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The Conservation of CultureConserving a community’s heritage is the responsibility – and
challenge – of everyone. As communities across Missouri renew efforts
to
rejuvenate local economies, we look with new eyes at our own architectural
legacy. This legacy is right under our noses, yet many town councils,
county commissions, state and federal agency staffs in Missouri, and
planners of all kinds are just beginning to appreciate and consider
the
full range of buildings and landscapes in and around a town, beyond
the
well-known historic sites and old downtown areas. All this is wonderful
to
see, and long overdue in our state.

The purpose of this book is to define and discuss vernacular
architecture: those traditional structures built by local people using
time-honored methods, learned through apprenticeship and shared experience,
and usually without the services of professional, academically trained
architects. It is hoped that this overview of traditional/vernacular
architecture, even one that for present purposes excludes our larger
cities, may encourage citizens, researchers and planners to consider
more
carefully the commonplace buildings that infuse Missouri’s towns and
rural
areas with distinctive character – a real “sense of place.”

We must save and improve the usefulness as well as the beauty
of our existing buildings. To continue simply demolishing older structures
and then building new ones is wasteful: that is a typically American
habit
which causes the people of other nations around the globe to wonder
at our
shortsightedness. Long after we are gone, the built landscape we leave
behind will tell the story of our place and time, testifying to values
and
shared ideals. The signposts to our heritage will be the cultural
landscape – the greatest portion of which is made up of ordinary buildings
and familiar places.

Cultural Conservation and the Role of Citizens’ GroupsTo nourish and safeguard our heritage, we must study vernacular
buildings and landscapes – the countless but fast disappearing ordinary
structures in our towns and counties. The reason is quite simple: we
must
preserve a broad sampling of our architectural history. If we continue
demolishing old buildings willy-nilly, many crucial buildings will
be gone
and whole chapters of our national experience will be lost.

The idea of “cultural conservation” can be helpful. Cultural
conservation encourages us to treat our history as a living heritage,
rather than trying to freeze-dry the past behind a museum door or perfectly
restored mansion. Doing this means that we try to capture all records
of a
historic building or street. The available records range from intangible
memories (gathered by interviewing people for their stories about their
town and lives) to more obvious sources such as courthouse records.
All
historical contexts should be studied, from physical space to individuals’
attitudes, broadly held ideas of community history, and formal
architectural history and theory.

Cultural conservation includes these goals:

- To identify and document a community’s various features of
traditional culture through research and careful planning.

- To analyze and interpret our work and publish reports (in various
media) for the benefit of others.

- To encourage governmental decisions on land use, policies, codes
regulating development, etc., that respond to the community’s concepts
of
history and heritage.

- To develop programs and materials for public education, and to
help people better understand and appreciate their special place and
heritage through curriculum development, exhibitions and public programs.

- To bring different disciplines together to share ideas and work
in common cause – such fields as art history, archaeology, local history,
folklife studies, environmental design, sociology, urban planning,
anthropology, historic preservation and geography.

Cultural conservation is one of the more stimulating movements of the
last
decade or two, and it is bringing fresh air (and a good amount of
democratization) into the historic preservation business. Planners
and
leaders nationwide have been pushed to develop broad, versatile and
widely
relevant projects. Some effective work is being done by federal agencies
such as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and the
National Park Service. In Missouri, much is accomplished by such
organizations as the Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation
Program, the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology’s
Missouri Folk Arts Program and other units of MU, the Missouri Highway
and
Transportation Department’s program of recording historic sites threatened
by new projects, Southwest Missouri State University’s Ozark Studies
Center, Southeast Missouri University’s undergraduate courses in historic
preservation, the U.S. Forest Service’s cultural history staff,
preservation and landmarks organizations in cities like St. Louis,
Kansas
City and St. Joseph, and the excellent statewide citizen’s group called
the
Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation.

Missouri’s planning councils, county commissions and citizen’s groups
can
benefit from relationships with university research centers, county
historical societies, historic preservation professionals, downtown
revitalization experts, living-history museums and organizations, and
various governmental agencies. We need to work together in common cause
and to seek help from many quarters if we are going to maintain our
architectural legacy for future generations. Help can be forthcoming
from
elected officials once we remind them of the benefits of preserving
local
culture. Government policies and political goals come not only from
the
particular interests of our elected and appointed representatives and
commissions, but from the understandings we as citizens provide from
our
community base as well.

