Tag Archives: Columbia Missourian

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2013 Most Notable Properties Highlights

In case you missed it, here are links to coverage of the February 2013 announcement of six historic sites named to the Columbia Most Notable Properties List by the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission.

Qualifications for being named to the list include the property being older than 50 years, within Columbia’s city limits and highlights the historical or architectural influences in Columbia. To learn more about the Most Notable Properties criteria, check out this publication by the city.

The 2013 properties are as follows:

920 Cherry St. — Niedermeyer Apartments, circa 1837, with additions in 1902.

110 S. Ninth St. — Booche’s, circa 1925.

511 E. Rollins St., Pi Beta Phi Missouri Alpha Chapter House, 1930.

1411 Anthony St. – Arthur and Susie Buchroeder House, circa 1906. Dutch Colonial revival-style

703 Ingleside Drive, W.J. and Clara Lhamon House, 1926.

916 W. Stewart Road — Claude and Stella Woolsey House, circa 1930.

To read more about the properties, here are links to media coverage of the properties.

Feb. 5, 2013 – Columbia’s 2013 Most Notable Properties. Six properties, including a business rather than a property per se, were named to the Columbia Most Notable Properties list. Columbia Missourian article.

Feb. 5, 2013 – Commission to honor city’s notable properties: Six buildings to be recognized. Columbia Daily Tribune article.

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Free Food and History

Even history buffs like me enjoy some perks from time to time. The public unveiling of the 2013 Most Notable Properties on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, includes hors d’oeuvres — yes, free food. Get more information and RSVP at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MN2013

The event is sponsored by the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Columbia. It will be held at 7 p.m. preceded by light appetizers. The event will be in the Historic Daniel Boone Building Lobby, which has recent under gone an amazing renovation itself. It is at 701 East Broadway, Columbia, Mo.

Why attend? This is where the year’s newest additions to the city’s Most Notable Properties list are announced, the property owners accept the honors and you have an opportunity to get to know more about Columbia and the properties that mark the city’s history. Last properties named to the list have included the “Gingerbread house,” at 121 N. West Blvd., brick streets and even Columbia Cemetery.

This Columbia Missourian article of Feb. 6, 2012, “Six properties to be honored by Columbia’s Historic Preservation Commission,” covers last year’s event, honoring the Arrowhead Motel, Calvary Cemetery, Harry Satterlee Bill and Florence Henderson Home, Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority House, Missouri Hall at Columbia College, and the Columbia Telephone Building, which now houses CenturyLink.

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1601 Stoney Brook Place

Accuracy counts, even in small things. I am a journalist and recently learned the correct address for the home at 1601 Stoney Brook Place. Other accounts listed the house at 1601 Stoney Brook Ave., Drive and other designation.

So why update it? Because the purpose of this website is to provide accurate information on historic homes in Columbia so that people can become aware of the history all around them and perhaps even visit these sites. The correct address is crucial for that.

So now for the background on the house at 1601 Stoney Brook Place. It is reputed to be the oldest home in Boone County. It started out as Boone County’s “poor farm,” a place for the sick or indigent.

You can see this historic home here on OldHouses.com, a site dedicated to “celebrating the glory of historic homes.” This house is not currently for sale, but is in the archives of this site. A picture accompanies this article published on Feb. 4, 2008 by the Columbia Missourian, marking it being named to the Notable Properties list. Note the article refers to the address as 1601 Stoney Brook Ave., however, Boone County Assessor’s Office records refer to it as 1601 Stoney Brook Place.

This home was built in 1864 according to materials provided by the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission, however, another source notes it was built in 1854. It was named to the Columbia Most Notable Properties list in 2008 — the 100th such designation.

According to information provided by the city of Columbia: ”The land was purchased in 1854 by the court from Murdock and Anne Garrett to establish a county infirmary or poor farm for the county’s indigent citizens. The infirmary was erected in 1864 and was maintained by the county until 1898 when the land property was sold to J.B. Turner. This property represents the 100th selection of Most Notable Property by the Historic Preservation Commission.”

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Two homes saved, others in danger?

An article in the Columbia Missourian’s August 11, 2011 issue of Vox magazine highlighted two historic homes that were saved.

One of the houses featured is the John W. “Blind” Boone House at 10 N. Fourth St., set to become a museum.

The other is the Taylor House at 716 W. Broadway. Today it is a bed and breakfast.

In the case of the house on Fourth Street, the home was saved because it was the home of the famous ragtime musician John W. “Blind” Boone. Supporters saved the house for historic reasons. In the other case, the function of the house at 716 W. Broadway was changed but the home was saved. No longer a single family home, the beauty and integrity of this house lives on.

However, some homes do not survive. For example, where the Missouri Theatre now stands once stood a house occupied by the cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln. Few would argue we should have kept the house to forgo the development of downtown with a beautify movie palace such as the Missouri Theatre, which has recently been leased by MU.

