Jefferson City, Missouri: Rich History, Modern Charm

The scenic route doesn't just take you to places in Texas, it goes everywhere. And this particular time, it took us to Jefferson City, Missouri.

Jefferson City was founded in 1821 on the bank of the Missouri River as the site of the capital of Missouri. It was specifically setup to be the capital of the state and is centrally located between Missouri's two biggest cities. The city was named for Thomas Jefferson.

This is the Union Hotel. It was built in 1855 as the Missouri Hotel. After the Civil War owner Charles Maus renamed this hotel the Union Hotel to reflect his sentiments. It's located near the railroad tracks. In the 1960s, the building was purchased by the state with the intent of demolishing it. There was a campaign spearheaded by Elizabeth Rozier to save the building, which they did. For a long time, the Missouri State Parks used the upper floors of the building as offices while the lower floor was used as the Amtrak passenger station. In 2019, the building was closed due to structural issues. Local preservationists are trying to lobby funds from the state to save the building.

Not far from the Union Hotel building is Lohman's Landing. This building was originally built in 1839 by James Crump. It was later purchased by Charles Lohman who came to Jefferson City in 1848. During the steamboat era, the building was used as a warehouse, the headquarters and living quarters of the wharf master. This building was a grocery store, a tavern, a telegraph office and a hotel as well. When the Missouri Railroad came to Jefferson City, it revitalized the area. It's considered the oldest building in Jefferson City and now serves as the visitor's center.

As I mentioned, Charles Lohman came to Missouri from Germany in 1848. He first landed in St. Louis before coming to Jefferson City. Not only did he own the building known as Lohman's Landing but he was also a merchant. The building on the far right was his store. Two of his sons, Louis and Charles, worked in the store at some point. Louis, built the building next door. The Lohman Opera House was building in 1885 and hosted traveling performers. It now houses a catering company.

Not only is Jefferson City the capital of Missouri, it's also the county seat of Cole County. This beautiful building is the Cole County Courthouse. The first courthouse was built in 1837. In 1896, there was a fire that basically left the stone husk of the building. The new courthouse was rebuilt using some of the stones from the original. The courthouse was designed by Frank Miller. When a fire broke out in 1918 destroying part of the structure, it was rebuilt using Miller's plans. It was completely renovated in 1971.

In 1855, the Missouri Pacific Railroad completed a line from St. Louis to Jefferson City. This train depot was built in 1898. In 1982, the building was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad.  Passenger rail service by Union Pacific stopped and Amtrak took over. Union Pacific still has freight service to Jefferson City but the building is no longer in use. It was used as a commercial business for a while but it is now closed. It's too bad the city or Union Pacific doesn't open it as a museum. Unfortunately, because it's been neglected, it has fallen into disrepair.

St. Peter's Catholic Church is across the street from the state Capitol. The original church was built in 1856. The current building was dedicated in 1883. The Governor of Missouri is inaugurated on the stops of the Capitol just as the clock on this church strikes twelve noon.

This is the third capitol building for the state of Missouri. The first building was erected in 1826 and sat where the governor's mansion is now. In 1837, there was a fire that destroyed the building. The second capitol was erected in the current location in 1840. Then in 1911, it was struck by lightning and it burned. Construction on the current capitol building began in 1913 and was completed in 1917. 

Inside the building on the first floor is this magnificent staircase that goes up to the second floor.

Also on the first floor is the Missouri State Museum. It's free for you to walk around and check it out.

A view from the second floor. According to our tour guide, the murals on the ceiling were painted elsewhere and then plastered to the ceiling.

There's a very famous painting in the lounge for the House of representatives. It's done by Thomas Hart Benton and he painted this mural on site. It's the only painting in the capitol that was actually painted here. The mural takes up the whole room and it's scenes of everyday Missourians. There were several scenes from the mural that were controversial like this woman changing a diaper. Not sure why that raised a ruckus but there you go. There were also scenes of the slave trade that were controversial. That I understand. 

This is the Gallery for the House of Representatives for the state of Missouri. On the far right wall is a gnome. Nobody knows why it's there or who put it there. 

On the front steps of the capitol is a statue of the city's namesake, Thomas Jefferson.

The Governor's Mansion was completed in December 1881. It's located on the site of the original state capitol. It was built using labor from the the nearby prison. Governor B. Gratz Brown was the first governor to live in the residence and it has been home to the Missouri State Governor ever since. It has three stories and 13 bedrooms. Originally, there were no closets or bathrooms. You can tour the mansion for free but only on certain days of the week.

Not long after establishing Jefferson City as the capital of Missouri, lawmakers determined that they needed a prison. The Missouri State Penitentiary was built in 1836. It's located on the Missouri River less than two miles from the capitol. I operated as a maximum security prison from 1836 to 2004 making it the oldest continuously operated prison west of the Mississippi.

The wall and guardhouse that went around the prison. The prison was known as the "bloodiest 47 acres in America" due to the high number of assaults. The prison housed several notable inmates such as James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. He was incarcerated in 1959 for armed robbery. In 1967, he escaped by hiding in a bread box in the truck that drove between the prison bakery where he worked to the Renz Farm.

Another famous inmate was Pretty Boy Floyd. He was incarcerated at MSP in 1925 for robbing a payroll truck of $12,000, his first offense. He was released in 1929. After that he became a notorious murderer. You can tour the prison itself but keep in mind, there's no air conditioning so plan accordingly.

Directly across the street is the warden's house. Built in 1888 using prison labor. It was named the Colonel Darwin W. Marmaduke House after the first warden to live there. Currently, the house is occupied by the Jefferson City Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The back garage area and basement houses the Missouri State Penitentiary Museum.

The museum is pretty cool. It's $2 to get it and they have all kinds of artifacts from the prison. This was the warden's office. If you don't have the 2 - 3 hours for the prison tour, stop by here and check out the museum.

Also in Jefferson City is the Carnegie Library building. Andrew Carnegie funded 33 libraries in the state of Missouri and this was one of them. It was built in 1902. Carnegie donated $25,000 under the conditions that the city purchased the land on which the library sits and the city council had to maintain the library. The library was in service for almost a century before it was replaced by the Thomas Jefferson Library building. This building was scheduled for demolition but public outcry saved it. It now houses the Cole County Assessor's office.

The Jefferson City bridge built in 1953 replacing the original bridge that was further downstream. The bridge spans the Missouri River which is the longest river in the US, beating the Mississippi River by a mile.

We stayed mostly in downtown Jefferson City. I liked it quite a bit. It was very walkable. There are about 43K people that live here. The biggest employer is, of course, the State of Missouri. It's a lot different than Texas. It was very hilly and green. There were tons of older houses downtown some of which had been turned into businesses. There's also a ton of history here.

If you're nearby, stop in for a visit. There's lots to see.