Shapes of Everyday LifeVernacular architecture is traditional architecture. It gives
a visible face and functional core to local patterns, ethnic and regional
character. In our efforts to read this character through the everyday
buildings around us, we look for recurring meaningful patterns. Traditions
in vernacular architecture may last for generations, but they do change
over time as social, economic and technological conditions change.
To
follow these changeable patterns, researchers have sorted vernacular
buildings into sets of types, based on form, which demonstrate their
evolution across time and space.

For researchers, “type” differs from “style” in vernacular
architecture. A building’s type – floor plan, placement of chimney
or
stove, height – is stable over time. Distinct patterns of vernacular
buildings can be traced to earlier times and places, and we are sometimes
able to detect the probable origin for types of buildings we had previously
thought to be simply “American.” Vernacular types are regional or local
and tend to change slowly. Style changes more frequently and reflects
national taste seen in the mass media. While style is of course grounded
in the customary ideas of earlier generations, it refers to elements
of
decoration and ornamentation which often originate from the nation’s
most
creative contemporary artists and architects. To put it another way,
traditional builders work within tradition, while academic designers
attempt new versions that go far beyond and may even seem to mock a
community’s shared tradition. Buildings can be placed in categories
of
fashions and styles by studying qualities of decoration and radical
difference. In vernacular architecture, style typically has less to
do
with a building’s function or use of interior space than does its type.

Vernacular architecture often has local or regional patterns
based on familiar traditions in design, construction, decoration and
use.
It often (but rarely exclusively) employs local building materials.
Most
stores, roads, houses, bridges, barns, warehouses, and so on take their
form from the needs of everyday life, work, and commerce in the region
or
community where they were built. But people choose building styles
and
types for reasons. They may want a building with a popular style to
make
an impression on the neighborhood, to express well-being and success,
or to
reflect the fashion of the day; this is high-style and popular
architecture.

Traditional buildings also may display flashes of the style and
ornaments of the age, such as Georgian, Greek Revival, Gothic, Mission
Revival or Colonial Revival. These broadly popular styles reflect national
changes in taste. Stylistic ornament is characteristically applied
as a
sort of mask or Sunday clothes, put on the exterior of an otherwise
humble
building. The special architectural style that dresses up a vernacular
building is a vital element in the building’s social and cultural identity.

Downtown areas or “Main Streets” often provide examples of how
ornamental styles are used in vernacular architecture. Many older downtown
buildings strongly reflect local patterns: typically, Main Street was
built and rebuilt by generations of pioneers and then business owners
who
worked to establish a secure, prominent position for their community’s
economy. Unfortunately, new developments or reconstructions of downtown
buildings usually imitate styles from other parts of the United States
(witness the Willamsburg, Virginia, “colonial” revival style). These
projects have denied and erased the local traditions of cultural regions
like the Boonslick, Little Dixie, the Rhineland and the Bootheel. Familiar
threads of local personality are cut, and future generations
will be sorry
that the fragile narrative of authentic local history was lost.

Too often, a town thinks it has to provide a new mall for the
new Wal-Mart instead of asking the corporation to rehabilitate a vacant
but
serviceable downtown warehouse, store or factory. The mall is a
magnificent marketplace, but with its franchises and international
logos,
it has virtually no local historical context or community personality.
Yes, the mall is itself a landmark, but one that symbolizes interchangeable
international commerce.

Symbols are important. In rural and small-town Missouri, old
ideas are very much with us. For example, we have inherited a deep-seated
concept that Greek- and Roman-looking classical columns lend dignity
and a
sense of success and power to the front of a farm house or the entry
on a
brand-new suburban bank. Americans love grand columns and classical
pediments, from the massive limestone on the county courthouse to flat
vinyl nailed as a decorative motif on the porch of a ranch-style house.

Symbolic features can become so rooted in building patterns
that they live on after their original purpose disappears. Take for
example the large fireplace in the new suburban house. Its original
cooking and heating functions gone, the fireplace continues to be built
because a hearth has symbolic values for millions of people – and offers
the correct place for the ritual hanging of Christmas stockings and
the
placing of family photos.

The BuildersTraditional builders learn their trade through apprenticeship
and by imitating admired models and artisans rather than through formal
education. Rather than being called an architect, the designer of a
country store, a gas station, a railroad crossing house or a coal mine
tipple may have been called simply a builder, contractor, craftsman,
bricklayer, carpenter, stone mason, or other such term.

