Stutz Building (Fountain on Locust)

The Stutz Building, which now houses the Fountain on Locust, opened in 1916 within the city's burgeoning "Auto Row District." The automobile dealer Leach-Brouster & Company served as the building's first occupant, but Supreme Motor Company, a Stutz dealer, replaced them within the first two years and remained in the building until 1924. In 1925, the Southwest Nash Company moved into the building, followed by Renderer-Rengers Buick from 1932 to 1934, both of which used the space for their used car departments. As the impact of the St. Louis's Auto Row district faded, the Stutz building's connection to the auto industry faded and the building briefly housed a Chevrolet dealership before a tire company used the space until World War II. By the 1950s, the building served as office space with companies like Dale Chemicals and the Coca-Cola advertising department using the historic building.

From 1911 to 1955, the Auto Row district supported a multitude of early automotive distribution, sales, and service properties on Olive and Locust Streets. By the mid-1910s, Locust Street served as the epicenter of Automobile Row, with numerous automotive-related businesses operating. 

Before evolving into Automobile Row during the 1910s, the area primarily functioned as a residential neighborhood. From the 1850s to the 1880s, an abundance of residences moved west from downtown St. Louis into what became the Automotive District. The arrival of the Grand Avenue Railway Company in 1867 and, later, a streetcar line helped the area develop into an urban residential neighborhood known as "Midtown," which supported numerous shops, hotels, theaters, and bicycle shops. 

Even as late as 1909, Locust Street remained mainly residential, but a change was on the horizon; automotive shops and dealers began to appear by 1911, interwoven with such commercial enterprises as grocers, printers, pharmacies, saloons, and hotels. Efforts to widen streets in the region made the area increasingly automobile friendly. In 1917, the newly formed St. Louis City Plan Commission proposed a plan to widen many of the city's streets to reduce traffic and congestion, especially in areas where urban expansion had rapidly overtaken former residential areas. By the time bond issues passed in the 1920s, Locus Street had already supported numerous automotive industry establishments.

In 1915, three years before Supreme Motor Company moved into the building to sell Stutz Cars, Stutz became one of the first automobiles to have a motor with four valves per cylinder. By the late teens, it gained fame for its racing sports cars. The story began in 1911 when Henry C. Stutz founded the Ideal Motor Car Company in Indianapolis and subsequently entered a car in the Indy 500, which placed 11th. The next year, Stutz renamed the company after himself and began selling high-performance roadsters such as the Stutz Bearcat. 

However, Stutz struggled to make enough profit to run the company independently, so he sold the company in 1919, roughly one year after the St. Louis dealership opened. By 1922, three investors took control of the Stutz company, including Charles M. Schwab. Under their direction, the car maker shifted away from race cars and instead developed safety cars. Stutz vehicles featured safety glass, a low center of gravity for better handling, better transmissions, and eventually a 32-valve V8, one of the earliest multi-valve engines. Still, the Stutz company enjoyed speed, setting the world record in 1927 for averaging 68 mph for 24 hours. The following year, a Stutz finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the best outcome for an American car until 1966. Stutz set another speed record at Daytona, reaching 106.53 mph, and the company placed fifth at Le Mans in 1929. 

Regardless, the dealer had shifted to safety cars for its sales during the 1920s. And, the dealership in St. Louis moved out of the historic building in 1924 during that change in corporate philosophy. Records are insufficient as to why they left, so one can only wonder if the shift in focus hurt sales or not. In the end, Stutz is synonymous with speed and sportiness, but the company also produced large touring cars, sedans, and limousines with wheelbases as long as thirteen feet. The company folded in 1935 during the heart of the Great Depression. 

Although the Nash and Buick dealerships used the building after Stutz departed, they used the space for their used car departments. Nevertheless, it speaks to the impact of the Auto Row district on car sales. Both Nash and Buick enjoy distinct and impactful histories, both in car culture and the engineering and designs of automobiles. Buick also developed General Motors. (The building that housed the Nash dealership (new cars) still stands on historic Auto Row, but the Buick dealership, sadly, was demolished years ago.)

During the early 1930s, diminished commercial activity along Locust reflected the nationwide economic struggles known as the Great Depression. Many businesses closed, while several automotive parts and service companies diversified their product selection to stay in business. By 1932, businesses alongside automotive stores included a restaurant, a sign company, a printer, and a telephone company. Automotive-related businesses enjoyed growth after World War II, but Automotive Row by then supported both car-related businesses and operations without connections to the automobile industry. 

Moreover, dealerships slowly moved away from Automotive Row after the war as automobile dealers required modern facilities. The dealers had to compete with Packard and "the Big Three" (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors), which required that dealerships offer more to customers, including large showrooms, multiple models on display, financing capabilities, and a full-service area. Such demands required that buildings be constructed significantly larger and located in prime locations that Locust Street could not provide. Still, during the '40s and '50s, auto repair shops, paint and body shops, supply stores, and service stations remained in business and thrived. 

In 1936, the Stutz building housed the Central Chevrolet Company for a short time before Johnson Motors, Inc. occupied the building in 1937-1938. The building served as the home to the World Tire Company from 1941-42 and 1944-48 (otherwise, it stood vacant). By the 1950s, the building no longer acted as a part of the auto industry, serving cleaning compound manufacturers for a spell and then acting as the home to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company's advertising department. Today, the Fountain on Locust restaurant occupies the space. The restaurant includes the Auto Row and Stutz history in its website's "about" section, connecting the restaurant and modern-day Locust Street with its historic, automobile-focused past.

Fountain on Locust. Accessed September 26, 2022. https://www.fountainonlocust.com/story.

Jones, Devry Becker "Stutz Building: Built in 1918." Historical Marker Database. HMdb.org. May 3, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=133100.

Keenov, Ruth, Karen Bode Baxter, Timothy P. Malonev, and Mandv K. Ford. "Registration Form: Locust Street Automotive District." National Register of Historic Places. mostateparks.com. 2005. 

"Stutz: The Rise and Fall of the Early American Sports Car Manufacturer." RM Sotherbys. rmsotherbys.com. Accessed September 26, 2022. https://rmsothebys.com/blog-editorial-videos/blog-editorial-videos/stutz-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-early-american-sports-car-manufacturer/. See Section 8-34: "Leach-Brouster and Company Building."