genevieve, being served first by Father Maxwell, and then in 1814, by Henri Pratte. Father Francis Xavier Dahmen from Ste. Genevieve began serving the mission church in 1821. Father Jean Bouillier, C. M., from Perryville, began serving there in 1826 after his ordination, and in 1828 he became the first permanent pastor, when the parish was separated from Ste. Genevieve.

In 1828, he started the brick church, commissioning Obadiah Freeman to supervise making the bricks from clay from Adrian Coleman's land grant. Bouillier left to travel to the mother house in Paris, France in 1830, and the church was finished by Father Philip Borgna, C.M., and consecrated by Bishop Joseph Rosati on October 9, 1831. In 1833, Bouillier returned from France to take back his position at St. Joachim. This brick church is constructed with "Palledian" detail". The original floor plan was 30 feet by 110 feet, with a 50 foot high steeple.

The first Diocesan Priest, John Cotter, who was trained in Perryville, took over in 1841. Father Cotter, killed in a fall from a horse in 1851, is buried in a brick tomb under the floor of the church to the left of the stairs; a bronze marker was added on his tomb location in 1995. Apparently this was a common risk for the priests who had to travel out to various mission chapels for Father John J. McCaffery of nearby Richwoods, was also killed when he was thrown from a horse in 1856.

Father James Fox took over the parish after Cotter was killed, and served until 1868. He over saw an enlargement and modification of the floor plan of the church in 1852 to 1857, adding the wings and enlarging the rectangular steeple. These modifications were capped off with the purchase of the cast steeple bell of 960 lbs., for $351.30, by Mary Lewis Lamarque in 1858. A visit to the attic shows the original 1850s wood shingles nailed to hewn and pegged roof truss members. The 19th century church had pairs of chimneys on either side, for stoves used to heat the building.

The church was renovated at least three times in the 20th century: once in about 1900, once in 1945, and the last time in the 1960s. During the 1945 restorations, the chimneys were removed, but the original stone altar was restored. Father Fox was also responsible for building the first school and establishing the first lending library in Old Mines. P.O. 1827-1969.

Log Cabin Construction
These structures are examples of four different rural log constructions depicting representative construction techniques used in the 19th century. The collection of 4 different buildings appears to illustrate the typical rural Missouri style of log cabin construction, which is designed to avoid having to do much shaping work on the hardwood. Thus one does not see the snug fitting notching that occur in northern log structures of pine and other softwoods, which requires extensive working and shaping of the logs.

These buildings no doubt also illustrate the variable types of nogging utilized (the fill between the logs to make the structures somewhat weatherproof). What is represented by these four 'slides' are: a dwelling, an outbuilding, a spring house, and some kind of kiln or oven. The log structure now included with the Caledonia structures may actually be a slide from Old Mines; it appears to be some kind of possible smoke house. These buildings are not unique, but rather simply characteristic examples of log cabin construction in the Mineral Area. P.O. 1827-1969.

Courthouse
The first courthouse was a 2 story frame building, constructed in 1814, a Greek-temple-like style with Doric columns across the front.. The second courthouse was started in 1849 and finished in 1850; it was a 2 story brick on stone foundation. When it burned down in 1907, a third courthouse was begun, and finished in 1908. The architect for the third courthouse was Henry H. Hohenschild, who designed many Missouri court houses in this period, and the builder W. R. Oder of Canton, Missouri. The design was similar to T. C. Link's courthouse at Fredericktown in adjacent Madison county. The building is a 2 storey red brick structure, with a tall square bracketed tower. The court house was rehabilitated in 1971-72. P.O. Mine au Burton 1811-1824, Potosi 1824-date.

Firmin DesLoge House
This 2 story frame house has white clapboard and green shutters and a large red brick chimney. There is a porch which runs the full length of front of house and a gazebo in the yard on the south side. Firmin DesLoge was an important early business man in the lead industry, and his name is 'memorialized' in the town of Desloge as well as in buildings such as the Firmin DesLoge Hospital in St. Louis. P.O. Mine au Burton 1811-1824, Potosi 1824-date.

Potosi Presbyterian Church
The Potosi Presbyterian Church was organized on July 21, 1832. The first church was a log church; the second church was brick, but too small, and the 3rd church, built in 1872, was also brick. The current church, built in 1907 was designed by John Anderson Lankford, perhaps the first professional black architect in Missouri. Lankford has received his early religious instruction in Potosi, and when he found out in 1906 that the church planned a new building, he designed the present structure for free. It is in the 'modified Akron plan', with a central pulpit and choir, with the interior and exterior restored in 1982.

