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Historical Fall 2007 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
If these walls could talk, what stories might they tell? Perhaps you’ve wondered: When was my house built? What additions or alterations were made over the years? Who were its past residents? Fortunately for those in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, the nearby Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center at 225 South Skinker may hold the answers to these questions.
As a test case, Skinker-DeBaliviere resident Jennifer Olmstead asked what I could uncover about the history of her house at 6115 Westminster Place. Determining when the house was built proved to be easy thanks to an architectural survey map of the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood compiled by the Landmarks Association of St. Louis in 1983.
This map indicates that the house was built in 1914 and designed by architect C.W. Pomeroy.
To find out who resided at 6115 Westminster Place, I consulted the Red-Blue Books and Blue Books.
These annual reverse directories allowed me to look up the street address, which then provided the name of the resident.
The first residents were traveling salesman William Henry Garrels and his wife, Clara, who resided in the house from 1914 to 1925. (William Garrels died in 1922.) The 1916 city directory includes his business address, 1000 Washington Avenue, which was then the location of the RiceStix Dry Goods Company.
This additional bit of information gave me a new avenue to investigate.
A quick search for the Rice-Stix Dry Goods Company in our library catalog revealed a publication titled The Progress of a Progressive House: Rice-Stix Dry Goods Company, published circa 1907, which includes a photograph of William Garrels.
The old Rice-Stix Dry Goods Company building has recently been renovated as the home of the Merchandise Mart Apartments.
The Library and Research Center holds a wealth of resources documenting the history of the burgeoning downtown loft district.
But who was this man, William Garrels?
The 1920 federal census provides additional information: He was 59 years old; he was born in Missouri; his parents were born in Holland; and he owned his home. Living with him in 1920 were his 48-year-old wife, Clara, his 19- year-old daughter Mildred, and two roomers. Nearby Soldan High School seemed a likely school for Mildred Garrels to have attended, so I consulted the Soldan yearbooks. Among the graduates of 1918 was the “divinely tall and most divinely fair” Mildred Garrels.
The yearbook also noted a party held at the Garrels’ home: “At Mildred Garrels’ house one night, A tea was given, that was just right; Our senior boys were gentlemen, And served the ladies now and then.” Returning to the city directories, I located the home’s second owner, Malcolm Henry Campbell, who resided at 6115 Westminster with his family from 1925 until his death in 1950.
The 1930 federal census notes that the value of the home at that time was $15,580, and the home contained a “radio set.” Malcolm Campbell was a conductor for the Pullman Company, whose famous sleeping cars were a fixture of luxury train travel in the United States. Our library holds a collection of the company’s magazine titled The Pullman News, which includes a few mentions of Campbell. Additional information about his career may be found in the Pullman Company archives at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Charles W. Keisker lived at 6115 Westminster from 1950 to 1972, and celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary with his wife, Irma, in the home in 1969. Sam K. Green and his wife, Lucille, resided in the home from 1973 to 2005 until it was purchased by current residents Brady Baybeck and Jennifer Olmstead.
If you’d like to investigate the history of your home and order reproductions of photographs or artifacts visit the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center at 225 South Skinker.
The library is open to the public TuesdayFriday, 12-5, and Saturday, 10-5. For special instruction on researching the history of your home, sign up for “House History 101,” a guided tour to our valuable holdings including maps and atlases, city directories, census records, letterheads of old businesses, photographs, and more.
The class will be scheduled during a weekend in mid-October. For more information or for advanced registration, please contact Alex Detrick, Assistant Director for Community Education and Events at abell@ mohistory.org or 314- 361-8059. Editor’s Note: In reading MOHIS’ account of 6115 Westminster, here’s an interesting link between the generations of homeowners.
In the late 70’s. Sam Green also worked at the Merchandise Mart Building in another dry goods enterprise, Lady Arrow Co.
His showroom there was supplemented by an ingenious “mobile” showroom in a converted Greyhound bus, which was frequently parked in the back yard of 6115.
The bus also made many appearances at political events throughout the 80’s, when Lu Green served as director of Operation Brightside and her brother Vince Schoemehl was Mayor of St. Louis. – JV
Original photograph caption
6115 Westminster Place, built in 1914 according to source architectural survey. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Fall 2007.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2007_09.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
