The State Historical Society of Missouri is home to numerous collections concerning the built environment. These collections include the records of architectural firms, the papers of local architects, and nearly seventeen thousand sets of architectural drawings documenting residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional structures. The materials preserved within these collections document the state’s rich architectural history and heritage while providing insights into the design and development processes of its architects.
Articles from Missouri Historical Review and Missouri Times
- Adams, W. Howard "From Jail to History Center."
Missouri Historical Review 56 (July 1962): 361-364. - Bryan, John A. "Outstanding Architects in St. Louis between 1804 and 1904."
Missouri Historical Review 28 (January 1934): 83-90. - Caldwell, Dorothy J. "Missouri's Covered Bridges."
Missouri Historical Review 61 (January 1967): 229-237. - Caldwell, Dorothy J. "Missouri's National Historic Landmarks."
Part I: Missouri Historical Review 61 (July 1967): 497-509.
Part II: Missouri Historical Review 62 (January 1968): 152-165. - Denny, James M. "Vernacular Building Process in Missouri: Nathaniel Leonard's Activities, 1825-1870."
Missouri Historical Review 78 (October 1983): 23-50. - Ehrlich, George "Partnership Practice and the Professionalization of Architecture in Kansas City, Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 74 (July 1980): 458-480. - Ehrlich, George, and Sherry Piland "The Architectural Career of Nelle Peters."
Missouri Historical Review 83 (January 1989): 161-176. - Forester, Rachel. "From the Stacks: Early Women Architects of Kansas City: The Mary Rockwell Hook Papers."
Missouri Historical Review 113, no. 3 (April 2019): 206-209. - Miner, Pamela Ann "Rise Like a Phoenix: The Creation of Francis Quadrangle."
Missouri Historical Review 84 (October 1989): 42-62. - Ohman, Marian M. "PWA and WPA Courthouses in Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 96 (January 2002): 93-118. - Owen, Lance R. “'A Score of Slender Towers': Skyscraper Development in Kansas City, Missouri, 1929-1932.”
Missouri Historical Review 111 (April 2017): 204-216. - Peterson, Charles E. "Early Ste. Genevieve and its Architecture."
Missouri Historical Review 35 (January 1941): 207-232. - Wright, Bonnie, Robert Durant Smith, and Haden D. Smith "And It was Red: Missouri's New Supreme Court Building, 1907."
Missouri Historical Review 78 (July 1984): 414-427.
"State Council on the Arts Exhibits Photographs of Missouri Buildings."
Missouri Historical Review 62 (April 1968): 321.
Catalog
Many of the State Historical Society’s holdings are included in the SHSMO online catalog. The State Historical Society holds several books on the history of Missouri’s architecture. A keyword search can be done for general information using “Missouri Architecture.” For a more specific search on Missouri, you can use the Library of Congress subject terms “Architecture, Domestic—Missouri,” and/or “Architecture—Missouri—History.”
Historic Missourian Biographies
The State Historical Society of Missouri’s Historic Missourians website has an entire category dedicated to architects featuring four biographies.
- Morris Frederick Bell - Morris Frederick Bell was a prolific architect whose work can be found throughout Missouri and the Midwest. His most notable surviving accomplishment is Francis Quadrangle, which includes Jesse Hall, on the University of Missouri campus. Bell was largely an institutional architect—he built structures related to organizations or institutions such as hospitals, school buildings, correctional facilities, and monuments.
- The Boller Brothers - Carl and Robert Boller were architects who specialized in designing movie palaces during the first half of the twentieth century. Early on, the architecture of movie theater buildings aided in the illusion of stepping into a fantasy world.
- Louis S. Curtiss - Louis S. Curtiss was a prominent Kansas City architect known for his innovative buildings. During the course of his career, he designed over two hundred structures for clients across the country.
- Nelle E. Peters - Nelle E. Peters was one of Kansas City’s most productive architects. She designed numerous buildings during the 1920s when she was one of the few women architects to have an independent practice. She specialized in designing apartment buildings and hotels. During her sixty year career as an architect Peters designed almost one thousand buildings, mostly in the Kansas City area.
Manuscripts
Records, including designs and plans, of architects and architectural firms, and records of construction companies. Records of engineers and engineering companies directly related to the construction of buildings. Records of architectural organizations and architectural preservation groups.