The so-called 'Akron Plan' is named after a church built just post-Civil War in Akron, Ohio, which had movable partitions. The sanctuary area could be enlarged if needed, or small modular rooms, to be used for Sunday school instruction, could be divided from the sanctuary by use of these partitions. This was a very popular model adopted by many Methodist, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ congregations in the heartland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. P.O. Mine au Burton 1811-1824, Potosi 1824-date.

St. James
St. James began in 1821 as a Mission church of Old Mines, with priests from St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville. John Timon, C.M., was the first regular priest assigned to the parish in 1825, and in 1829, Father John Bouillier, of Old Mines, took over servicing this parish. The current brick church was begun in 1859, and finished in 1861. The church tower originally had two additional 'stages', but the soft, locally produced bricks, deteriorated, and the upper tower segments were removed in the 1930s. P.O. Mine au Burton 1811-1824, Potosi 1824-date.


 * *Moses Austin, the founder of the state of Texas, is buried nearby.

Caledonia

 * *A great place to visit for antique shopping.

Caledonia Bellevue Presbyterian Church
The first Presbyterian Church west of the Mississippi River was the Concord Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, established in 1816. This log church was about 1 1/2 miles northeast of Caledonia, and was used until it burned down in 1839. A brick church was then erected on that site, which served as the second church, until the present building was put up in 1870 to 1872. Thus the Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Caledonia is a lineal descendant of this first church, and is the oldest public building still standing in Caledonia.

The third and current Bellevue Presbyterian church is built of brick on limestone foundations, and displays elements stylistically transitional between the Neoclassical and Gothic Revival types of Classic Greek Revival genres. Decoration is very restrained, but expressions of style are particularly evident in the excellent craftsmanship. It is contemporaneous and shares many features with the Methodist Church in Irondale 8 miles to the east, and to St. Paul Episcopal Church in Ironton 20 miles to the southeast.

The church is 60' x 36'. The dominant decorative feature are the lancet Gothic windows, six in the nave, and four in the narthex, which rise almost the full height of the upper story. The entry way is contained within a lancet arch matching those of the windows. Access to the interior was originally gained by separate entrances for each story, but later this was remodeled into a single main entry. P.O. 1819-date.

Former Grocery Store
This building is one of half-a-dozen commercial building constructed between 1910 and 1920, after the 1909 fire. They are all similar in their concrete block with cast iron post-and-lintel facades, plate glass windows, and decorative stamp metal cornices. The concrete blocks were made with the town's own block-forming machine. All these buildings, except for the Community center, are similar in their long, narrow, rectangular plans; highly styled, glass-front facades; plain blank side walls with minimal window treatment; and undecorated sidewall tops finished in coping tiles. P.O. 1819-date.

Stewart McSpaden's Golden Rule Store
This building is one of half-a-dozen commercial building constructed between 1910 and1920, after the 1909 fire. They are all similar in their concrete block with cast iron post-and-lintel facades, plate glass windows, and decorative stamp metal cornices. The concrete blocks were made with the town's own block-forming machine. Part of the downtown business district burned in the major fire in 1909, and McSpaden's Golden Rule Store was one of the buildings constructed following the fire.

McSpaden's has an unusually elaborate facade for this genre of buildings in Caledonia, with its full two story height, and windows on both first and second floors. The detail of the window and door treatment fit within Caledonia's Classic Revival entry styles. The concrete block of the walls, the alternating smooth and rock-faced blocks to quoin the front corners, the stamped metal inside and out, and the flute, block, and bulls-eye woodwork of this store all match similar elements in the Methodist Church just adjacent across Alexander Street, a striking attempt to relate neighboring buildings of totally different design and function. Unfortunately, the painting of the store, and the stuccoing of the church have almost totally obscured these relationships to the casual observer. P.O. 1819-date.

Masonic Lodge
Tyro Lodge #12 AF and AM.

This brick building was constructed in 1919 to replace the earlier lodge building on the banks of Goose Creek, which burned that same year. This building is typical of many of the brick store-front Masonic lodges built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Midwest. The building is very simply decorated, with a Masonic diamond-shaped window between the upstairs front windows. The downstairs was originally utilized as a store, with the upstairs being the lodge hall. P.O. 1819- date.

Ramsey House
This house was built sometime before 1860, apparently initially designed to be an inn and tavern. It is unusual among the other examples of this style in Caledonia, in being developed to a full three stories in height. A two-story portico, common to other examples of this style in Washington County, dominates the facade, with a simple vernacular Eastlake porch-on-porch over the main door. The house has no exterior fireplace chimneys. The three-bay facade has relatively little ornamentation, except for the machine-turned porch posts, and the recently added shutters. P.O. 1819- date.