One feature that sets vernacular design apart from high-style
design is the degree to which the client and other members of the community
participate in the architectural process. In vernacular architecture,
the
forms are often familiar. Neighbors understand what is being built
and
why. The contractors have built similar buildings and their work is
attuned to the needs of their clients. This sometimes means there is
less
room for creativity in the job than in high-style design, but that
is
expected in traditional building. Decorative details and variations
can
still be applied to give the building special character.

People live in environments and not merely in buildings. We build our
environments, and their relationships with other environments are
important. Vernacular buildings often reflect an intention to conform
to
accepted values in the community. Folk builders naturally and often
reuse
parts of old structures or entire structures as they expand and tinker
with
their landscapes. People take advantage of local climate and terrain.
To
be conservative is not necessarily to be old-fashioned or resistant
to
change.

Missouri’s Heritage of Traditional BuildingsTraditional buildings in Missouri range from Native American dwellings
of
natural materials to the vertical-log-walled houses of the old French
settlers and the vast barns of the pioneer farmers; from the fine Georgian
and Federal “I houses” of early statehood to split-foyer homes
of the 1970s
and the contemporary interpretations of styles like “Victorian” and
“Colonial” in the 1990s. Vernacular building is well represented in
structures that may seem to be high-style, yet exhibit strong elements
of
local and ethnic cultural heritage, such as the Victorian town house,
the
community school building, the mail order catalog bungalow and the
county
courthouse.

One vivid theme in Missouri’s traditional architecture is the influence
of
Old World ethnic communities, particularly from the pioneer era up
to the
1950s. While few if any Native American dwellings remain from times
before
the arrival of Europeans (notwithstanding natural rock shelters and
caves),
many early structures erected by French, British, German-speaking and
African-American builders still stand. In most cases, we do not know
the
specific builders and designers who contributed to the evolution of
Missouri’s towns and rural landscapes. Occasionally, we do learn about
individual vernacular builders, and these occasions are always fascinating.

The FutureMost historic buildings in any town or region are vernacular.
While we often take it for granted, the commonplace built environment
is
crucial if we are to preserve the essence of a community’s special
history. At the end of the 20th century, we are beginning to appreciate
everyday architecture and to see the messages ordinary old buildings
convey. Understanding and conserving all kinds of buildings and places
will be important if future Missourians are to see their history
accurately.

The growing numbers of people who study the customs in our
lives -- old buildings, basket making, gravestone symbols and epitaphs,
quilting, gospel music singing, old-time fiddling, ethnic cooking and
the
like – do so for reasons. Some of us wish to persuade people that it
is
important to conserve the many different features of our traditional
way of
life. We need a more complete and more honest account of life in the
past
in order to leave a fuller and less biased history of our time and
place
for future generations.

When we grapple with our architectural legacy and the pressures
of commercial development and other changes, we have two options, said
architectural historian Spiro Kostof: “We can create replicas of what
is
gone,” or we can “set the pace and scale of our destruction.” If we
only
build flashy replicas of our true legacy, as in a brightly colored
but
counterfeit reproduction of a Victorian store front, we will leave
a
confusing impression. Replacing a run-down 1940s building with a faked
1890s story-book building helps no one learn anything truthful about
their
town – unless it is the lesson that the world of business takes the
path of
least resistance as it profits from demolition and rebuilding over
and over
again.

There are outdoor living history museums where pioneer life is
reenacted in designed villages filled with antiques and polished-up
old
buildings. Reenactments can be educational if done correctly, since
a good
museum is not assumed to be “truth” but rather is taken to be much
like a
well-researched historical novel. However, the risk in the pretty,
nostalgic pioneer villages, theme parks and country craft malls is
that
outsiders and future citizens will not be able to tell the difference
between replicas and authentic local architecture. That is not good.
Make-believe is not history.

We can help guide change in our towns through good planning,
efforts in historic preservation, and cultural conservation. We may,
in
fact, choose the buildings, streets, monuments, landscapes, outdoor
sculpture and other kinds of artifacts that we consider important in
our
town’s heritage. In addition, people’s memories are tremendously
important. All of us are carriers of invaluable oral history. The story
recalled of how the electric company forced people off the river bottom
land to build the hydroelectric project or the flood control reservoir,
or
how the old man made chairs, or the log house that once served as a
stagecoach stop – these become valuable heirlooms.

