Construction began in 1871 and took only 8 months to complete. Inmates from the nearby Missouri State Penitentiary built the house. Originally it had 13 bedrooms and no closets or bathrooms. During the past 50 years or so, first lady's have led efforts to restore and preserve the building and its furnishings. In the late 1970s,&nbsp;First Lady Carolyn Bond started the Docent Program, where volunteers dress up in era clothing and lead tours. The most recent renovations took place in 2008.

Postcard of the Missouri Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City, c. 1908
Image courtesy of the Missouri State Museum

Postcard of the Missouri Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City c. 1945.
Image courtesy of the Missouri State Museum

Missouri Governor's Mansion, undated photo.
Courtesy of the Missouri State Museum.

Website

Includes Mansion tour times, a link for making a tour reservation, and pre-tour information for visi

Built in 1871, the Missouri Governor's Mansion is located near the state capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. The first governor to take up residence there was Benjamin Gratz Brown (in office from January 1871-January 1873). It was designed by English native George Ingham Barnett in the Second Empire style, which was popular at the time. The style is distinguished by the use of a steep roof, which allows for another living space on the top floor. The home was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Missouri Governor's Mansion

This tour of Missouri's capital city starts at Lincoln University and includes over two dozen landmarks including the state penitentiary, capitol building, and governor's mansion, as well as many local landmarks such as the William Porth House. Other tour highlights include the Jefferson Landing, Cole County Historical Society, and a cluster of historic homes at the end of the tour. 

History of Jefferson City Missouri Driving Tour

This tour starts at a pair of historic homes and the Missouri State Archives and includes numerous landmarks including monuments and historic houses, the State Capitol, several museums, a temple, a courthouse and the state penitentiary. Stop for a milkshake at an old-time soda fountain in a drugstore,  explore numerous historic buildings, and enjoy a relatively short walk which was designed to follow the Missouri River.

Jefferson City along the Missouri River Walking Tour

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Missouri became a state in 1820, and the state legislature subsequently decided on Jefferson City (then Howard's Bluff) to serve as its state capital. The city's formal incorporation took place in 1825, and not long thereafter, German Immigrants began to migrate to the area. The first person to be naturalized in Cole county was a Prussian who became a citizen in 1834. However, the influx of German immigrants came during the 1840s and especially the 1850s, when political unrest and crop failures inspired many residents of German-speaking regions to leave Europe for North America. Nearly one million Germans immigrated to America during the 1850s, and many (roughly 90,000 by 1860) populated and settled on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.Some of the earliest Missouri-German buildings in Jefferson City, including the Haar house, were built in the Capitol West area. As the name implies, that neighborhood is located west of the capitol building, on what was originally the western edge of the city. It was referred to as "mill bottom" in the early years because of the numerous flour mills in the neighborhood. The mills, along with the railroad, served as the area's primary employers, all close to the Haar House built in 1859, immediately preceding the Civil War. The Haar House, like an abundance of homes built in Jefferson City during the nineteenth century, enjoyed German Vernacular architectural design and, more specifically, enjoyed the influence of Klassizismus, a German variant of the Neoclassical or Federal style. The German Vernacular style arose as a combination of German techniques and types with American and French influences. The chief element among the homes involves brick construction. Many German immigrants came from northern Germany, where brick construction was prevalent. And in contrast to rural U.S. areas where wood and stone were readily available and cheap, brick availability and cost made it popular among builders in urban communities. As such, brick kilns and brick sales emerged as one of the first industries in Missouri-German towns. Indeed, the first brick kiln arose in Jefferson City as early as 1826, and a large brickyard operated one block from the Haar house during the late nineteenth century.Haar, who worked as a brick and stone mason, likely built the home rather than hire a contractor. It is unclear if he constructed the home to use as a residence or to sell; he bought and sold numerous parcels of land between 1849-1885. Nevertheless, Haar did sell the house in 1865 for a significant profit. By the time he sold the home, German-speaking residents had enjoyed profound influence in Jefferson City. In fact, German-speaking people comprised four of the six members of Jefferson City's first Board of Education in 1867 and made up nearly fifteen percent of Jefferson City's entire population by 1870. Roughly seven million immigrants came to the U.S. from German-speaking regions of Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. German-born people comprised nearly thirty percent of the nation's entire foreign-born populace during the last half of the nineteenth century. By 1890, about 125,000 Missourians were German-born, and approximately twice that number were German-speaking. It has been estimated nearly forty percent of Missouri's modern population has at least partial German ancestry, and structures such as the Herman Haar House offer reminders of the history dating back to the early- and mid-nineteenth-century.

The Herman Haar house, built in 1859 by Prussian native Herman Haar, is one of the few surviving antebellum Missouri-German dwellings in Jefferson City. In 1986, local citizens worked with city officials to preserve the home by moving it a short distance in order to save it from demolition during an urban renewal project. The German vernacular design, noted for its brick exterior, speaks to the abundance of German immigrants that settled in Jefferson City during the nineteenth century.

