Old Stagecoach Stop House Museum

Originally built in 1854 by William W. McDonald, the Old Stagecoach Stop House Museum is the oldest building in Pulaski County. It features ten restored rooms that reflect specific periods in the building's history. Guides dressed in period clothing offer tours of the house and visitors are allowed to handle some original artifacts on display. McDonald was a veteran of the Mexican-American War and served as county clerk, circuit clerk, and postmaster. During the Civil War, the house was used occupied by Union troops and used as a hospital. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

William W. McDonald was born on March 24, 1821 in St. Louis County, Missouri. He was the oldest of five children (he had two brothers and two sisters). His father, James A. McDonald (b. 1783), operated sawmills in Gasconade County and may have been a road commissioner as well. It appears James' family immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland when he was young and settled in Pennsylvania. The family moved to Nelson County, Kentucky and acquired around 1,000 acres. They moved again in 1796 to what is now St. Louis County, Missouri. The McDonalds were involved in variety of business activities. They owned slaves and hired them out, farmed, built roads, worked as surveyors, built courthouses, and as noted above, operated sawmills.

After war broke out between the U.S. and Mexico in 1846, William joined the Second Missouri Mounted Rifles. In exchange service in the army, the federal government offered soldiers 160 acres in newly acquired western lands. William was a member of Company C and was responsible for caring for horses and mules. The company's commander was John C. Dent, whose sister was married to General Ulysses S. Grant.

After the war, William settled in Pulaski County sometime between 1848 and 1850 and acquired his 160 acres. He married, had a daughter, and, unhappy with farming, he and his wife Mary moved to Waynesville by 1852 (sadly, their daughter died a year after she was born). It appears he became county clerk and circuit clerk that year as well. Two years later William built the original part of the house, a log cabin, as a stagecoach hotel on the St. Louis to Springfield route. The route's usage increased during the Civil War as it was a key corridor for the Union Army to transport supplies and troops to southwest Missouri and Arkansas. The army took over the hotel for use as hospital. Over time, William enlarged the house and it seems to have reached its present size by around 1885. William served as circuit clerk until 1865 and as county clerk until 1864, and as postmaster from 1856 to 1859.

The stagecoach lined ceased running when a railroad was built through the county after the war. The hotel continued to operate however, and was also used as a boarding house. Subsequent owners remodeled and added two rooms on the back of the building. In 1884 it was renamed as the Black Hotel. It survived in part because of the town's status as the county seat. The establishment of Route 66 helped the hotel and Waynesville as well during the 1920s and 1930s.

The town received a big boost in 1941 when Fort Leonard Wood was established. The hotel was used to board troops who couldn't sleep at the fort due to lack of space. After the war, the hotel became vacant but was briefly revived in the early 1960s during the Vietnam War. However it was in poor shape and closed in the mid-1960s. The city condemned it in 1982 and it was set to be torn down. Fortunately, two local couples bought it and an organization that operates and maintains the museum, the Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation, was established in 1983 to begin restoring it.

Dillon, Roger. "Old Stagecoach Stop." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. November 24, 1980. https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/media/63820031/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MO/80002391.pdf.

"The Old Stagecoach Stop." Old Stagecoach Stop House Museum. Accessed June 9, 2022. http://oldstagecoachstop.org/thebuildings.html.

Primas, Terry. "Doorways to the Past: The Story of the Old Stagecoach Stop and the Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation Waynesville, Missouri." The Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation. 2022. http://oldstagecoachstop.org/Doorways%20webfinal.pdf.

"W.W. McDonald." Old Stagecoach Stop House Museum. Accessed June 9, 2022. http://oldstagecoachstop.org/WW/WW1.html.

Winchel, Carrie. "Daybreak on the Road: Old Stagecoach Stop in Waynesville, Missouri." May 18, 2022. https://www.ozarksfirst.com/daybreak-on-the-road/daybreak-on-the-road-old-stagecoach-stop-in-waynesville-missouri.