Let us look at architecture, landscapes and landmarks as
showcases of our culture and heritage – the heritage we all share as
well
as the heritage that reflects the experiences of individual groups.
Our
built environment offers one of the best means to study culture, because
buildings are physical artifacts that remain relatively stable through
time
and so preserve a visible account of the past. We need to look at
structures that embody a community’s sense of history, whether they
do so
deliberately (statues, memorials) or unintentionally (farmstead layout,
vernacular house symmetry).

We need to help guide the march of progress if we are to leave
a usable history for those who follow us. Communities must get involved.
Federal agencies, which have sometimes been the inadvertent foe of
the
small town, must be lobbied and coaxed to better help local civic
organizations. Perhaps most important, planners and consultants must
learn
to listen to the wisdom behind the stories, opinions and complaints
of the
everyday people who contain and continue the legacy of Missouri’s splendid
rural communities and small towns.

H.W.M.

Millersburg, May, 1994

Cover Photo

Vernacular buildings on the courthouse square, Fayette (Howard
County). The red brick I house at right was built in 1830 and was a
hatter’s shop. The house has been reconstructed and successfully nominated
to The National Register of Historic Places, the nation’s official
catalogue of significant sites of archaeological, architectural and
historical interest maintained by the National Park Service (Department
of
the Interior). Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are by the author.

Figure 2
A French vernacular house in Ste. Genevieve, discussed in Building
a House in 18th Century Ste.Genevieve. Ste. Genevieve, MO: Pendragon’s Press, 1984.

The single-cell house type is the basic building block of
Anglo-American vernacular domestic space. The small one-room house
(single-pen/single-cell) is based on medieval British Isles dwelling
spaces
and was used in the English colonies of the Massachusetts Bay and the
Virginia Tidewater. While it could be built from various materials,
perhaps the essence of this house type in America is the log cabin,
one of
the most symbolic, mythical and widely recognized forms of American
vernacular architecture. This dynamic form of building with logs became
popular because settlers found an amazing forest of fine hardwoods
from
which wooden structures, fences and artifacts of all kinds could be
made.
Building with wood, whether in log or varieties of frame construction,
became the dominant “American” tradition wherever appropriate timber
was
available.
2A: This cabin was a slave dwelling on a tobacco plantation
along the Boonslick Trail east of Columbia (Boone County), and is said
to
have been built in 1818. Moved and reconstructed in 1935, it is an
outstanding example of a “real log cabin,” yet it should not be considered
a complete restoration.

2B. Log single-cell house of similar age, with original
weatherboarding under 20th century asbestos sheathing. (Millersburg,
Callaway County).

Figure 3

A reflection of British Isles “long houses,” two single-cell
house spaces put together create the double-pen house type. The “hall
and
parlor” variant, sometimes with a small foyer or hall between the two
main
rooms and typically built of frame, is one of the most familiar kinds
of
Missouri dwellings.

3A. Restored early 19th century hall and parlor house with
Georgian symmetry and ornament. Arrow Rock (Saline County).

3B. Early 20th century frame hall and parlor house.
Montgomery City (Montgomery County).

Figure 4
Thomas Hickman House, c. 1819, near Franklin (Howard County).
The “Georgian cottage” house type was popular with some of the early
19th
century Anglo-American landowners in the decidedly Southern cultural
regions of Little Dixie and the Boonslick. It upheld the tradition
of
elegantly simple Georgian symmetry, and 18th century British design
style
that greatly influenced the facades of American vernacular houses in
the
19th century. As architectural historian James Denny has shown, the
Georgian cottage (two rooms deep and one story tall with a wide central
hallway and impressive woodwork) eventually lost out to the popularity
of
the more assertive I house type. See Denny publications for discussion
of
this important Anglo-American house type reflecting the handsome
combination of vernacular form and stylistic fashion in early Missouri.

Figure 5
The I house type replaced the medieval long house and the
imposing stone tower house in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Britain to become
the
symbolic and protective dwelling of well-to-do landowners from the
late
14th to the 19th century. In America, the I house had become the
architectural symbol of success in small-town and rural regions by
the late
18th century. The basic plan is one room deep, two stories tall, and
the
entry aligned with the roof. Chimneys may be placed at various locations
and there is almost always – in Missouri – a “T” or “L” or “shed” addition
to the rear of the building. I houses vary in construction, from log
to
stone, brick and frame. The house type began to lose popularity by
the
late 19th century, as lumberyards and builder’s guides made newly
fashionable house plans more available. Furthermore, for some people,
the
imposing I houses began to represent the older pre-Civil War landowners
and
slave society brought to Missouri by the Southerners. See FolkArchitecture in Little Dixie for more extensive discussion of
this vigorous
house type found throughout the state.