Herman Haar House

The William Porth House is named after a German immigrant who was married to Elizabeth Wolters, a Florida native. The couple fled the home during the Civil War; their son, Joseph P., was born in Osage County in January of 1865. The house has a square footprint and was originally one story with a walk-out basement on the lower elevation/ river side. The original roof was a side gable; an early photograph shows a full-width open-air porch on the front façade (facing W. Main Steet) along the first story, with wooden steps along the gable street side (facing Bolivar Street). During the Civil War, federal troops used the basement for ammunition storage. The house was on high ground that had been called "Rich Man's Hill" and later "Richmond's Hill." The second story, with its dormer windows and French Second Empire style roof, was added to the building in the late 1880s. Notable features are a bracketed cornice and an iron balcony between the basement and second floor. The older version of the house, with a gable roof and a balcony on the Main Street side, facing the river is seen on the 1869 Bird's Eye View Map of Jefferson City, the Capitol of Missouri, by A. Rogur (see the clip below, of the intersection of Main and Bolivar). After inheriting the house from his father in 1888, the physician Joseph P. Porth occupied the house with his wife, Effie Nitchey, and their children. Joseph had been educated at St. Louis University and later studied in Europe; he began practicing medicine in 1888. The house was a duplex with the new roof and a wooden balcony/porch by 1898 (see the clip of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below). The half of the duplex along Bolivar Street was 629 W. Main at that time, with the other half being 627 W. Main. Joseph served the city as Mayor in 1903 and represented Cole County in several state assemblies. Dr. Porth passed away in 1923. The building became a restaurant by the 1930s, when it was known as The Colonial Tea Room. It became a favorite gathering place for the ladies while their gentleman political and business leader husbands congregated at the establishment across the street, now Paddy Malone's tavern. By 1970, the rundown structure became the property of the city's housing authority, who offered it for renovation. The building currently houses the Architects Alliance, Inc., the firm chosen to purchase and renovate the building into their corporate office, studio, and conference spaces, while preserving its historic integrity. The Porth House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and won an award from Jefferson City's Historic Preservation Commission in 2002.

The William Porth House  was built of a local limestone called "cotton rock" sometime in the mid to late 1820s. The house is named after a man who moved to town in 1842 and became a judge. Upon his death in 1888, his son, Dr. Joseph P. Porth inherited the house and resided here with his family. Dr. Porth ran his medical practice from the walkout basement; Joseph was elected Mayor of Jefferson City in 1903 and was president of the Cole County Medical Association. The house passed out of the family's hands in 1923 and became a restaurant for decades. The building now house the corporate offices of the Architects Alliance.

William Porth House

The Missouri State Archives was created by the state legislature in 1965 but holds records dating back to 1770. The Archives collects and preserves records of historical interest and makes them available to state government, the general public, and researchers.The Archives Research Room in the Missouri State Archives is the spot for researchers to request access to items in the state's collections. First, you need to read and comply with a Research Agreement. The staff also respond to written or e-mailed requests. The collection's items are non-circulating and not open to interlibrary loan. Microfilm and certain printed works are always available in the Archives Research Room. Other items need to be requested. Advance requests are required to have something pulled for Thursday evenings, Saturdays, and holidays.Highlights of the collections are: microfilmed records for every Missouri county, municipal records, land patents from 1831 to 1969, and soldiers' records from the War of 1812 up through World War I. Do you know of some dubious characters from the past who might have spent time in the Missouri State Prison in Jefferson City? There are records on that institution, a database of inmates received at the prison from 1836 to 1931. If they arrived after 1909, there may even be a mugshot on file.Tours for schoolchildren are offered with advance arrangements; the Archives Alive! group performs 40-minute historical vignettes for third to fifth grade students. One of the Archives' special projects is the African American History Initiative, which aims to present the broad contributions of African Americans to the state. Another is sponsoring free workshops for genealogists. Check out the link below to the Missouri State Archives newsletter for more info.

The Missouri State Archives are located two blocks west of the State Capitol Building on West Main Street. The Archives are situated within the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center, across the street from the historic William Porth House (also a Clio entry). The Archives houses over 336 million pages of paper, so you're sure to find something of interest! Thousands of historical maps, census records, county records, photographs, and military records of Missourians are housed here. The Archives are open for in-person research and offer tours for schoolchildren with advance notice.There are lots of resources available through their digital collection online, too.