Ruggles-Evans-Dent House
This house, built in 1850, is 'full Georgian' in plan, with elements typical of the Missouri vernacular Greek Revival style houses of the period. The house is said to have been built by Elijah Starr Ruggles, a second generation settler and slave owner. Ruggles was a merchant in town, son of Martin Ruggles, one of three partners who established the Springfield Lead Furnace near Caledonia in 1823. Ruggles sold the house in 1853 to James S. Evans, another slave owner; in 1911 the house was sold by the Evans family to the banker W. J. Dent, a relative of Julia Dent Grant (U. S. Grant's wife).

The portico is Greek Revival, and the windows and interior woodwork also share Classic Greek Revival characteristics. The end walls of the main block house is a typical sober gable of the Georgian-plan, detached country house, extremely conservative in its plain paired chimneys. The foundations are limestone, with the brick walls above of local manufacture and soft brownish-red in color. The four brick fireplace chimneys of the main block pierce the roof behind the cornice; the chimneys are high-shouldered in the Virginia-Carolina vernacular style.. The facade is symmetrical, simple, and classically proportioned. Windows lugsills and lintels are smooth-dressed limestone, setting the stage for a more dramatic entryway. It seems to be nearly the twin of the Jane Alexander Thompson House at 307 Main Street, built in 1848. P.O. 1819- date.

General Store
This building is another one of half-a-dozen commercial building constructed between 1910 and 1920, after the 1909 fire. They are all similar in their concrete block with cast iron post-and-lintel facades, plate glass windows, and decorative stamp metal cornices. The concrete blocks were made with the town's own block-forming machine. All these buildings, except for the Community center, are similar in their long, narrow, rectangular plans; highly styled, glass-front facades; plain blank side walls with minimal window treatment; and undecorated sidewall tops finished in coping tiles. P.O. 1819- date.

Carr House
The Ferson Carr House is one of five similar houses in Caledonia on Main, College, and Henry Streets, built between 1856 and 1878, all of the same "I" house plan, that is, with Southern transverse axis, central-passage, single pile, two-story plan, with rear ells, similar door placement, frame construction, siding, and window treatment. Each has a central entryway with carpenter-Doric bays framing recessed doors with transoms and sidelights. Ferson Carr has boxed cornices, and S-curve brackets supporting its facade cornice, the only such bracketing in Caledonia. The porch is a latter modification of the original porch built in 1856. P.O. 1819-date.

United Methodist Church
The original Methodist church was built in 1852, but burned in the great fire of 1909. Construction on the 'new' church was begun in 1909, and finished in 1911. The present church is of a genre of Methodist church designs built early in the 20th century in several cities across the country. While the Caledonia church appears to be of an L-plan variety, with the interior of the L opening to the street corner (i.e. the southeast corner of Main and Alexander), the building was actually constructed as a T-plan, of two rectangular blocks, a nave block 33' x 50', and a narthex-social hall block 20' x 30'. The L-shaped effect is achieved by the placing of the square-thick-set entry-belfry tower in the angle of the nave-narthex opening to the street corner. Architectural historians have termed this a sort of 'rustic, eclectic Richardson-Romanesque', particularly as reflected in the entry tower, and the coarse, rock-faced gray concrete blocks. Alternate course of gray and white blocks at every corner provide the appearance of quoining. The concrete-block construction proved unsatisfactory because of the severe condensation on the inside of the walls, so subsequently they were covered with a thick coat of stucco. P.O. 1819-date.

Lucas-Wilcox House
This frame house was built in the 1840s, one of three oldest houses in town. With massive stone cellar foundations, it has remained as the only surviving gable-entry dwelling in Caledonia. The house was built on massive course rubble limestone foundations, which has the support for a fireplace, although there is no longer any evidence that a fireplace existed upstairs. The decorations of this vernacular Greek Revival house are its cornice and its entryway. A typical Victorian style porch has been added, similar to that of the Methodist Church parsonage, with suspended spindle frieze. P.O. 1819-date.

Jane Alexander Thompson House
Jane Thompson was the second major Caledonia merchant and slave owner in the 1850s. She was born in Virginia in 1807, came to Caledonia in 1826, and remained unmarried through her life, until she died in 1854, and was involved in numerous land speculation transactions around Caledonia. The interior of this house is very similar to that of the Ruggles house. On the exterior, the Ruggles and Thompson houses appear more different than they actually are. The facade of Thompson has six bays, three on the south wing, two on the north wing, plus one over the entry way. The unusual arrangement of windows and doors on the first floor resulted from Jane Thompson building her house to serve as a combination store and residence. Unlike the plainer gable of the Georgian-plan of the Ruggles house, however, the Thompson's end walls have parapeted gables and partially exposed chimneys; they are townhouse walls, much more like similar houses of St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve of this period. P.O. 1819- date.

