Missouri’s most endangered historic places have been identified and the Missouri Preservation Organization is trying to help.
On of the top concerns on Missouri Preservation’s top 10 endangered historic buildings is a home that has close ties to Mark Twain. Karen Bode Baxter is the organization’s president. She says Grant’s Drug Store in historic Hannibal is across the street from the home Twain grew up in, and when the family fell on harder times, they lived there. His father died there.
It was built in the 1830s, she says, one of the town’s oldest buildings, and is an example of Greek revival architecture. Baxter says thousands of visitors visit the home each year and it’s in dire need of historic rehabilitation. There are some sagging floor boards and other impaired wooden structural weak spots.
Baxter says thousands of visitors visit the home each year and it’s in dire need of historic rehabilitation. There are some sagging floor boards and other impaired wooden structural weak spots.
Baxter says several of Missouri’s historic courthouses are in peril of being lost, as well as schools — many of them African-American — and hospitals.
She says there are grants and financial programs in place for those who take on historic properties for historic rehabilitation.
The endangered buildings are:
– St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad Depot – Fredericktown (Madison County)
– Lexington Municipal Auditorium – Lexington (Lafayette County)
– Grant’s Drug Store – Pilaster House – Hannibal (Marion County)
– Pierce City R-VI Middle School (Lawrence County)
– James County Marshall Home (Fairfax) –
– Rock Hill (St. Louis County) African-American Schools Across Missouri
– Lincoln School of Vandalia – Vandalia (Audrain County)
– Banneker School – Parkville (Platte County)
– Wheatley-Provident Hospital – Kansas City (Jackson County)
– The MKT Railroad Bridge – (Cooper and Howard Counties)
– Courthouses Across Missouri Specifically the Clark County Courthouse – Kahoka (Clark County)
Visit http://www.preservemo.org/ for more.
Karen Bode Baxter talks about Grant Drug Store
