Tootle Family History Tour
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Description
Included in this tour are the many significant places and structures built and acquired by the Tootle family
1. Wyeth Tootle Mansion
St. Joseph is known for an extensive collection of beautiful mansions built around the turn of the century, and the Wyeth Tootle Mansion at the corner of Eleventh and Charles Streets is a prime example. With three floors, a tower and more than 40 rooms, it stands today as one of the best examples of St. Joseph’s late 19th-century wealth and opulence, featuring stunning woodwork, hand-painted ceilings and imported stained glass.
2. Tootle-Lemon/Lacy Bank
Tootle-Lemon Bank, Sixth & Francis, N.W. corner, 1899. Designed in 1899 by Edmond Eckel Architects. This building was later the Tootle-Lacy Bank, and then the Tootle-Enright Bank, and finally the American National Bank. It was demolished prior to 2011.
3. Tootle Opera House
The Tootle Theater was designed by architect W. Angelo Powell, at the request of Milton Tootle, Sr., in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1872. Located at the corner of 5th and Francis streets, the entrance faced Francis, and had a room built in on either side for storefronts. The theater featured two balconies, a special box for the Tootle family, seating built for comfort, and a gas-lit chandelier.
4. A.T. Smith/John J. Tootle House
Constructed in the 1890s, this Chateau-Romanesque home was designed by the firm of Eckel and Mann. Alfred Smith, a local shoe merchant, commissioned the home, but lost his fortune in the panic of 1893. His family never resided in the home which bears his name, but by 1920 802 Hall Street was the home of John J. Tootle, son of multi-millionaire Milton Tootle.
5. Mount Mora Cemetery
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, Mount Mora Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri. It was established in the early 1850s to meet the needs of a growing town. People buried here include three Missouri governors, musicians, Civil War officers from both the Union and the Confederacy, Pony Express riders, and governors. Though it was primarily used by the rich, there is a variety of graves from mausoleums to simple headstones, showing the wide range of people interred in the cemetery. The mausoleums, of which there are 30, are particularly notable. Resembling small buildings, their ornate design reflects Egyptian and Classical architecture and the wealth of the those within them.
6. Cloverly Farm
Cloverly sat at the present site of Bishop Leblond High School, and was an enormous country home belonging to John J. Tootle. The home featured six Romanesque two story columns on each end and at the front, for a total of eighteen two story columns, twelve windows on the facade, and a porch that wrapped completely around its rectangular footprint. The mansion-style home was designed by E.J. Eckel, Architect, and built in 1899. The home & property was sold to the Catholic Church c. 1923 and operated as an orphanage until 1959. In the 1960s, the home was demolished and Bishop LeBlond High School was built on the site.
7. Home of Natalie and Milton Tootle III
NAtalie and Milton Tootle III lived at 119 N 19th Street. Milton III is Billy Tootle's older brother
8. Tootle Dry Goods Store (Tootle-Wheeler-Motter)
Tootle-Campbell Dry Goods, Co., formed in 1908 to replace the Tootle-Wheeler-Motter Dry Goods Co. (Which continued as Wheeler-Motter). In that year, the Tootles incorporated with the Campbell's to create a new wholesale distributorship and build a new 8-story building on the SW corner of 4th & Faraon which included a sewing factory where they manufactured overalls, shirts, duck coats, and pants.