6B. With the stone version in A, the zenith of full
five-bay-wide I houses may be represented by this house with its
distinctive central hallway. Beneath the protective and stylish horizontal
weatherboarding is a large house built in two stages and constructed
of
hewn walnut timbers framed in the mortise-and-tenon method. This example
from about 1839, built by second generation British-American farmers
and
craftsmen from bluegrass Kentucky, expresses the careful balance and
symmetry influenced by early Georgian architecture in Britain. Together
with central-hall I houses of red brick (often made by slave labor
on site
and clothed in “federal” style details), this example represents the
fine
landowner’s house in the earliest settlement phase North-central Missouri.
The Burton-Wright house, near Milton (Randolph County).

6C. Suburban development, highway construction and other
changes of economy and public attitude leave magnificent Missouri buildings
standing alone before the almost inevitable wrecking ball. This fine
brick
I house of about 1845 represents the stylish variety favored by successful
landowners in the so-called Federal period from around 1780 until the
Civil
War. It shows neoclassical details (the “dentils” under the roof, the
simple white columns for the small porch). It shows the formal, balanced,
Georgian façade and we know there will be a handsome central
hallway with
richly made woodwork inside the front door. Near Pendleton (Warren
County).

6D. An antebellum I house with unbalanced façade that suggests
construction in stages and whose look hints at log or heavy frame
construction underneath the weatherboarding (Randolph County).

6E. Victorian taste of the late 19th and early 20th century is
apparent in this frame I house; it exhibits elements of neoclassical
and
Gothic style. Taller and narrower than earlier examples, these later
balloon-frame I houses have a lighter feeling. The small paired chimneys
suggest their placement at the line of the central hallway partitions
and
their size suggests that they serve small fireplaces if not cast-iron
heating stoves. Most of these Victorian period houses were painted
in
stylish hues of browns, reds, grays, etc., but by the early 20th century
they and almost all vernacular frame houses began to be repainted in
a
stark white. Near Moberly (Randolph County).

Figure 7
Conservative traditional builders often adapt easily to new
technology and ideas when they are a good fit with customary views
of what
architecture should be. Combining traditional patterns with stylish
motifs
of current fashion is frequently pleasing and long-lasting. The example
was built by James Sandison, a native of New Mills of Keith, Scotland
and
son of a stone mason who emigrated to the 1860s central Missouri railroad
boom town of Moberly. A mason, builder and contractor, Sandison developed
his business by building railroad bridges in northeast Missouri.
Recognizing a growing need for quantities of heavy brick for the hundreds
of central Missouri streets being paved in the early 20th century as
well
as for houses of the business class, Sandison started a brick yard.
A
regional clay excellent for brick making was the bread and butter of
the
business. Sandison retired in 1906, the year he built his new house
and
sold his brick plant. The “comfortable and pleasant” house Sandison
built
for his family in a spacious setting on an important street illustrates
the
dynamics of vernacular design. In its type, the house is a typical
Anglo-American I house with a formal central hallway. Its form (plan)
is
the same as hundreds of other I houses built in the Little Dixie region
since the early 1800s and it characterizes the well-ordered, symmetrical
ideal in vernacular building. The house is also very much like numerous
houses in the Scottish Lowlands.

The original house was built in the 1840s. In 1906, Sandison’s
colleague, Moberly architect N.N. Meredith, added the impressive new
two-story section (illustration) to the older rooms of soft brick that
then
became the kitchen wing for the new, enlarged and remodeled structure.
Working with Meredith, Sandison selected “high style” ornament for
the
front of the house. Sandison added an impressive stone-and-brick
Romanesque-style arch to frame the porch, echoing the influential designs
of the late 19th century architect H.H. Richardson. The rounded Romanesque
Revival style Richardson developed, in which natural materials express
strength, must have appealed to the hardy Scottish immigrant builder.
Grand Richardsonian portals were used by many people in Missouri in
the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sandison’s house retains a comfortable
sense of space inside while presenting a fashionable “front” on the
outside. Such artful yet practical combinations, in which older patterns
for living are placed together with flourishes of current fashion,
are a
hallmark in vernacular building of any era.