Missouri State Archives

Jefferson City became Missouri's state capital in 1826, the same year the first capitol building was finished after a construction period of three years. It burned down in 1837 but the second capitol building was completed by 1840. A fire, however, destroyed that one, too, in 1911 after a lightning bolt struck the dome. Shortly thereafter, the current building was authorized to be constructed, on the same high bluff overlooking the Missouri River. By 1917, the building was finished. It is supported by 285 concrete piers standing on bedrock from 20 to 50 feet below ground surface. Including its wings, the building is 437 feet long by 200 feet wide. Carthage, Missouri limestone forms the building's exterior surfaces and much of its flooring.Several artists, including Alexander Calder, were commissioned to create artwork for the building. Ceres, the goddess of grain, tops the lantern of the dome; the bronze figure honors the state's agricultural heritage. Inside the dome hangs a 9,000-pound chandelier. The painted works of Frank Brangwyn grace the dome's interior. Another impressive interior feature is the grand staircase from the portico to the third floor and 30 feet wide.In 1935, artist Thomas Hart Benton painted a mural in the House Lounge that depicted everyday life over time in Missouri; its vivid depiction of the underbelly of life in the state sparked controversy. Scenes of slavery, lynching, a baby's bare bottom, and poverty offended some of the more sensitive viewers but the mural has endured.All four floors of the capitol are open to the public, including the State Museum on the ground floor.

Built from 1913 to 1917, the Missouri State Capitol is located Jefferson City and is the seat of the state government. It is the state's third capitol building. Like other state capitol buildings, it was designed in the Classical Revival style. Its most prominent feature, the dome, rises 262 feet from the basement floor. The building houses the Missouri State History Museum, which is operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The capitol was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Missouri State Capitol

In 1919, the Missouri General Assembly designated the first floor of the east wing of the <a href="https://mostateparks.com/page/55186/missouri-state-capitol" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Capitol </a>as the Missouri Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and placed it under the care of the Adjutant General's office. Two year's later, in 1921, the Missouri Resources Museum was created on the first floor of the Capitol's west wing under the Resources Museum Commission, which was charged with the responsibility to collect and place on permanent exhibit examples of the products, flora and fauna of Missouri. The two museums were combined in 1923, and designated collectively as the&nbsp;Missouri State Museum&nbsp;under the management of the Resources Museum Commission.The&nbsp;Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Missouri State Parks took over the museum in 1978. The Missouri State Museum houses an impressive collection of&nbsp;exhibits that portray Missouri's cultural and natural history in its two main exhibit halls - the History Hall and the Resources Hall. There are also exhibits with changing artifacts in the Missouri Veterans Gallery and the Foundations Gallery (state government and the State Capitol). A series of traveling exhibits can be used as educational tools by schools, civic and other groups. Interpretive staff offers various educational programs on aspects of Missouri's natural and cultural history.The Missouri State Museum is responsible for a large collection of artifacts that consists of approximately 30,000 artifacts and objects from all aspects of Missouri cultural and natural history that have been collected since the museum's inception. The museum's collections include more than 130 Civil War flags and a large collection of World War I flags. Museum staff is currently trying to conserve these fragile textiles and have conserved approximately 53 of the flags as of June 2014.&nbsp;

The Missouri State Museum is located in the Missouri State Capitol. There are two galleries on the main floor that provide exhibits portraying the state's natural and cultural history. Museum staff provide tours of the Capitol and also manage Jefferson Landing State Historic Site, including the Elizabeth Rozier Gallery. The museum is operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Missouri State Parks.

Missouri State Museum

Missouri women quickly organized to advocate for suffrage, utilizing their networks from previous reform and war aid work. The Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri formed in 1867, one of the earliest such organizations in the United States. Missouri women asked the state legislature for a suffrage amendment eighteen times between 1867 and 1901 with no success. In 1868 the 14th Amendment was ratified to the Constitution and Missouri suffrage leaders argued that the 14th Amendment protected a women’s right to the vote. Virginia Minor and her husband Frank advocated for a strategy where women showed up to polling places and asked to register for the vote. After Virginia Minor was turned away from the St. Louis County Courthouse in 1872, the Minors sued the city registrar, Reese Happersett, in a case that advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case Minor v. Happersett (1874) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not grant suffrage to anyone and reaffirmed that it was the power of the states to decide who could vote. In the 1910s Missouri women continued to push for suffrage and in March 1919 the state passed legislation allowing women to vote only in presidential elections. A few months later Missouri was the 11th state to ratify the 19th Amendment on July 3, 1919.

Missouri Ratifies the 19th Amendment, July 3, 1919

The expedition officially launched on May 4, 1804 from Camp Wood which was on the east side of the Mississippi River near present-day Wood River, Illinois. The crew consisted of around 40-45 men (and Seaman, who survived the whole journey) who traveled on a keelboat and smaller boats called pirogues. By the time they reached the Jefferson City area, the men had sailed for 22 days and covered 145 miles. From June 1-3, they camped west of the city at a base of a hill called Clark's Hill, which, at the time, was located at the confluence of the Missouri and Osage Rivers. The top of a hill is a site called called Clark's Hill/Norton State Historic Site and features a trail, interpretive panels, and an overlook. It also preserves five Indian mounds, two of which Clark described in his journal (the other three were discovered later). The lush landscape and wildlife in the area impressed the crew. The men admired the bluffs and noted the abundant oak, ash, walnut, hickory, mulberry and sugar maple trees. At the mouth of the Moreau River, Clark heard a bird that reminded him of a nightingale and named a nearby creek after it. The expedition departed on June 3 and sailed 17.5 miles up the river and camped near a tall, isolated rocky outcropping called Sugar Loaf Rock, which is difficult to reach and on private land. In 1804 the river was wider than it is today and reached the base of the rock.