Yet, a phone call tells another story. Curtis Stafford called me and identified himself as the owner of 303 St. Joseph, outraged that a nearby house at 308 St. Joseph is slated for demolition. I went to see the house. I don’t know whether it should be razed or not, but the loss of homes in the area could endanger the streetscape — the feeling — of the street. St. Joseph street is just a few blocks from Orr Street, where as Stafford put it, and the street has an “art vibe.” Stafford said, “These are great single family homes,” and he’d like to see the area remain as it is.

But not all old homes are worth saving.

I don’t know if this home is worth saving or not, but I do know that in Columbia, demolishing a historic home is not easy. All demolition requests are routed through Columbia’s Public Works Department. Requests to demolish an older home, older than 50 years old, are reviewed by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and if the house is deemed a significant property, the Commission works with the owners of the property to see if it can be saved.

For now, the house still exists. Should it be saved?

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Demolition of four 90-plus-year-old homes planned

Should historic homes be demolished to accommodate the growth of Columbia?

As Columbia grows, it will face more and more such questions, just as it has in the past. The Missouri Theatre, built in 1928, displaced the home that was once there. Now, there are four homes built from 1900-1915 that will probably be demolished to accommodate the building of new apartment buildings. Jon and Nathan Odle have requested a rezoning permit for the area.

An article published on Dec. 16, 2010 in the Columbia Missourian states the construction would “displace four homes, a grassy field and an existing parking lot.” Displaced means torn down, destroyed, razed. As a member of a city commission wondered aloud at a recent meeting, will the new apartments be built to stand the test of time, as have these Victorian homes?

The homes are at 113 College, built 1900, 1211 E. Walnut, built 1915 and 1215 E. Walnut Street, built 1900. Some comments on the Columbia Missourian site showed residents would welcome one of the houses being destroyed, calling the pink house ugly.

But is that what we want? Victorian homes, even ugly ones, demolished?

Some old Victorians can become what are called “Painted ladies,” renovated and spruced up. They can even become tourist draws, such as those in San Francisco.

On the other hand, an old house sometimes is just an old house.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/12/16/rezoning-commercial-and-residential-property/

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Heibel-March Building at 900-902 Range Line faces opportunity

Built in 1927, the Heibel-March Building now faces a possible new life as the headquarters for Legacy Construction. The building was named to Columbia’s Notable Properties list in 2005.

Below is a newspaper article that outlines the current possibility for the building.

Dec. 8, 2010, Historic Preservation Commission endorses Heibel-March purchase, Columbia Daily Tribune.

Dec. 7, 2010, Historic Preservation Commission votes to keep Heibel-March Building alive, Columbia Missourian.

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IBM-like support in 1906 – Hamilton-Brown Shoe Factory, 1123 Wilkes Blvd.

Last week, a May 18, 2010, article in the Columbia Missourian outlined a list of what it called unprecedented incentives provided to IBM to get it to open a service center in Columbia.

Those incentives, outlined by newspaper articles, include $28 million in tax credit incentives from the state as well as a city agreement to buy the building for $3.2 million and lease it to IBM for $1 (yes, one dollar) per year for 10 years. In return, IBM has promised to employ 600 to 800 people and stay for 10 years.

But this is not the first time a company has gotten help to locate in Columbia, nor a company promised to employ 600 workers and to stay here. The Hamilton-Brown Shoe Factory building at 1123 Wilkes Blvd., in Columbia, Missouri is an example of a similar, though less expensive, venture.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission’s Notable Properties List.

This historical building got its start in 1906, when the Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company contacted the newly formed Columbia Commerical Club, which would go on to become the Chamber of Commerce. At this time, all of the major shoe companies in St. Louis were seeking to open plants in smaller towns to save on labor costs. During this time period, St. Louis was the center of the world’s shoe manufacturing and Hamilton-Brown was the largest shoe manufacturer in the world.

The Columbia’s plant would be the company’s first foray outside of St. Louis.

To land this industrial plum, the Columbia Commerical Club had to agree to raise funds to buy the land and the factory and to install a railroad siding to serve the new factory. For its part, Hamilton-Brown agreed to operate the factory and keep a certain number of employees working for at least 10 years. At the end of that time period, the Commerical Club would sign the building over to the shoe company.

The Columbia Commercial Club raised the necessary funds, about $60,000, in roughly two months, to Alan R. Havig in his book 1984 book, “From Southern Village to Midwestern City: Columbia, An Illustrated History.”

In today’s dollars, $60,000 would be worth roughly $1.5 million in 2009 dollars, according to the website measuringworth.com, which is derived from Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson publication, “Purchasing Power of Money in the United States from 1774 to 2010,” MeasuringWorth, 2009. URL http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/

For a while, it was more or less a success, although it never met its promise of employing 600 workers.