Figure 8
In the mid-19th century, many communities of German-speaking
immigrants formed in the “Rhineland” region of Missouri, generally
south of
the Missouri River, east of Jefferson City and along the Mississippi
River
north of Cape Girardeau. Some German-speaking farmers from Europe built
in
“fachwerk” or half-timber construction traditions with the timbers
joined
with mortise-and-tenon techniques, as in this Franklin County example
from
about 1840 built by a German Lutheran family from the Hanover region.
The
spatial form of this farmhouse is as much British-American as it is
Germanic, but its construction mode is distinctly Germanic.

Figure 9

The Ernhaus or “hall kitchen” house is a German-American
dwelling type found in distinctive Germanic towns such as Washington
and
Hermann. Its two-or three-room plan with centrally located chimney,
in
which the front door gives entry into the kitchen indicates it historic
origins – but its method of construction may be typically American.

Figure 10

A Missouri “shotgun house” in central Missouri. While its
ultimate origins are debated by scholars, some researchers believe
the
shotgun house type is a dwelling form with African and Caribbean roots.
Shotgun houses were often built by African-Americans, but this functional,
practical house form (well suited to narrow urban lots) was also built
and
used by white people. The house type may reflect a practical African
vernacular dwelling carried in people’s memories up the Mississippi
River
to Missouri by 19th century slaves/builders with cultural roots in
West
Africa and the Caribbean islands. Great numbers of shotgun houses were
built in the larger towns and cities, particularly those along the
major
rivers and railroad centers of the South and lower Midwest such as
New
Orleans, Memphis St. Louis and Louisville.

Unfortunately, many people have come to view these modest
houses as a reflection of poverty or a reminder of racial conflict,
especially when they are located in African-American neighborhoods.
The
shotgun house is a type of vernacular building that calls for documentation
and analysis by future researchers so that Missouri’s complicated
multicultural heritage can be better understood.

Figure 11
Old frame hay barns are a signpost of Missouri’s economic and
social past. For many citizens, they are a source of nostalgia. Many
of
these photogenic barns, originally built for storing loose harvested
hay in
lofts, have been put to new uses on farms and modified or enlarged
to
shelter modern equipment. Many derelict barns are being dismantled
and
often the weathered siding is converted into picture frames and accent
wooden detailing for new houses. The “transverse-crib barn” type is
the
typical barn of the 19th century built by farmers with roots in Kentucky
and Tennessee.

A. Driveway
B. Stall/stabling area for horses, mules or cattle.
C. Interior corn crib for granary.
D. Tools, equipment, feed. In this typical example, the hay is loaded
in
the hay loft through a hatchway over the large driveway door.

Figure 12
North Missouri prairie cultural landscape. Near Edinburg
(Grundy County). The look of the land, with its carefully shaped,
cultivated and graded agricultural spaces; its orderly margins of
protective and symbolic fences, roads and trees; and its anchoring
farmstead results from vernacular design processes and change over
several
generations. The land itself should be studied for what it can reveal
about the evolution of settlement, society and economy.

Figure 13

Vernacular regions of Missouri reflect old patterns of
settlement, spoken dialect and other features of cultural heritage,
and
they reflect the nuances of geography as well. These factors and others
gradually gave us a state of vaguely bordered but distinctive cultural
and
even architectural regions. (Map by Walter A. Schroeder and H. Marshall,
published in The WPA Guide to 1930s Missouri, Regents Press of Kansas,
1985.)

Figure 14

Public and commercial buildings are important in a town’s
architectural legacy and none, however humble, should be overlooked.
Often, older or out-of-date stores that have fallen into disuse are
no
longer considered fit for renovation, but there are many examples of
excellent rehab and revitalization in Missouri towns.

14A. Small towns in our state feature numerous handsome
vernacular structures with stylish facades, such as this fine mid-19th
century Greek Revival frame building that once housed a “female academy”
in
Danville (Montgomery County).

14C. In Eureka (Jefferson County) there is a solid old store
building that has been handsomely rehabbed and given new life; this
building’s original front was enhanced with a cast-iron front assembled
from parts shipped from a St. Louis factory.

14D. A brick store building was creatively rehabbed for use as
the town post office in the old agricultural village and railroad point
of
Renick (Randolph County).