Located just down the street from the state capitol building, this monument commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which passed what is now Jefferson City on June 4, 1804. It consists of five bronze statues depicting expedition leaders Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Lewis' Newfoundland dog Seaman, Clark's African-American slave York, and George Drouillard, who was an interpreter, hunter and trapper. The monument is part of a plaza featuring interpretive panels describing the expedition and the Jefferson City Greenway, which is a multi-use trail that runs throughout the city.

Lewis and Clark Monument

When Missouri became a state in 1826, the end of Jefferson Street soon became a hub of economic activity and dubbed "the landing". The Lohman Building was built in 1839 and would serve as a grocery store, warehouse, tavern, telegraph office, and hotel. When the Pacific Railroad started using the site in the early 1850s, activity increased even more and the landing became an important transfer point for goods. This prompted the construction of a hotel across the street in 1855 (the owner changed the name to the Union Hotel after the Civil War). After the 1870s, business declined as railroads took over from water transportation. The buildings were then used as storehouses and tenements and later as part of Tweedy Footwear Corp. They were saved from demolition in the early 1970s and were restored in 1976 and designated as a state historic site preserving a rare example of a Missouri River landing.

The Jefferson Landing Historic Site is an historic area located in Jefferson City, Missouri, situated just east of the state capitol building. It is comprised of two historic structures: the Lohman Building, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and the Union Hotel. The Lohman Building has been restored as an 1850s general store and warehouse. A film about the history of Jefferson City is also shown there. The Union Hotel houses the Elizabeth Rozier Gallery, which presents rotating exhibits about Missouri history, art and culture. Admission to the site and both buildings is free.

Jefferson Landing Historic Site

The Missouri Legislature designated Jefferson City as the permanent seat of government in January 1822, mainly because of its central location and river access. In 1824, Samuel Jamison purchased several parcels of land in the new capital city at a public auction, which he sold in 1834 to Richard Shackleford, who is believed to have built the first section of Lohman's Landing Building. Shackelford sold the historic property and Landing Building to Harvey Colgan, a building contractor, in 1836. Colgan's accomplishments included constructing the old Governor's mansion (used 1834 - 1871) and, it is believed, substantially expanded the Landing Building. Colgan sold the property in 1838 to James A. Crump, who built the final stages (and completed) of what is now the Lohman Building; it stood as Jefferson City's largest structure, eclipsing the 1826-built Capitol-Executive Mansion Building. The building was initially known as Jefferson Landing until Lohman, a Prussian immigrant, purchased the structure in 1852. In addition to the structure's ownership change and name modification, immigration (notably from German-speaking regions of Europe) and the arrival of the railroad in 1855 brought profound changes to the city. Crop failures and political upheaval in German-speaking regions of Europe led to nearly one million Germans immigrating to the United States during the 1850s. By establishing German enclaves in American cities, German immigrants were able to maintain their cultural traditions, religions, and language; two distinct German neighborhoods formed in Jefferson City. Lohman arrived in Jefferson City in 1848 and went on to operate a prosperous inn, store, and warehouse business in the Landings Building (where he also lived). Lohman and his brother-in-law, Charles Maus, purchased the building in 1852 and remained its owner until 1874. Maus also built a hotel across the street from the Lohman Building in 1855. The hotel initially went by the name of the Missouri Hotel, and then later the Veranda Hotel. But, when Maus returned from the Civil War, he renamed it the Union Hotel.  Lohman's Landing Building and the Union Hotel first benefited from the arrival of the Pacific Railroad in 1855. The rail company also purchased a dozen steamboats to connect with trains in Jefferson City, allowing the town to benefit from both its rail and water traffic. An advertisement of that period stated that passengers could travel from Kansas City to St. Louis in fifty hours via the combination of steamboats and railroads, a rather speedy travel time during the 1850s. Lohman's Landing Building initially housed a grocery store and public house (tavern) that served as the city's center of cultural life; riverboat men and politicians routinely gathered there. Later, the building added offices used as an agent's headquarters  for steamboat companies (Star Line and St. Louis-Omaha Packet Company) and as Wharf-Master's s office as established by the City Board of Aldermen in 1859. From 1905 until the mid-1960s, two shoe companies occupied the building. The government purchased the building during the 1960s with plans to raze the structures, but grassroots movements saved the buildings from destruction. Instead, a renovation project commenced, restoring Maus' house, the Union Hotel, and Lohman's Landing Building, which re-opened on July 4, 1776, the U.S. bicentennial celebration. Today, the building and district survive as one of the few reminders of the city's pre-railroad era and one of the many relics of the influx of German immigrants in Jefferson City during the mid- and late-nineteenth century.