It operated from 1907 until 1939, when it earned another note in history as the only large company in Columbia to close its doors permanently during the Depression.

Even before then, the company had had its problems.  

In 1916, the Columbia Missourian published a “scathing review of working conditions and quoted a nurse as saying, “Tuberculous persons should not be permitted to work in the factory because they spit on the floor and other inhale the germs with dust and become infected with the disease … I never saw so much careless expectoration as there is in the shoe factory. While I saw many signs warning the workers to be careful with their work, I did not see one warning them against spitting on the floor. I do not see how human beings can stand it. When I visited the factory in December the air was sickening,” according to the NRHP document.

Soon after, a new factory manager W.H. Braselton was brought in and the work day was cut from 10 hours to nine and workers received a 5 percent pay increase.

By 1917, things had improved and the Columbia Commerical Club determined the company had met its agreement and signed over the deed for the factory to Hamilton-Brown, according to the NRHP form.

In 1920, Braselton also gave the employees what the NRHP document calls a “surprising bonus” — a 10-day paid vacation. He denied it was due to a lack of work. Yet, documents show a year later, the workforce had fallen 50 percent, and in April 1921, only 178 workers were on the payroll. Work did rebound, however, and in 1923, the workforce stood at 369, who turned out an average of 2,000 to 3,000 pairs of shoes each day, notes the NRHP document.

After the shoe factory closed in 1939, the building continued in use for manufacturing into the early 1960s, for manufacturing wooden airplane propellers during World War II and then by the Ar-Cel Garment Factory.

Today, the building has been completely renovated and is owned by Atkins Investments and operates as an office complex.

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Built by a cabinet maker’s apprentice – Taylor House – 716 W. Broadway

If you’ve driven past the Taylor House Inn at 716 W. Broadway, you’ve driven by a piece of history nearly forgotten today.

No, it’s not contained in the 1909 Colonial Revival home itself, although that is impressive, especially after its $1.3 million renovation in 1999 by Deborah and Robert Tucker.

It is the fact that this two and one-half story home of roughly 7,000 square feet was built by a man who attended school only through the age of 12, when he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker. Today, the age of being apprenticed to someone is long gone.

The story of John Newton Taylor and his wife Elizabeth F. Reed of Huntsville is told in the National Register of Historic Places. The home was placed on the Register on May 25, 2001 and named to Columbia’s Historical Preservation Commission’s List of Notable Properties in 2002.

716 W. Broadway, Taylor House, photograph courtesy of Columbia's Historic Preservation Commission and FitzImages Photography

716 W. Broadway, Taylor House, photograph courtesy of Columbia's Historic Preservation Commission and FitzImages Photography

Born in Pennsylvania, John Taylor  moved to Iowa and worked as a cabinet-maker. There he married Lida Stroup and they moved to Huntsville in Randolph County, Missouri. They went on to have four children, but she died in 1886 and he married Huntsville, native Elizabeth F. Reed in 1890. They went on to have seven children.

The Taylors built their house in 1909. John Taylor had piano and furniture stores in several mid-Missouri towns, including Columbia and gradually he went into the automobile business, even acquiring the local Dodge dealership before the car was even on the market, according to the NRHP nomination form. In 1917, Taylor ran an ad in the Boone County Atlas proclaiming himself a wholesale and retail dealer in pianos and automobiles, the document notes.

Taylor also served on the board of directors for the Columbia Commercial Club, the nomination form notes, and the Taylor House Inn website states he was on the Columbia City Council and the Stephens College Board of Directors.

By his death in 1932 at age 83, he was a prominent businessman. His obituary was printed on the front page of the local newspaper with a photograph, the nomination form states, and the mayor and city council all attended. City employees were even given time off for the funeral, the document continues — noting his son Thomas Taylor was a city councilman at the time.

More information on the history of the Taylors, including photographs, is available on the Taylor Home Inn website.

After his death, wife Elizabeth continued to live in the house with her daughter Eleanor, who was then an assistant professor at the University of Missouri. In 1935, Elizabeth had the house divided into a tri-plex and continued to live in the home. Elizabeth also developed the surrounding acreage.

As the years passed, the house passed out of the Taylor family and fell into some disrepair.

Then, in 1999, Deborah and Robert Tucker, then owners of Tucker’s Jewelry, renovated the home, converting it into a beautiful bed and breakfast. You can take a tour of the home as it is today via the Taylor Home Inn website.

The home also has been featured on HGTV, and the video highlights the home, its renovation and historical finds the Tuckers came upon.

The home was also featured in a January 13, 2010 Columbia Missourian article on an effort to have a section of West Broadway placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

All this in a home built by someone who only attended school through the age of 12 and then went on to become a cabinet-maker. Yes, historical homes do tell us about who were were and, in this case, with his automobile business, where we went.