Edwin R. Westcott Building
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Named in honor of Edwin R. Westcott by his wife Frances Helen Westcott. From its building year in 1895 to its demolition in 1988, the building was used as Park College's Family Supply Store and Print Shop, and was later transformed for use by the College's maintenance department
The structure was 60-feet square and divided into three nearly equal parts. The Eastern division contained the business office and fireproof vault. The middle division housed the Family Supply (College) Store. The roomy basement was a storage room for canned fruit grown and canned in the College canning factory, flour, and bulky articles; the remainder of the basement housed the tool room. The Western division was the printing office
The Edwin R. Westcott Building stood approximately where the parking lot at 6th Street and Highway 9 intersect for the Park University track (See map below)
Images
Photo taken of the exterior of the Westcott Building.
Photo taken of the interior of the Print Shop located in Westcott Building.
Page one of a letter from Helen Westcott to the Trustees of Park College regarding her husband Edwin R. Westcott’s death and her wish to put aside money for her son to attend Park. December 31, 1894
Page two of a letter from Helen Westcott to the Trustees of Park College regarding her husband Edwin R. Westcott’s death and her wish to put aside money for her son to attend Park. December 31, 1894
The first page of a letter sent from Helen Westcott to H. B. McAfee stating she will send the five-hundred dollar scholarship to Park and is willing to lift the amount if her son decides to attend the college. February 16, 1895
Page one of a letter from Helen Westcott to H. B. McAfee regarding the money she’s sending and her thankfulness for Park’s work. April 1, 1898
Page two of a letter from Helen Westcott to H. B. McAfee regarding the money she’s sending and her thankfulness for Park’s work. April 1, 1898
Page three of a letter from Helen Westcott to H. B. McAfee regarding the money she’s sending and her thankfulness for Park’s work. April 1, 1898
Photo of the Family Supply (College) Store
Dr. Forrest William Beers was born at Momence, Ill., January 1, 1863. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1889 with a bachelor's degree and received his doctoral degree from Ruskin University in 1904. Beers arrived at Park College in 1918 to assume duties as Superintendent of Printing, a position he held until retirement in 1938. Beers was also a professor of public speaking and organized, in 1925, the Department of Speech and chaired the department until 1934. Forrest W. Beers passed away on Mar. 4, 1940. Mary E. Beers, wife, taught Latin and English, and was matron of Park College’s Gillette Cottage. The couple had three children: Miriam, who passed away at age eight; Lowell C., Class of 1922 and Winifred, Class of 1928.
Mary E. Beers
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Edwin R. Westcott Building was named in honor of Westcott by his wife Frances Helen of Auburn, New York. After Westcott passed away, Helen, the name she preferred, sent a donation to Park College (now Park University) as both Edwin and Helen admired the Christian and educational work Park College had been doing. In one of the many letters Helen sent to Park, dated February 16, 1895, she wrote, “[...] my object for the money is to do the greatest amount of good it can.” Helen donated, initially, for a five-hundred-dollar scholarship, but Howard B. McAfee, Park College’s business manager and one of five sons of Dr. John A. McAfee, the first president and one of the three original founders of Park College, eventually used Helen’s donation to construct the Westcott Building
Constructed in 1895 with student labor, the structure was 60-feet square and divided into three nearly equal parts. The Eastern division contained the business office and fireproof vault. The middle division housed the Family Supply (College) Store. The roomy basement was a storage room for canned fruit grown and canned in the College canning factory, flour, and bulky articles; the remainder of the basement housed the tool room. The Western division was the printing office. The architecture of the building was industrial with a brick siding covering the front and stone siding along the sides, multiple half-round windows, and a flat rooftop. The construction cost in 1895 was $3,000, equivalent to approximately $112,205 in 2024
The Print Shop and Family Supply Store continued in the Westcott Building over five decades, until 1950 when a new print shop opened in downtown Parkville. Later, the building was converted for use by the College maintenance department. The Westcott Building was demolished in 1988. The “E.R. Westcott” stone relief is preserved in the Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections
The Edwin R. Westcott Building stood approximately where the parking lot at 6th Street and Highway 9 intersect for the current Park University track; please see the map below
Sources
Westcott Records. The Park Building Collection. Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections. Park University, Parkville, MO.