Initially known as Jefferson's Landing Building for its first two decades of existence, Lohman's Landing Building first served the community during the pre-railroad era, and then when railroads and steamboat traffic worked in tandem. The Landing Building handled the supplies and served the persons entering the city via the Missouri River, which acted as a superhighway into Jefferson City before the railroad arrived. The historic commercial building is located within the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site, a state-owned historic district that also includes the Christopher Maus House and the Union Hotel, built by Christopher's brother, Charles Maus. Charles F. Lohman and the Maus brothers came to Jefferson City from Prussia at a time when millions of Germans immigrated to the U.S., including to Jefferson City.

Lohman's Landing Building

The Benjamin Gratz Brown House is one of three in a brick row house building, designed in the Federal Style by St. Louis architect John Ingham Barnett. Barnett was the architect for a contemporaneous project nearby, the Governor's Mansion. Brown became the Governor of Missouri in 1870. Brown was the grandson of two U.S. Senators and graduated from Yale Law School.Brown married Elizabeth Gunn, the daughter of Calvin Gunn, a printer by trade, former Mayor of Jefferson City, and owner of the lot, in 1858. The property transferred to her after her father died and Benjamin, who was then governor of Missouri, became the trustee. Mrs. Brown grew up in a log house formerly on the lot where the rowhouses were built. Elizabeth was only 15 years old when she met Benjamin; she married the 32-year-old St. Louis legislator and editor of the Missouri Democrat newspaper three months later. The former governor's mansion was razed in October 1871 and the new mansion was not ready for occupancy until January 1872. In the interim, it is thought that Brown and his family lived in the row house building that Brown commissioned to be built. Brown's mother-in-law and sister-in-law are said to have lived in the rowhouses.The three parts of the structure have 109, 111, and 113 Madison Street addresses. The three parts were sold separately after 1881. The 109 house became a boarding house and later was used for office space. The Cole County Historical Society purchased the building in 1946 and completed renovations two years later. Later, 111 Madison Street was added to the historical society's holdings.Docents offer tours of the museum at a cost of $3 per person ($2 for age 55+, $1 for schoolchildren, free under 5). A new elevator makes all floors of the museum wheelchair-accessible. Many items in the Brown Room were donated by descendants of Benjamin and Elizabeth. Also displayed are furniture and items from the mansion of the first mayor, Thomas Lawson Price; that mansion was demolished to build the Missouri Supreme Court building. The society also houses the James Library, the DeLong Room which displays first ladies of Missouri's gowns, and the McHenry Room on the Civil War.Behind the rowhouses, the Margaret Upschulte House now stands. The circa 1865 structure was moved to this location from the 300 block of W. High Street in 1980. The brick house is part of the historical society and is used for social functions.

The Cole County Historical Society is a local, non-profit organization in Jefferson City, Missouri dedicated towards educating the public about the county's history through the collection and preservation of historical artifacts and other materials. The society operates a museum, housed in the Benjamin Gratz Brown House. Docents provide tours from Tuesday to Saturday, 1 to 3 pm. Admission charges are $3 pre person, with discounts for age 55+ and schoolchildren. Ages five and under, as well as Historical society members, get admitted at no cost. Brown was elected the twentieth Governor of Missouri in 1870. He had these triple rowhouses constructed around 1871 on his wife's family's lot. One was used for housing while a new Governor's Mansion was being built, and then as a home for his mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The Benjamin Gratz Brown House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Cole County Historical Society (Benjamin Gratz Brown House) 

Henry Hobson Richardson contrived the Romanesque Revival style in the 1870s and 1880s, emphasizing a new combination of older elements: massive, round arches, steep roofs and turrets, and incised decorative stonework. The defining elements for this building are: stone construction; a rectangular plan; arched and flat-topped windows; a tall, centrally located clock tower rising above the roof; steeply-pitched wall dormers above the cornice on each façade; and a slightly projected central section on the main façade accented by projecting entrance porches. This is the third courthouse for Cole, established as a county in 1820, with the capital at Marion. In 1829, plans were made to move the capitol to Jefferson City and sell the county buildings erected in Marion. The first county court held in Jefferson City was held in a log cabin near the present courthouse and a log jail house was built. The second county courthouse was a two-story stone structure on the corner of High and Monroe, facing Monroe, finished in 1836. The contract for this third county courthouse was made in 1896 and the building, designed by local architect Fred B. Miller, was completed by the following year. The State Senate met within the Cole County Courthouse in 1911, after a fire damaged the State Capitol. Only seven years later, it was the Courthouse's turn to be ravaged by fire. Although the first floor and basement remained intact after the fire, with just water and smoke damage to be fixed, the second story and higher needed to be rebuilt with new stone. The 1896 design was essentially reused in the 1918 to 1919 rebuild. Twelve other county courthouses in the Romanesque Revival style were still standing in Missouri in 1972 when the Cole County Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Cole's was the sixth county courthouse to be build in this style; a thirteenth in the state had been demolished by 1972. While the Sherriif and Jail, and many other county departments, have moved to modern buildings, the Cole County Circuit Court remains within the Courthouse. Cole County is celebrating its bicentennial in 2020. President Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise in 1820, with Missouri coming into the union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state. The Missouri General Assembly first met in September 1820 in St. Louis; Cole County was established on the banks of the Missouri River in November 1820. The county had no towns at that point, but the town of Marion had been platted on the Missouri River near present-day Boonville. Jefferson City was founded in 1825, and became the state capital in 1826. Besides holding special events in 2020, including a special tour of Marion, the county has minted commemorative coins for sale and is raffling off a special rifle made for the occasion by the Historical Armory of Missouri Walnut. Never fear if you don't snag a bicentennial rifle - the bicentennial commission has ordered a small batch of "Cole County 200 Missouri Bourbon Whiskey" from Blacksmith Artisanal Spirits of Lohman. But wait - there's more! Local microbrewery Prison Brews will be creating a special beer made with bicentennial hops.

The Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City was built in the Romanesque Revival style, a popular form for Missouri courthouse buildings in the late nineteenth century. The structure was built as the third courthouse for the county, and the second in Jefferson City, after the county seat was moved here from Marion in the 1830s. The massive stone courthouse with a county jail was completed in 1897. The building was gutted by a fire in March 1918 that started in the central clock tower; the corner pavilions collapsed due to the damage. The first floor and basement remained intact, but new stone was required to rebuild the second story and higher. Rebuilding began in October 1918 by Louis Schell. Don't miss the bicentennial events the county has planned for 2020 - see below for info on whiskey and beer being made just for the occasion.

Cole County Courthouse and Jail-Sheriff's House

Constructed in 1883, Temple Beth El is the oldest synagogue still used west of the Mississippi River and the 14th oldest in the country. It is a simple one-story structure located in the heart of downtown Jefferson City. It is a Reform congregation and as such belongs to the Union of Reform Judaism. According to official records, Jews had been living in the city since at least 1865. In 1879, a few of the men formed the Jefferson City Hebrew Cemetery Association to create a place for burial and also established the congregation that year. In 1882, some women of the Hebrew Ladies Sewing Society donated money to buy a plot of land with the purpose of building the temple. These women are honored in a plaque that is on display in the temple. 

Temple Beth El

The first library (a subscription library) was established in 1871 by the Jefferson City Library Association. However, it did not last long and in the coming years subsequent attempts also failed. Finally in 1898, another subscription library was established and this time it remained open. It had 300 subscribers who paid an annual fee of three dollars and over the next three years collected 1,700 books were collected.Although it was successful, some in the community called for a free public library. In 1900, two local pastors wrote to Andrew Carnegie requesting funds. By then, Carnegie had been donating grants to communities to build libraries around the country for several years. He offered to pay $25,000 on the condition that the city buy a property for the library and agree to spend $3,000 annually to maintain it. The pastors worried that the city would not be willing to commit to that so they traveled to New York City in hopes of visiting Carnegie in person to discuss the matter. He declined and stated he would not grant the funds unless the city agreed to his conditions. In the end, the residents voted overwhelmingly (839-42) in favor of a tax to provide the annual maintenance funds.Construction began in 1900 and was completed in 1902. The community used the auditorium for a variety of purposes. It was used by many civic organizations and a local theater company called The Little Theatre originated here. The children's section featured fairy tale murals painted by local students but they seem to have been painted over. The library became part of the county library system in 1947 and it operated until the early 1970s. It was set to be demolished but residents rallied to save it. It is one of the few Carnegie library buildings remaining in the state.

Now home to the Cole County Assessor, the former Carnegie Library remains a landmark structure in Jefferson City. The library was built in 1902 and like 2508 other libraries across the United States, it was named in honor of Andrew Carnegie as his matching grant supplied half of the funds needed to construct the building. Over the next seven decades, the building not only served as a library but also as an entertainment and civic venue. The reading room and books were located on the first floor (the children's section was in the basement) and an auditorium was located on the second. A fine example of Classical architecture, the library was designed by local architecture firm Miller &amp; Opel.

