A Visit to Kimmswick Missouri

What is it with all the shopping excursions this year!?  They seem unavoidable… Maybe I’m just mellowing or my resistance is wearing down.  In any case, shortly after we arrived in the St. Louis area for our Holiday pilgrimage, we were off on another shopping adventure.  Laurie’s sister Bonnie suggested that we visit the little shopping mecca that is Kimmswick Missouri.  The town is in Jefferson County, just a little south of St. Louis.

(Despite this being a shopping trip, it was still better than working…which was how Bonnie’s husband Bill got out of this excursion)

This is a view down Market Street in Kimmswick.  This old town has revived itself over the years as a shopping destination full of specialty stores and gift shops.  A successful merchant from St. Louis, Theodore Kimm, moved to Jefferson County in 1850 and he bought a large parcel of land.  Kimm was from Brunswick, Germany so it’s probable that he named the town after himself by adding ‘wick’ to his name.  In Old English or German, wick means village or town.

Kimmswick has never been a large town.  In 1890, the population was 182.  The population ‘peaked’ in 1960 with 303 residents and today it’s estimated to be about 160.  Despite its small size, it has reinvented itself!

“Front and Market Gifts” was close to where we could find a place to park…so it was the first store the ladies visited.  As for yours truly, I made good use of that bench out front.

FYI, the Kimmswick Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  There are a total of 44 contributing structures in the Historic District but the information on many of them is spotty at best.  This building is shown on the map of the District as a contributing structure but no information was provided about it as a stand-alone structure…

This large brick building is the Martin Meyer Building at 6061 Front Street.  It was built ca. 1880.  As it turns out, the first store we visited, “Front and Market Gifts”, is an ‘outbuilding’ associated with his much larger structure.  When this building was last listed by a realtor, it showed 3,000 sq. ft. with an upstairs living area, 2 full baths and a full kitchen.

A little history… Back in the 1860s and 1870s, Kimmswick was a prosperous town.  Many of its residents were from Germany and Switzerland.  The town had an iron forge, saw mill, grist mill, limestone quarries, a brewery and a number of large greenhouses that shipped fresh flowers to St. Louis.  

If I’d just looked over my shoulder, Kimmswick’s 1914 U.S. Post Office is virtually just across the street from the Martin Meyer building and it’s still operating!  The town’s first post office was established in 1858…

I didn’t take a picture of every building in town that the ladies visited but this was the next one that I thought was photogenic.  This is the “Kimmswick Korner Gift Shoppe”, aka the Michael Ziegler Sr. Building.  It was built in 1913.  By the time ‘we’ were done shopping, I knew exactly how that fellow on the bench outside this store felt!

Here are 2 photos of the fudge and chocolate candy display cases inside the Kimmswick Korner Gift Shoppe.  This is one time I was glad I didn’t go in the store.  I escaped with two pieces of chocolate that my better half gave me later.  She took these photos… I couldn’t locate a website or Facebook page for this business.

This handsome restored 2-story brick Neoclassical Missouri German building is at 205 Market Street.  The John J. Wagner House was built ca. 1872.  Today the sign below the ‘Wagner House’ sign tells us that it’s now the “Barber Haus”.  I did note that it is available for photo shoots, small events and tours by appointment.  The photos of the interior of this home on their Facebook site are really very appealing. Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/the.Barber.Haus/.

The “Cozy Cottage” store at 212 Market Street isn’t included as a contributing resource within Kimmswick’s National Historic District.  Despite the fact that the primary structure was built ca. 1930 and it has an appealing look, it’s been too severely modified to qualify under the guidelines for a historic building. 

Although with me it’s more about the history and architecture, I must say that this cute gift boutique was one of the busiest stores we saw in Kimmswick.  They are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cozycottagekimms/.

Historically this attractive structure was the Jacob Fink House and it was built ca. 1872.  Today it’s called the “Yellow House”.

This building is now home to “Savannah Rose”, a store specializing in children’s and baby gifts as well as florals, giftware and monogramming.  Bonnie and Laurie bought a gift here for their sister Karole's 75th birthday and they had it monogrammed for her too.  This store is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Savannah-Rose-163735823641716/. 

…and fittingly enough given the size of the town, this little building is the Kimmswick City Hall.  It was built in 1903 and it’s located at 6041 3^rd Street. 

…and then there are a few really old houses in town.  This is the Burgess-How House. (ca. 1840) Operated by the Kimmswick Historical Society, this big log cabin was moved to Kimmswick from Mapaville Missouri.  It had been scheduled for destruction but the KHS has preserved and furnished it as a 1840s farmhouse.  It can be toured on Sunday afternoons from April through December.

This is the Old House.  It was moved to Kimmswick from Beck Missouri in 1973.  The first level of the front of the building was built ca. 1770.  The second story of the house as well as the wing in the second photo were added in 1831. 

Over the years, this log home served as a trading post, a tavern (allegedly frequented by General U.S. Grant), a farmhouse and an antique shop.  As you can see from the first photo, it’s scheduled to become a winery in January of 2020.  That’ll be the original portion of the structure’s 250 year anniversary! 

Finally, this is the Barbagallo House…and, as you can see it has major structural issues.  There also are braces on the other side of the building.  The home was built ca. 1850 in St. Louis County on land belonging to John Peter Didier, who was born in France and who served as Missouri’s first State Treasurer.  Situated on a raised basement foundation, it is an important example of French Creole architecture.

In 1975 this house was donated to Lucianna Gladney-Ross, daughter of one of the founders of the 7-UP Company.  Mrs. Ross was instrumental in the renaissance of Kimmswick, helping to finance the restoration of several historic homes as well as the dismantling and reassembly of others…including the Barbagallo House.  She had spent many happy summers in the Kimmswick area.  When Mrs. Gladney-Ross died in 2012 at the age of 96, this home was sold and a number of subsequent owners have let it fall into disrepair.  The house was listed as a Missouri Place in Peril in 2018.  There is hope that a new owner will come along and restore this 170 year old classic…

In addition to everything else, Mrs. Gladney-Ross was an important benefactor to the Kimmswick Historical Society, donating the museum property to the group.  She also donated the Kimmswick Post Office.  To learn more about the museum and the Historical Society, go to http://visitkimmswick.com/museum.

I’ll cover one other stop in Kimmswick in a blog this coming week…and of course, it will be food related. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave