The Missouri Governor's Mansion is a historic

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

residence A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside. Residence may more specifically refer to: * Domicile (law), a legal term for residence * Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. It is located at 100 Madison Street. On May 21, 1969, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. It is located in the Missouri State Capitol Historic District. The current site on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River was the vicinity of the first Jefferson City Missouri State Capitol building from 1825 to 1837 after the capitol was relocated from

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri. Situated on t ...

to Jefferson City. The capitol burned in 1837 and was rebuilt at its current site a block to the west. The current

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

structure was built in 1871 at a cost of $75,000 and has served every governor since. It was renovated extensively during the administration of Governor

Kit Bond Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (born March 6, 1939) is an American attorney, politician and former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett W ...

in the 1980s.

History

First mansion

Prior to the relocation of the state capital to Jefferson City, the first governors who were from the

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

area lived in their private homes and if the need arose they rented homes in St. Charles. The first Jefferson City governor's mansion also doubled as the home for the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...

, with the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

meeting on the ground floor, the

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

on the second floor and the governor living in two rooms. The structure, which was 60 by , was completed in November 1826 at a cost of $20,000. The building was designed by Stephen Hills and was modeled on the first

Pennsylvania State Capitol The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative ...

in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Hill later designed

Academic Hall Academic Hall was the original main building of the University of Missouri. It was dedicated in 1843 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Academic Hall's six Ionic columns, today known as The Columns, stand on Francis Quadrangle as the most recogniz ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

(of which now remains only the landmark columns on the

Francis Quadrangle David R. Francis Quadrangle is the historical center of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Known as The Quad it is the oldest part of Red Campus and adjacent to Downtown Columbia at the south end of the Avenue of the Columns. At ...

Second mansion

Missouri's second governor

Daniel Dunklin Daniel Dunklin (January 14, 1790 – August 25, 1844) was the fifth Governor of Missouri, serving from 1832 to 1836. He also served as the state's third Lieutenant Governor. Dunklin is considered the "Father of Public Schools" in Missouri.Chri ...

, after being elected in 1832, refused to move his family to the building. Construction of a new $5,000 mansion began in the autumn of 1833 and was completed in 1834. It was at the end of the same block as the original mansion/capitol. It had dimensions of 48 by and a portico with four. The building survived the November 15, 1837 fire that destroyed the neighboring capitol when wet blankets were applied to the roof of the mansion. The mansion suffered a fire in the 1840s during the administration of Thomas Reynolds. Reynolds killed himself in the mansion in 1844. A sofa with pineapple-shaped legs belonging to Reynolds is now one of the oldest pieces of furniture in the current mansion. Governor

Robert Marcellus Stewart Robert Marcellus Stewart (March 12, 1815 – September 21, 1871) was the 14th Governor of Missouri from 1857 to 1861, during the critical years just prior to the American Civil War. Early years Stewart was born in Truxton, New York, but mov ...

initiated a campaign to build a new residence. Stewart rode a horse up the steps into the house and ordered a servant to feed it a

peck A peck is an imperial and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 dry gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. An imperial peck is equivalent to 9.09 liters and a US customary peck is equivalent to 8.81 liters. Two pecks ma ...

of oats. Stewart also pardoned all the women in the state prison and had them work in the mansion. The General Assembly allocated $20,000 for a new mansion but, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

interrupted the plan.

Current mansion

After B. Gratz Brown assumed office in 1871, several people said they would not come to large gatherings at the mansion because they feared disaster. In March 1871, the Assembly allocated $50,000 for a new mansion. George Ingham Barnett (whose work includes most of the buildings at the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million ...

built for Henry Shaw) was the architect. Major exterior features of the square, three-story red brick building are the mansard roof and four pink granite columns from Brown's quarry in

Iron County, Missouri Iron County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,537. The largest city and county seat is Ironton. Iron County was officially organized on February 17, 1857, an ...

. The most striking interior feature is the Grand Stairway carved of walnut. The first of the major renovations occurred in the 1890s under Governor

David Rowland Francis David Rowland Francis (October 1, 1850January 15, 1927) was an American politician and diplomat. He served in various positions including Mayor of St. Louis, the 27th Governor of Missouri, and United States Secretary of the Interior. He was th ...

; they included painting the bricks deep red to cover

soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...

stains. The next major renovation occurred under Lloyd C. Stark in which $55,000 was allocated to replace the columns supporting the Grand Stairway with steel brackets. The exterior was painted white and the Starks donated 3,000 plants from their nursery. During

’s administration in the 1980s, the mansion was renovated extensively in an attempt to restore it to an 1871 appearance including the addition of

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style of furniture and restoration of the pink brick exterior.

Tours

Free guided tours are provided by volunteer docents. The Missouri Governor's Mansion tours are open April through mid-May. Reservations can be made through the Missouri State Parks website.

Notes

References

*Past & Repast = The History and Hospitality of the Missouri Governor's Mansion - Missouri Mansion Preservation, Inc. -1983

External links

Official siteFriends of the Missouri Governor’s Mansion
{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Houses completed in 1871 Governors' mansions in the United States Historic house museums in Missouri Museums in Jefferson City, Missouri Government buildings in Missouri Buildings and structures in Jefferson City, Missouri Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Missouri Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Houses in Cole County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Cole County, Missouri 1871 establishments in Missouri Buildings and structures in Cole County, Missouri