Carnegie Library, Jefferson City 

The Victorian home on the corner of East Capitol Avenue and Jackson Street was constructed in 1893 for the future governor of Missouri, "Lon" Stevens, who took office in 1898. Stevens had moved to Jefferson City in 1890 from Boonville, where he had been born in 1855, to become the state treasurer. The local architect was Charles Opel, the child of German immigrants; Opel worked as a cabinetmaker before going into architecture. The open-air turret, wrap-around porch, and fish scale shingles are highlights of the brick, 2-1/2 story Victorian home. The hipped roof with intersecting gables was originally made of cedar shingles but has been replaced with asphalt. The house was built as a duplex but was later divided into four apartments. The interior features eight hand-carved fireplaces with original Italian tile, and a grand entryway oak staircase. The third floor ballroom was the site of many parties in the 1890s, thrown by Stevens and his wife, Maggie. The Stevens family sold the home to a local druggist, Gustavus A. Fischer, in 1903. Fischer founded the G.A. Fischer Drug Company at 105 E. High Street; his son followed him in the family business. Fischer was involved in the establishment of the Jefferson City Country Club, the Central Missouri Trust Company, and the Capitol Telephone Company. Fischer and his wife, Jennie, lived in Ivy terrace until their deaths in 1933 and 1947, respectively. Mary Woods bought the home in 1948, and operated the Mariwood College of Beauty Culture here until 1966. Thomas Whitecotton and his wife, Dee, the next owners, lived in the home until around 1987. Whitecotton restored the home in the 1960s. Whitecotton retired from the Missouri Highway Patrol in 1965 after over 30 years on the job; he once served as warden of the Missouri State Penitentiary. He was involved in a shootout with the infamous Barrow Gang in 1933. Whitecotton served as a local councilman until he died in 1987; a local police station was named in his honor. Ivy Terrace is within the Capitol Avenue Historic District and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The house is one of the most intact examples in the city of the Queen Anne architectural style. The home is one of the historic houses in the Capitol Avenue Urban Renewal Plan approved by the Jefferson City Council in 2016. Renovations are being planned by a new owner who has been approved by the council in early 2020.

Ivy Terrace is a Queen Anne style historic home built in 1893, that was the home of Governor Lawrence V. ("Lon") Stevens. Stevens was the State Treasurer when he had the house constructed. The huge Victorian home has about six bedrooms and seven baths and offers nearly 6,000 square feet of living space. As part of its mission to fight blight in urban Jefferson City, Ivy Terrace and five other nearby historic homes nearby (dating from 1875 to 1920) were acquired in 2019 by the Jefferson City Housing Authority and offered for redevelopment. The house was slightly damaged in a tornado that struck the town recently. Dozens of potential buyers viewed the Ivy Terrace home during open houses, and a redevelopment plan was accepted in February 2020, with details to be announced.

Ivy Terrace

Saddle horse breeding grew into a significant industry in Missouri by the late nineteenth century, demonstrated by Missouri saddle breeders' success at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. As a result, horse shows grew popular in Missouri. Jefferson City held its first show in 1897, and annually for decades after that. As well, parades such as the popular Flower Parade allowed breeders to showcase their horses, including James Houchin, an industrialist and breeder of fine saddle horses. Moreover, breeders often competed at county and state fairs. Houchin's horse, Astral King, was named champion stallion at the 1909 Missouri State Fair.Most viewed him as the most successful breeder in the state, and he enjoyed financial success as an entrepreneur and political influencer. Houchin strongly supported the Democratic Party. He served as statewide coordinator for the successful election of Joseph Folk as governor in 1904. He also ran for governor in 1912 and 1916, although he lost both elections. Still, he gained his fame as a horse breeder. When the Missouri Saddle Breeders Association organized in 1912 in Jefferson City, they elected Houchin to its first two-year term as president.Houchin's success allowed him to build the elaborate, now historic, home. The Houchin family purchased all the property west to Marshall Street and removed two residences and a four-flat in the process. Constructing the historic house started with bulders -- including prison labor -- filling a ravine with 50,000 truckloads of cinders and dirt. It then took another three years to finish the opulent stone home, having been completed in 1900. James and is wife, Millie Clark, entertained governors, legislators, and their families at the house, and they routinely hosted lavish parties. They also hosted an annual Christmas party for as many as 700 of the city's needy children. For their own daughter, Myrene, they hosted a ball in 1919 on the eve of national prohibition. James and Millie constructed a fifty-foot pavilion and built a garden for the affair, and the night ended with a midnight dinner and fireworks show. However, by World War I, Houchin's success story began to fade. The rise of the automobile industry meant less interest in horses. The parades that once featured horse-drawn carriages began to feature cars. And the popular Flower Parade cased to exist by 1917. Additionally, one of Houchin's businesses, Star Clothing Manufacturing Company, went into receivership during the early 1920s.Myrene, who went on to found the Cole County Historical Society, and her husband, Jack Hobbs, took ownership of the property after James Houchin's business failed. As the twentieth century progressed, the historic stone home changed ownership a few times, even serving as a nursing home for a time. Jim and Betty Weber purchased the home in 1970 and subsequently spent years renovating the house. Although the house survives as a reminder of the prominent Houchin family, it also reminds us of a pre-automobile era when horses were not only functional but celebrated. Before there were car shows, there were horse shows. Before Detroit evolved into an automobile powerhouse, Missouri benefitted mightly from the saddle horse breeding industry. And, just as wealthy people own the fanciest and most expensive cars today, industrialists like Hauchin possessed the best horses around during the early twentieth century.