William Goforth Eversole House
William Goforth Eversole was a nephew of Jacob Eversole, one of the three partners who established the Springfield Lead Furnace near Caledonia in 1823. William was a major mill entrepreneur and slave holder, and built this house in the 1850s. It is a double-pile, two and a half story frame structure, dominated by two great brick chimneys on the south wall. The north wall chimneys have been removed. The high-shoulder configuration is characteristic of Georgian-plan buildings in Virginia and Carolina, and utilized in many other buildings in Caledonia. Several features of the facade, such as the entryway, and the windows treatment, are shared between the Ruggles, Thompson, and Eversole houses. Behind the house is a large, well-maintained frame house which was utilized in pre-Civil War periods as the slave quarters. P.O. 1819- date.

Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church
The German parish was started in 1861 under Johann Friedrich Buenger, one of the original members of the 1839 Lutheran synod in Perry County, who came to Pilot Knob to begin a new congregation in 1861. August Gockel was a resident of Pilot Knob, and one of three trustees of the original church. Gockel, who was a cabinet maker and carpenter, designed the plans, and served as chief carpenter, of the church built in 1864. It was at his request that Buenger, his former pastor, came to Pilot Knob and organized the church there in 1861. Not only was Gockel the chief carpenter and architect of the church building, but he also designed and built the altar-pulpit, and the church benches, which are still in use.

Shortly after it was built, the church served as one of several public buildings in the Pilot Knob/Ironton/Arcadia area pressed into use as a hospital during the Civil War battle of Pilot Knob of September 26-28, 1864. The 30 x 45 foot simple frame building is built upon a limestone foundation. The roof is made of wooden shakes. A hexagonal cupola sits above the entry side of the church, with four pairs of round-arched, louvered vents. The exterior of the church is faced with 6" clapboards. The nine original windows are double-hung 16 over 16 pane. There are two later added windows on the rear of the church on the upstairs level. This upper level originally served as the location of a subscription-funded elementary school, open to both Lutherans and non-Lutherans.. The spaces between the studs in the walls are closed with brick noggin. The pipe organ was installed in 1884, and the cast bronze bell was installed in the cupola in 1887 P.O. 1851-date.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
The mission church was established in 1869 by John W. Warden. The first services were in the home of Judge John W. Emerson in 1870. Construction on the current building at E. Reynolds and N. Knob Street corner began in 1870, with the church complete enough to hold the first service at the end of that year. The builders were Gunton and Forster, who built the church from plans drawn up by Judge John W. Emerson. Much of the material was donated by local residents; for example hair for the plaster was collected and donated by the local barber, and the lumber and rock by other I ronton residents.

The windows were ordered from a catalog, at $250.75, and $49.50 more for the window sashes. The exterior was originally pinkish tan with brown trim, but later was changed to white with red trim. The roof is cedar shakes, and has always been plaid. It has been replaced once. The building is 23' x 60' --see the NRHP nomination for more description. The church was officially dedicated on August 3, 1879. There was apparently no minister for the church from 1908 to 1952, so the church relied on lay speakers during this period. P.O. 1858-date.

Iron County Courthouse
The courthouse was designed by Henry H. Wright, architect, and built in 1858. The cost of the building was $14,000, and was built by George F. Evans and William F. Mitchell. The original red brick building was a 2 story rectangular structure, 50 ft. x 65 ft. The style is eclectic, including elements of both Greek Revival and Italianate traditions, a combination which is known as Italianate Classicism. The Greek Revival influence can be seen in the prominent entablature with dentate band which rims the building and underscores the tympanum of the pediment, while the Italianate influence is seen in the round-arched windows, the prominent quoins, and the Vendramini window of the primary facade.

The original 1858 building has a 1964 addition on the west side. Its metal roof was replaced with asbestos shingles in 1975. During the Battle of Pilot Knob on September 25-27, 1864, the building served as both barracks and hospital for the Confederate forces. The forward Union lines skirmished with the Confederate forces around the court-house briefly on September 25, 1864, before the Union forces withdrew to Fort Davidson. In the course of this skirmish, the courthouse was damaged by both cannon and rifle fire; if one looks carefully at the eastern facade, it is still possible to see damage scars from this battle. P.O. 1858-date.

Route 72
Built East of Arcadia in the Roselle area, Route 72 is a scenic drive through a resort area. Route 72 approaches Arcadia and Ironton from the east.