14E. The little country church personifies the old-fashioned
way of life, and many are active and continue to be valued by the community
(Callaway County).

14F. The grain elevator and exchange by the railroad siding is
the kind of vernacular structure we usually pass by with little notice;
commonplace and familiar, one day this too will be considered “historic
architecture.” Wentzville (St. Charles County).

14G. The Brown Shoe factory (erected in 1906) closed many years
ago, was rehabbed for manufacturing gymnasium equipment, and closed
again.
This is the sort of building that needs attention. An imaginative
corporation could reconstruct it as a “mega store” or indoor mall;
there is
plenty of parking and people consider the structure a landmark. Moberly
(Randolph County).

Figure 15
Researchers and planners need to mine the rich lodes of
information available from people in the community, some of whom, like
Dr.
Ed McKinney of Texas County, are descendants of pioneer families and
prove
to be invaluable guides to the significance of local history and
architecture. Yukon (Texas County).

Where You Can Go for HelpSeveral agencies and organizations in our state study and help
preserve historic buildings.

These include the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation
(P.O. Box 895, Jefferson City 65102) and the Historic Preservation
Program
in the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (P.O. Box 176, Jefferson
City 65101).

Among the model preservation groups at the local level are the
Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve (c/o Bernard K. Schram)
and
The Brush and Palette Club in Hermann (c/o Mrs. Anna Kemper Hesse).
There
are active groups in many other towns, too, such as Arrow Rock, Hannibal,
Moberly, Montgomery City, Poplar Bluff, Rocheport and Vienna. St. Joseph,
St. Louis, and Kansas City have historic preservation groups and landmarks
associations, and several college and university campuses have course
work
relating to cultural heritage, economic history, cultural geography,
historical archaeology, cultural anthropology, architectural history
and
historic preservation.

More specific suggestions are available by sending a letter to
Prof. Osmund Overby or the author, Dept. of Art History and Archaeology,
109 Pickard Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211.

Other MU Publications You Might Find Interesting

The History of Missouri Capitolsby Marian M. Ohman

From the petition for statehood to the drawing competition for
today’s state capitol in 1912, this book talks about our historical
capitols as well as Missouri history. Anyone who likes history or
architecture will find interest in this book. Many photos and drawings
of
former capitols, as well as the sketches submitted in designing the
current
capitol, are included. Prices, materials, approval and construction
of
each capitol is covered in-depth. MU publication UE0072 ($10)

Encyclopedia of Missouri Courthousesby Marian M. Ohman

Trivia lovers, history buffs, architecture enthusiasts and good
citizens alike will enjoy this collection about Missouri’s courthouses.
Missouri’s 114 counties have built more than 360 courthouses, 22 of
which
have been included in the National Register of Historic Places.

The book provides summaries of each county as well as profiles
and photos of past and present courthouses containing information such
as
original cost, floor plans, and historical events specific to each
county.
MU publication UE0062 ($10)

Twenty Towns: Their Histories, Town Plans and Architecturesby Marian M.Ohman

This book comes from a national award-winning program Ohman
organized in 1983 by gathering 12- to 18-year-olds from 20 small Missouri
towns to talk about their town’s past, present and future.

Those interested in architecture and city design will be
treated to several photos of historic houses, city maps and layouts
that
show the evolution of many of the towns, especially in their downtown
districts. Public buildings, churches, church history, photos,
architecture and style of religious services are also discussed. MU
publication UE0077 ($6)

Small Town Survival Manualby Jack McCall

Rural towns have been dwindling in size and economic activity
in recent decades. This publications addresses some of the reasons
why and
encourages community members to change that trend. Efforts in Hamilton
and
Salisbury, two small mid-Missouri towns, are discussed as examples
of these
ideas in action. MU publication M00133 ($5)

Bed and Breakfasts: Is This the Right Business for You?by Wanda Eubank

Considering a bed and breakfast? This booklet is written in a
question/answer format, with different B&B owners giving their
opinions on
matters such as: Is my home suitable? And “Will my family like it?”

