Grim Building

In 1904, brothers Ezra and Edward Grim commissioned St. Louis architect Albert B. Jones to design this structure to hold their Kirksville medical practice. The building was completed the following year and contained rooms for offices as well as operating and examining rooms. The brothers were also instrumental in efforts to construct a hospital in Kirksville. The building has been well-preserved and offers a fine example of Jacobethan Revival style.

The Grim House, designed by notable architect Albert Bartleton Groves, was home to the Grim brothers' medical practice in Kirksville between its completion in 1905 and the death of Edward Grim in 1936. In addition, the two brothers led efforts to construct Kirksville's hospital on East Patterson Street in 1909. Today used as an office building, the structure is a notable example of the Jacobethan Revival style of architecture, something rare beyond major cities.

The more notable of the brothers, Dr. Ezra C. Grim, graduated in 1895 as valedictorian of his college (now known as Truman State University) with a degree in Scientific Didactics. He subsequently got his medical degree in 1901 as he was interning at a local hospital. After the construction of the Grim Building in 1905, Ezra went into practice with his brother Edward. His work, however, was halted with the coming of World War I, where he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps from December 1917 to June 1919. He returned to work shortly after. In addition to his medical career, he partnered with Northeast Missouri State Teachers College to establish a nurse training program, acting as an administrator. He died on May 26th, 1943 but his legacy lived on through his children, including Sarah Grim who served as the head of the Teachers College Nursing Program in the 1950s and 1960s.

“1905 - Grim Building - Kirksville, Missouri.” Waymarking.com, 20 June 2013, https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHBPK_1905_Grim_Building_Kirksville_Missouri.

Board of Regents, and Campus Physician. “Dr. Ezra C. Grim.” Exhibits.truman.edu, http://exhibits.truman.edu/biographies/ezra-clarence-grim/. 

March, David D. “National Registry of Historic Places: Grim Building.” Https://Mostateparks.com/, 23 Mar. 1979, https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Grim%20Building.pdf.