*The area photographed is called "Royal Gorge."

Ursuline Academy
Arcadia High School was founded in 1846 by the Rev. Jerome C. Berryman of the Methodist Episcopal Church-South. (The Methodist Episcopal Church had split in 1844-1845 to a North and South division over the question of slave ownership by their preachers.) By 1851 Rev. Berryman had changed the name to Arcadia College. The school was sold in 1877 to the Ursuline Sisters, initially listed as the Ursuline Convent and Academy, then later as the Arcadia College and Academy of the Ursuline Sisters for Young Ladies, and later the Ursuline Academy for Young Ladies. It functioned as a school until 1971; some Ursuline Sisters stayed on running a nursery school until 1988, when that school was closed, and in 1992, the buildings were sold to a private developer (Lawrence Gwaltney).

The current buildings all date to the time of the Ursuline Sisters. One of the two buildings of the earlier Methodist Episcopal Church-South school was torn down and replaced by a new brick dining hall in 1914, and the second Methodist Episcopal Church-South building was destroyed by fire on February 9, 1917, and replaced in 1918 by the current administration building. St. Joseph's Chapel was begun in the fall of 1907, and dedicate in April of 1909 by Cardinal Glennon. The architect was Brother Anselm, O.F.M., a Franciscan friar. He modeled the chapel after St. Anthony's Church in St. Louis, according to an article at the time of the dedication in 1909. The Romanesque Revival brick style was said to have been used earlier by the St. Louis Ursulines in the 1888 Ursuline Convent built in St. Louis, so the choice of style may have been requested by the Ursuline Sisters, in conjunction with Brother Anselm. This is the most ornate building of the complex, with red brick walls with cut limestone ornamentation.

The chapel has a slate roof, with red tiles along the ridgeline, and ornamental copper finals in several locations. The bell tower also is of copper, with slate tiles, and is topped with an orb and cross which are covered with gold leaf. The central entrance is flanked by high round-arched stained glass windows, and a massive rose window directly above the doorway. The stained glass windows were done by Emil Frei Art Glass Company of St. Louis. All windows and doors of the chapel are topped with round arches, and a matching arched corbel table runs along the cornices of the main roof.

The "laundry building" was erected in 1888, and is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the complex. It is roughly 40 x 100 feet, with the main part of the building today standing 2 1/2 tall. The building originally had a flat roof, but in 1907, the second floor was added to the building, and the roof changed to a standing-seam gambrel form. The one-story extension on the south side of the building is the original height, has the original early flat roof, and retains the original small brick dentils and dog-tooth course ornamental cornice. All the door and window openings in the building are toped with segmental solider brick arches. The double-hung windows have some of the only multi-light sashes of the complex. The four panel exterior doors all appear to be original. The north wall of the building bears the marks of an early frame porch, now missing.

The gymnasium was built in 1930, and is the newest building of the complex, with some of the style elements that the St. Louis archdiocese was using in other religious structures built at this time. The entrance is flanked by pairs of windows which are topped by brick and limestone arches similar in proportion to the larger arch across the central entrance door. The door arch is accented with limestone voussoirs; those above the windows are outlined with curved limestone trim. P.O. 1841-date.

Courthouse
The first courthouse was constructed of handmade bricks in 1822, of the local 'four square' courthouse style. The 'four square style' was usually 40 to 50 ft. on side, a square or sometimes rectangular 2 story brick structure, with regularly spaced windows, and a central hall with 2, 3 or 4 entrances. This courthouse lasted until 1899, when it was torn down. In 1899, the second courthouse was begun, and construction finished in 1900. Theodore C. Link, of St. Louis, designed the building, and it was built by Lewis Miller. While the original estimate was $18,000, the final cost was $22,000. The red brick building is rectangular, 66 ft x 76 ft. P.O. 1827-date.

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
James Maxwell, from Ste. Genevieve, serviced the Fredericktown parish beginning in 1800, and also parishes in New Bourbon and Old Mines. The first church was a log cabin plastered on the inside, built by Father Henri Pratte, who had taken over at Ste. Genevieve after Fr. Maxwell had died from a horse fall in 1815. After Fr. Pratte died in 1822, Father Francis X. Dahmen, C.M. order took over Ste. Genevieve and the mission churches at St. Joachim (Old Mines) and St. Michael. The first resident pastor was Anthony Potini, C.M. in 1827.