Beautiful detailed sketches of Missouri bed and breakfasts give
a feel for the existing options open to Missouri travelers. Several
sources for additional information are also included. All can be used
to
form plans for beginning a bed and breakfast. MU publication MP0667
($4)

Trees of Missouriby R.E. McDermott

This publication covers essentially all native and some of the
more common naturalized trees of Missouri. With approximately one-third
of
its land forested, Missouri has an interesting mix of trees from all
regions of the country. This text gives a detailed description and
black-and-white photos of leaves and fruits of 161 species of trees
in the
state. A state map with each entry documents the Missouri counties
in
which a particular tree species may be found. MU publication SB0767
($8)

NotesI wish to thank Osmund Overby, Columbia and Margot Ford
McMillen, Millersburg for reviewing this work. Overby is a Professor
of
Art History at the University of Missouri, and nationally prominent
authority on the history of American architecture and historic
preservation. Margot Ford McMillen is a Westminster College faculty
member,
oral historian, Missouri place names authority, and founder of Missouri
Interpretive Materials, the publisher of Our Missouri.

I appreciate the support of Associate Vice Provost for
Extension Donald Fancher. This booklet was developed from a program
I
presented for the University of Missouri Extension Division’s In-Service
Education Conference #43, called “Downtown Revitalization,” held in
Warsaw
in May 1992. I appreciate the assistance of Wanda Eubank, the book
design
by Keith Mays and the editorial assistance of John Brenner. Photographs
and sketches are by the author. I would be grateful for reader’s comments
and suggestions; write care of the Department of Art History and
Archaeology, 109 Pickard Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
65211.

*Folk Architecture in Little Dixie, though geographically
limited to central and northern Missouri, is the only book attempting
a
typology of Missouri buildings built by pioneers of British stock.
For
articles on British-American houses in Missouri see the excellent work
of
architectural historian James Denny. For a model study of a French
house,
see Ray Brassieur’s “The Duclos-Pashia House” and for Germanic buildings
see Charles van Ravenswaay’s book, The Arts and Architecture of
GermanSettlements of Missouri.

Bibliography

Although the emphasis is upon Missouri, this list includes
several basic readings in vernacular architecture.

____. “Studying Material Culture Today.” Pages 253-66 in G.L.
Pocius, ed., Living in a Material World. St. John’s, Newfoundland:
Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of
Newfoundland, 1991.

____. And Henry Glassie. “Building in Wood in the Eastern
United States: A Time-Place Perspective.” 1966. Pages 159-81 in D.
Upton
and J. Vlach, eds., Common Places: Readings in Vernacular Architecture.Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1986.

Kostof, Spiro. American By Design. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1987.

Kubler, George. The Shape of Time: Remarks on the History ofThings. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1962.

____, ed. Building Early America: Contributions Toward theHistory of a Great Industry. Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Co.,
1976.

Pierson, Jr., William Ho. American Buildings and TheirArchitects I: The colonial and Neoclassical Styles. New York:
Oxford
University Press, 1970.

Prawl, Toni M. “The W.L. Cornett House, Linn County, Missouri:
Cultural Expression and Family History through Architecture and Furniture,
1884-1986.” Masters thesis, University of Missouri Department of Art
History and Archaeology, Columbia, 1986.

Sheals, Debbie Oakson. “British-American Stonework in
mid-Missouri: A Study in Vernacular Architecture.” Masters thesis,
University of Missouri Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia,
1993.

Sparks, Laura. “Vernacular Architecture and Ethnicity on the
Missouri Frontier: The Case of the Burton-Wight House and the Bruns
House.” Masters thesis, University of Missouri Department of Art History
and Archaeology, Columbia, 1994.

St. George, Robert Blair, ed. Material Life in America,1600-1860. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1989.

Thurman, Melburn D. Building a House in 18th Century Ste.Genevieve. Ste. Genevieve, Mo.: Pendragon’s Press, 1984.

The AuthorHoward Wight Marshall, a native of Randolph County, retired
in
2000 as Professor of Art History and Archaeology at the University
of
Missouri in Columbia and former director of the Cultural Heritage Center.
He took his Ph.D. at Indiana University and has worked for the Country
Music Hall of Fame, Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement (an open-air
museum
in Indiana), the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.
He
taught at Kansas State University before coming to the University of
Missouri in 1982, and is a past president of the Missouri Folklore
Society.

Marshall has written articles and books on vernacular
architecture, American folk art, museum theory and the cultural heritage
of
the United States and Great Britain. While on leave during 1993-94,
Marshall conducted research in the Scottish Lowlands as a Visiting
Research
Fellow in the European Ethnological Research Centre in the National
Musem
of Antiquities of Scotland (Queen Street, Edinburgh).