The James A. Houchins House is a Jefferson City Landmark. Houchin dominated Missouri's burgeoning saddle horse breeding industry during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Just as wealthy industrialists routinely own expensive cars today, industrialists like Houchin invested and showcased their horse collections prior to the late 1910s. James also made money in other business ventures and proved politically influential in the Democratic Party. The Houchin family's house, and the lavish parties they hosted, speak to the family's prominence during the pre-automobile era.

James A. Houchin House

Lester Parker was born in 1860 in Chicago where his father worked at a shoe company. In 1871, their house burned down in the Great Chicago Fire that destroyed much of the city (apparently they lived next door to the house where the fire began). As a young man he studied law and graduated in 1879. He settled in Kansas where he practice law, became a teacher, and ran a farm where he raised sheep and cattle. He then moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1894 and got a job as a foreman in the Kellog &amp; Johnson Shoe Company. In 1895, he organized the Jefferson Shoe Company in Jefferson City as a subsidiary for another company called C.M. Henderson &amp; Co. However, also in 1895 Parker sold his interest in that company so he could establish the L.S. Parker Shoe Company.Jefferson City at the time was an ideal place to operate a shoe manufacturing business. The main draw was the ability to use cheap prison labor at the penitentiary, as well as the prison buildings and grounds. As a result, the companies were very profitable. In 1873, for example, one shoe company employed 70 inmates for 40 cents a day which produced a $5,000 annual profit. Other attractive conditions included low taxes, low rental rates, and competitive freight rates. From the state's perspective, contracting with the shoe companies enabled the prison to be more self-sufficient and cheaper to run.By 1915, this arrangement ended. The use of inmate labor became too costly as wages had risen to 75 cents per hour and inmates were no longer allowed to work for more than eight hours each day (it should be noted that while the shoe companies stopped operating at the penitentiary, shoe manufacturing in Jefferson continued and remained a large part of the local economy for many years). The state took control of the shoe manufacturing operations and the governor appointed Parker, who retired from his company in 1913, to be the first superintendent of industries at the prison. Under his leadership, the prison achieved its full potential at becoming self sufficient. Inmates made a variety of goods and by October 1919 the prison had a cash balance of $61,000.As noted above, Parker played an important role in selecting the artwork in the capitol, which was built in 1917 to replace the previous one destroyed by a fire in 1911. He was appointed to the decoration commission because of his love for art. He was a skilled painter himself and 100 of his paintings are housed at First Baptist Church. Parker also wrote songs and poems. One of his songs, "Come Back My Honey to Missouri", was considered for the official state song.Parker married three times. His firs wife, Katie, and mother of three children, Gracie, Clyde and Dan, died after just a few years of marriage. Sadly, Katie and Clyde died at a young age. Parker married his second wife, Sue, in 1895 and they had two children, Alice and Lester Jr. However, she also died just after a few years in 1899. He and Missouri "Zue" married in 1901 and they lived in the house for many years. Parker died in 1925. Zue and her only daughter, Rachel, died in a car accident in 1931. The house was converted into four apartments by 1939.

One of the city's leading figures of the early 20th century, Lester S. Parker, and his wife, Missouri "Zue" Parker, bought this elegant historic home in 1905 upon its completion. Parker was a successful businessman and is known for establishing the L.S. Parker Shoe Company. He also served as the state's first superintendent of industries at the state penitentiary across the street, and was a member of the Capitol Decoration Commission in the 1920s, which was tasked with collecting artwork for the capitol building. The house is also a fine example of Classical Revival architecture. It features a full-height porch with Ionic columns and a pediment, a balconet, a fanlight and tracery surrounding main entrance, and arched window openings with keystones and circular panels. It appears to be be an apartment building today. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Lester S. and Missouri "Zue" Gordon Parker House

In addition to James Early Ray, who was only able to murder Martin Luther King because he&nbsp;managed to escape from the prison in 1967, the prison housed&nbsp;other notable inmates including high profile women inmates. One&nbsp;was Emma Goldman, who imprisoned for inciting riots and advocating the use of birth control, among other charges. She would later influence the founders of Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. Another female inmate, Kate Richards, Chairman of the Socialist Labor Party,&nbsp;was charged with espionage after&nbsp;giving a speech in North Dakota. After her release she dedicated herself towards prison reform.&nbsp; As a result of the numerous murders that took place in the prison, Time Magazine dubbed it "bloodiest 47 acres" in the country. Riots occurred as well. The most notable one began &nbsp;early in the morning&nbsp;on September 22,&nbsp;1954 and lasted a full 24 hours or so before authorities, and the National Guard were able to fully&nbsp;subdue the inmates.

The Missouri State Penitentiary is a former prison located in Jefferson City. It was in operation from 1836-2004 and as such was the oldest prison still in use in the state until it closed. Over time, buildings were added to the 47 acre site; the Warden's House, built in 1868, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The prison housed several high profile inmates such as James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King in 1968. At its peak, the prison housed 5,200 inmates. It is open for tours and operates a museum located the corner of High and Jefferson streets. 

Jefferson City along the Missouri River Walking Tour

Missouri Governor's Mansion

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information