The first frame church, 35 by 55 feet, and 20 feet high, was begun by Fr. Francis Cellini in 1829 and finished in 1831. It was built in part from recycled timbers from the 1794 log church. The brick church was built by Lewis Tucker, who had been born in Perry county, and went to the Perryville seminary for his training. The church initially had straight walls, square windows, a rounded ceiling, and elevated galleries along the side walls of the sanctuary (one loft for the choir, and one for slaves). The cost was $1722, including $377 to two local parishioners for making the brick, $92 to another local parishioner for the mortar, $119 for plaster, $180 for lumber, $42 for stonework, $465 to another local for the roof, and so on. In 1873, Fr. Tucker, who was still priest there, oversaw an addition which included almost doubling the size of the original church, and adding a small spire to the front of the church. In 1883, Benjamin A. Tannrath over saw the erection of the main alter with the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, and in 1897, Father John Rothensteiner oversaw the construction of a new tower with three bells. P.O. 1827-date.

Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot
*First Railroad Station

Constructed in 1917, this is a one-story rectangular brick building with a low-pitched hipped roof extending over the passenger waiting areas at both ends of the long axis. A limestone belt course emphasizes the buildings horizontal axis. The facade is broken by the projecting dispatcher's bay in the north half of the east elevation. The bay, which divides the building into two sections, extends five feet, and is topped by a dormer containing a decorative window with crosshatching. The bay also features a transomed triple window with a limestone keystone centered in the header, which is a flat arch consisting of one course of bricks set vertically. Another row of vertical bricks at the roofline divides the upper and lower portions of the bay. P.O. 1827-date.

Courthouse
The first courthouse was frame, built in 1823, of the local Missouri vernacular "four square" style, popular in the state from 1820 to 1860. The 'four square" style was a square, 2 story building, usually 40 to 50 ft. on a side, with regularly spaced windows and a main central hall with 2, 3 or 4 entrances. The second courthouse was brick, built along the lines of the Ironton Courthouse, and was in use from 1848 to 1885. The third courthouse was built in 1885, and continued in use until 1925. The 4th courthouse, begun in 1925 and finished in 1927, was designed by Norman B. Howard, architect, and his assistant M. C. Finley. It is of Roman Corinthian style, of Carthage and Gray Bedford limestone. It has four entrances so all business on the courthouse square face an official entrance.

County Jail and Sheriff's House
The old county jail was built in 1871, and enlarged in 1909, and only replaced as one of the oldest operating jails in the state in 1996. (It is scheduled to be developed into a City of Farmington historical museum.) The basement and ground floor of the original building are constructed of limestone, and the second floor has red brick walls. The gable roof has prominent cornice returns, and round windows are set high in each gable end. All windows are toped with segmental arches of limestone, with limestone sills, on the original building. The addition has segmental brick arches similar to the original limestone in size and shape.

Brick Ornamentation
*We don't know the age of this building, but liked the improvised ornamentation.

Cemetery
Circa 1870 the Bonne Terre Cemetery was established as the resting place for the community. Square stone gate posts stand at the entrance to the cemetery. Originally iron gates stretched between these gate posts, but they are no longer present. Most of the headstones are simple, but there are a few significant above ground monuments and mausoleums. With monuments and headstones dating back to the 1870’s this is the historic cemetery of the community. P.O. 1876-date.

Shepard House
In 1869 Albert Shepard moved to Bonne Terre as an engineer for the St. Joseph Lead Company. Circa 1870 the Shepard House was built, and is now known to be the oldest structure still standing in Bonne Terre. In 1900 the original two-story frame house was moved to its current location on Main Street, just 50 yards from its previous location on School Street. Recently the house has been used as a rooming house. Due to lack of up-keep, the house has slowly deteriorated and renovation plans are currently underway by the Old Bonne Terre Association. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's County Superintendant's House
his residence was built circa 1870 to serve as the home to the superintendent of the St. Joseph Lead Company. Around 1920 the original stone structure was completely remodeled and reshaped by the addition of 4 new wings, one for each façade. On the same lot on Oak Street are four outbuildings all built circa 1920 as well – a concrete garage, a wood barn, and wood and stucco servant’s quarters and kennel. The present owner of the house, a past superintendent, purchased the building in 1975 from the lead company. P.O. 1876-date.

