Missouri Germans Consortium

Last Friday, August 5, 2016 our friends at Missouri Preservation announced their list of  Places in Peril! And number one was a site that is near and dear to many of  our Missouri German hearts…

THE EMMAUS HOME – MARTHASVILLE, WARREN COUNTY

The Emmaus Home Complex in Marthasville began as a seminary for the German Evangelical Church in Missouri.  A campus of five buildings was completed here by 1859. Four of these remain in various states of repair, those being the Farm House, Bake Oven, Friedensbote (Messenger of Peace) Publishing House, and the Dormitory. The College Building itself was lost to a fire in 1930. The seminary was in operation at this site until 1883, when it moved to St. Louis and eventually became Eden Seminary. In 1893 the campus in Marthasville became known the Emmaus Asylum for Epileptics and Feeble Minded. The campus grew to a total of eight substantial buildings including a chapel, by 1928. An additional building, known as the Retreat House had also been constructed by 1954. In more recent years the religious denomination became the United Church of Christ and the two campuses the church body owned – this one in Warren County for men, and the other in St. Charles County for women – became known simply as the Emmaus Homes. This is an important historic site, having been constructed by some of the tens of thousands of Germans who emigrated here beginning in the 1830s. In the area the first Evangelical church west of the Mississippi was constructed, and this marked the beginning of the Synod of the west, known as Der Deutsche EvangelischKirchenverein des Westens. The buildings in the complex are unique in that they are of sturdy limestone construction in varying German styles by German immigrants. They are representative of the tenacity of some of Missouri’s earliest Germans, and are unique in that most are original with very few modifications over the years. Through the years the approach toward caring for the handicapped and developmentally disabled has also changed, and care for the residents at Emmaus has shifted from large institutional settings to smaller group homes. Emmaus has indicated that they wish to transition all clients away from Marthasville by 2020. It is hoped that by listing this campus on the list of Missouri’s Places in Peril that when it comes time to dispose of the campus, that Emmaus Homes will seek to find a reuse for this campus that will preserve the historic buildings located here. The campus is located in the Missouri Humanities German Heritage Corridor about 50 miles west of St. Louis.

Here is the rest of the list:

MISSOURI’S 2016 HISTORIC PLACES IN PERIL

1. EMMAUS HOME – MARTHASVILLE, WARREN COUNTY
2. PARSONS HOUSE – JEFFERSON CITY, COLE COUNTY
3. DEMARREE HOUSE – HOUSE SPRINGS, JEFFERSON COUNTY
4. 222 S. 4th STREET – ST. JOSEPH, BUCHANAN COUNTY
5. KIRKSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING – KIRKSVILLE, ADAIR COUNTY
6. BUSTER BROWN BLUE RIBBON SHOE FACTORY BUILDING – CITY OF SAINT LOUIS
7. “NELSONHOOD” – KANSAS CITY, JACKSON COUNTY
8. KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – KANSAS CITY, JACKSON COUNTY
9. 8^TH AND CENTER STREET BAPTIST CHURCH – HANNIBAL, MARION COUNTY
10. WESTLAND ACRES – CHESTERFIELD, ST. LOUIS COUNTY
11. JACKSON STREET LOW WATER BRIDGE&McINDOE PARK – JOPLIN VICINITY, JASPER & NEWTON COUNTIES
12. OLD PHILLIPSBURG GENERAL STORE – PHILLIPSBURG, LACLEDE COUNTY*
13. THE JAMES CLEMENS HOUSE – CITY OF SAINT LOUIS*
14. THE PHILLIP KAES HOUSE – SHERMAN, CASTLEWOOD STATE PARK, ST. LOUIS COUNTY*
15. THE BEND ROAD BRIDGE – PACIFIC, FRANKLIN COUNTY*
16. ROUTE 66 MERAMEC RIVER BRIDGE – EUREKA, ST. LOUIS COUNTY*

(*re-listed properties)

“The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation (Missouri Preservation) was founded in 1976 as the Missouri Heritage Trust. It is a statewide membership-based nonprofit organization that is headquartered in central Missouri and located in the historic Katy Train Depot in Boonville. Missouri Preservation has at its core a mission to advocate for, educate about and assist in the preservation of architectural and historic landmarks that embody Missouri’s unique heritage and sense of place. Its chief advocacy program has been its “Most Endangered Historic Places.” Instituted as a media campaign in 2000, the program has been aimed at calling attention to endangered statewide historic resources threatened by deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds, imminent demolition and/or inappropriate development. The program was renamed in 2015 as ‘Places in Peril’. The re-branding came as a means of highlighting the selected public nominated places because becoming the ‘most endangered’ was not a contest. Once the historic resource is gone, it’s gone forever. By publicizing these places we hope to build support towards each property’s eventual preservation.“

We urge you to visit Missouri Preservation on the web or facebook and learn more about these places!