Joseph and Elizabeth Wallendorf House

One of the few two-story, dogtrot-style log buildings from the 19th century remaining in Cole County, the Joseph and Elizabeth Wallendorf House is significant for its association with local German immigrant history and the Civil War. The home's large size is also notable as the majority of log houses of the period in Missouri were significantly smaller. The Wallendorfs built the house in the 1830s, possibly around 1830. During the Civil War, Confederate Major General Sterling Price (and Missouri governor from 1853 to 1857) occupied the house for two days in October 1864. Today the house, which was moved here in 2004, operates as museum and features artifacts, displays and short videos. It is open for tours by appointment through the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Wallendorf Family

When the Wallendorf family immigrated to America from Germany is unclear. The earliest known record of them is a list of all Catholics in the area that dates to 1838. However, it is possible that the house was built as early as 1830 based on the large size of the logs used to build it. Joseph and Elizabeth had six children, two girls and four boys. They appear to have first settled in the town of Westphalia before relocating to a farm seven miles from Jefferson City near present-day West Edgewood Drive. It is unknown if they were the first owners of the property. The family raised poultry and hogs to sell on the market and Joseph worked as a carpenter as well. They attended church in Westphalia until St. Peter's Church was built in Jefferson City.

The property remained in the family until the 1970s. In the early 2000s, the house was under threat of demolition to make room for commercial development on Edgewood Drive. To prevent this from happening, in late 2004 the Missouri Farm Bureau decided to move the house to its current location and restore it, a process that was completed in 2007. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

General Sterling Price

In the summer of 1864, General Price was ordered to capture Missouri for the Confederacy. Known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Expedition, the plan was to seize control of Jefferson City and hold elections with previously exiled Confederate politicians. Sterling assumed that many Missourians supported the southern cause and would join him. His force was originally an army of 12,000 soldiers but they were sent to the western theater. As a result, the invasion became a cavalry raid instead. The raid, which lasted until December, ultimately failed. It was the last large-scale Confederate campaign west of the Mississippi River of the war.

Price and his cavalry arrived near Jefferson City in early October and occupied the Wallendorf house. It was here that he decided not to attack the city after learning it was reinforced and well defended. This angered former Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds, who was at the house when Price made the decision (Reynolds would probably have been elected governor if the attack had been successful). Apparently, despite being against slavery, the family treated Price respectfully and according to the family history, he paid them $27 for his stay. The family kept and later displayed the walnut bed on which he slept.

Beetem, Jane Rodes. "Joseph and Elizabeth Wallendorf House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. April 4, 2008. https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/media/63818678/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MO/08000253.pdf.

"Log Home" Missouri Farm Bureau. Accessed April 27, 2022. https://mofb.org/education/log-home.

"Price's Missouri Raid of 1864." The Civil War in Missouri. Accessed April 27, 2022. http://civilwarmo.org/educators/resources/info-sheets/prices-missouri-raid-1864.

"Wallendorf, Joseph and Elizabeth House, Jefferson City, MO." Waymarking. Accessed April 27, 2022. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm8MPV_Wallendorf_Joseph_and_Elizabeth_House_Jefferson_City_MO.

Yokley, Shannon. "The Wallendorf House." Jefferson City Magazine. January 5, 2021. https://jeffersoncitymag.com/the-wallendorf-house.