Lamplight Inn
This two-story residence was built circa 1890 with a Queen Anne character. Originally the building functioned as the St. Joseph Lead Company Clubhouse. Company officials used the clubhouse as a central meeting ground until the early 20th Century. It was during the early 20th Century that the new Clubhouse was constructed and the old Clubhouse was remodeled into its current residential form. Due to lack of alterations the building has its original turn of the century character. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church Rectory
The parish of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was established in 1873 and the Rectory was constructed at a cost of $5,500 in 1881. The two-story brick, Italianate residence is located on a rectangular urban lot in a residential area. The offices and living quarters of the priest’s were housed in the Rectory and were used through the 19th century and the early 20th century. The structure of the rectory, being one of the oldest brick buildings in Bonne Terre, has not been altered and therefore retains its original appearance with Italianate detailing. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Lead Co. Masonic Hall
The present depot was built to replace one that burned in 1909. At this time it was a depot on the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway, owned by the St. Joseph's Lead Company. Special excursions were arranged by St. Joe's for its employees, and at the height of operations, 12 trains a day arrived at the depot. The depot is a 2 1/2 story frame building on ashlar foundations, with a broad, hipped roof which is sheathed in gray slate.

The building has derived queen Anne architectural style features and also the later Stick architectural style features combined, resulting in a unique vernacular design. In general, it reflects a late 19th century style of construction for small railroad stations throughout Missouri. Although constructed in 1909, it was modeled after the original 1898 depot which it replaced. It was constructed by St. Joseph Lead Company personnel. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Lead Co. Natatorium
This one story frame building was constructed circa 1890 by the St. Joseph Lead Company. The building was used to house the library and a swimming pool for employees of the company.

The library was moved circa 1905 to its current location on Main Street. The building continued to serve as the home of the swimming pool until the middle of the 20th Century when the pool was filled in with dirt. The building has been completely renovated in the 1980's and is currently an office for the Kevin Pearce Insurance Agency. P.O. 1876-date.

Harding Insurance Co. Bank
Built In 1890 the Farmers and Miners Bank was formed independently of the St. Joseph Company, to provide the residents of Bonne Terre banking facilities. This stone building was built in 1892 to hold offices and vaults for the bank.

Gradually the St. Joseph Company acquired a significant portion of stock in the bank and the name was changed to the ‘Farmers and Miners Trust Company.’ In 1913 the St. Joseph Company decided to close the bank due to close competition in the area. Recently the site has been used as offices for the St. Joseph Company and various commercial businesses. P.O. 1876-date.

Morgan Mill Furniture
The Moran Brothers Mill, a two-story industrial frame building, was constructed between 1894 and 1900. The mill originally supplied flour and was known as the Moran and Kieth Roller Mills. The mill was built as a steam powered engine and was eventually converted to electricity. The mill has been closed since the middle of the 20th Century. There are no current plans for the mill, but the structure still remains in the same original form today. P.O. 1876-date.

Chat Conveyor Foundation
Erected between 1915 and 1927, the chat conveyor was built to transport the chat from an old mining area to its present location in an abandoned industrial area. The structure of the conveyor consists of reinforced concrete and steep piers which supported the steep conveyor. Rising to over one-hundred feet (100’) in the air, the conveyor was over six-hundred feet (600’) in length.

The chat pile itself consists of loose sandstone and other granules of rock formed into the shape of a large oval. It rose to its current height of over one-hundred-fifty feet (150’) sometime between the early 1920’s and early 1960’s. P.O. 1876-date.

Fire Station
Designated at Hose House #4 this one-story brick building was constructed circa 1900. The fire station was built by the St. Joseph Lead Company and contained only one fire truck and safety equipment. The original wood double doors on the front façade is the only form of fenestration on the building. Originally serving as a fire station for this particular part of Bonne Terre, the building is now used as a garage. P.O. 1876-date.

Accounting Building
This brick building was constructed between the years of 1900 and 1908 to serve as the main office for the Bonne Terre Farming and Cattle Company. The Cattle Company was an offspring of the St. Joseph Lead Company developed in 1881 to handle holdings such as lands, homes and cattle.

In the mid 1920’s the building was redesigned to house the offices for the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railroad Company. Recently the building was converted into an accounting firm. Despite these turnovers of ownership the building still retains a significant amount of its Romanesque design. P.O. 1876-date.

Condo Heights Apartments
Built around 1905, this building has a strong Queen Anne influence. Located on a rectangular, urban lot this building originally served as offices for the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railroad Company. The building remained for commercial use throughout the early 20th Century and then was converted into apartments for residential use.

With the exception of the frame door at the entrance, the building remains unaltered. P.O. 1876-date.

Conway House
Located on Main Street in a residential area, this house is one of oldest residences in the area. The two-story frame house was constructed between 1900 and 1908 on a stone foundation. This house, known as the Conway House, has not been significantly altered since its construction. P.O. 1876-date.

Library
There has been a library in use in Bonne Terre since 1867, but it wasn’t until 1905 that the book collection was moved to its current permanent location on Main Street.

In the early part of 1905 Dwight A. Jones, with the help of a few others, created a memorial library association. Later that year he had the Bonne Terre Memorial Library built as a memorial to his father. The one-story structure is built out of limestone. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church
This one-story Gothic Revival style church was built circa 1910 with concrete block construction.

A woman by the name of Emily Conover helped to organized St. Peters Episcopal Church in 1910 with a small congregation. Either later in 1910 or in 1911 the current church structure was built as a place of worship. The same church building serves the congregation today. P.O. 1876-date.

First Congregational Church
The first church in 1878 was founded as a non-denominational Protestant church, and was named the Christian Union Church of Bonne Terre. In 1887 the name was changed to the First Congregational Church of Bonne Terre, but the actual building that stands today was not erected until 1911.

The Gothic and Tudor style church is a duplicate of a church that Mr.Charles B. Parsons visited on a trip to Europe. Mr.Parsons was the superintendent of St. Joseph Company in 1908 and donated the money for the church to be built. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Clubhouse
Recently remodeled as a bed and breakfast, this building was originally built in 1915 to serve as the St. Joseph Clubhouse. The clubhouse was designed for use by company officials as a meeting area and a place to welcome visitors. There are several meeting halls for the business related activities that took place, as well as numerous guest rooms and dining halls for the visitors to stay in while in town. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Clubhouse Carriage House
Constructed in 1916, the purpose of the building was to serve as the carriage house for the adjacent St. Joseph Clubhouse. Housed on a rectangular, urban lot of the south edge of Bonne Terre, the building was originally used to house the servants of the clubhouse, as well as the horses, carriages and automobiles of visitors in the early history of the clubhouse. The two-story section served as the living quarters while the adjacent one-story wing held three garage openings. The building is currently the home of a permanent, private residence, and in 1970 a shed roof and a carport were added to the south façade. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church
The parish was established in 1872, as a mission church of Old Mines. In 1879, Edward J. Dempsey was named the first pastor of a frame first church, which burned in that year. In 1881, a second church was built for $3,000 on land donated by Desloge Lead Company, perhaps also ministered by Father Edward J. Dempsey. In 1885 the first parish school was built, and in 1888 the priest's resident was built by Father Michael C. Walsh. This second church was essentially abandoned in 1906 when a new church was started under Rev. M. T. Sevcik. This church was not completed until 1916. The basement of the church was finished the first year, and services were held in it until the upper portions of the church could be finished. A second school replaced the old one on same location in 1921. The rectory was not changed. P.O. 1876-date.

Post Office
The Bonne Terre Post Office was built in 1917 at its current location on Main Street. In 1890’s and early into the 1900’s the post office was located on the same site where it lies today, but in a different building. At the time the post office was in the Shepard House. The U.S. Government came into the community in 1916 and determined that a modern post office needed to be constructed. The government acquired the land that the post office was located on and moved the original building, the Shepard House, to its present location on Allen Street. Once the Allen House was relocated construction on the new post office began, and by 1918 it was open for service. Today this building continues to serve the community. P.O. 1876-date.

Centenary United Methodist Church
Organized in 1882, the Centenary Methodist Church congregation has worshipped in several locations. It was not until 1918 that the one-story church was built and the congregation received a permanent home. Built in Colonial Revival style the church has needed and received exterior refinishing in recent years. Services are still held in this original building. P.O. 1876-date.

St. Joseph's Catholic School
This two-story, brick school building was built in 1922 on a rectangular, urban lot which was large for the day, in a residential setting. The St. Joseph Catholic School, designed to serve as a compliment to St. Joseph Catholic Church, was built as a replacement for a school formerly located on the same site. The building contains an auditorium, cafeteria and five classrooms and continues in use today. The school has not been extensively altered and retains it’s original décor to this day. P.O. 1876-date.

First Baptist Church
Organized in 1888, Bonne Terre Baptist Church was constructed in 1926 with a Colonial Revival influence with the help of Pastor J.B. Ragsdale. The other building on the lot located on School Street is an educational building that was built in 1953. The interior of the church has an open arrangement supported by columns throughout. The original alter, baptism pool, and stained glass windows still remain. P.O. 1876-date.

Masonic Lodge
This two and one-half story building lies on a triangular lot at the corner of Main and Church Streets. The brick building was constructed in 1927 by the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons Samaritan Lodge Number 424 under the direction of Anthony Ittner. Ittner was the Grand Master of the Samaritan Temple in 1927. Today the building continues to house Bonne Terre’s Masonic Lodge Hall. P.O. 1876-date.

Heritage Hall
*The stonework below the windows is actually improvised from concrete.

Krjarch (talk) 22:58, 6 December 2010 (UTC)