Monday, January 30, 2023
Rockcliffe Mansion was constructed from 1898 to 1900 in Hannibal, Missouri for the wealthy lumber baron John J. Cruikshank, Jr. The mansion is a large 2 1/2 story double-brick house with white trim situated at the top of a large hill in the center of town with a commanding view of the area. The front of the house features a two story portico of paired Corinthian columns with a second floor balcony. The East side of the house features an expansive single story "porte cochere" with Tuscan columns. Originally the porches were connected but a fire destroyed that portion. Inside, there are more than 30 rooms and 10 unique ornate fireplaces. The interior is detailed in rich Mahogany and Quarter Sawn Oak in the Late Victorian and Art Nouveau styles. The main staircase rises to a large Tiffany stained glass window on the north facade and from there it splits into two rounded staircases to the second floor. The light fixtures throughout are an unusual dual purpose gas/electric type. The hall and reception room are oak while the library and dining room are mahogany. The "Moorish Room" features scalloped horseshoe and ogee arches on Corinthian columns and the room has its own custom Tiffany stained glass windows on the east wall. It is said that Louis Tiffany himself designed the entirety of the Moorish Room. Throughout the rest of the house, you will find the highest quality down to the smallest detail; all plumbing fixtures by J.L. Mott Iron Works and hardware by Yale and Towne. Most of the furnishings and fixtures in the house today are the antique originals despite the house being abandoned for 43 years.
Rockcliffe Mansion was considered "the most imposing, beautiful and costly residential structure in this part of the state" and fortunately it remains today as an outstanding example of the Georgian Revival style. The site was originally home to another lumberman, Sumner T. Mcknight who built an "imposing Italianette mansion" on this very spot in 1878. Cruikshank had this original house moved about 80 feet to the west, a major undertaking for the time, prior to building his own mansion in its stead. The McKnight mansion still stands nearby where it was originally relocated. The grounds of Rockcliffe were designed by O.C. Simonds, noted "landscape gardener" of Chicago. The house was designed by renowned architectural firm Barnett, Haynes and Barnett of St Louis. The opening reception was held in June 1901 wherein the Empire Orchestra played for the 700 people in attendance. On June 2, 1902, "Mark Twain" himself made an appearance here for about 300 guests and delivered a lecture from the main staircase.
John J. Cruikshank, Jr was the son of lumber business owner John Cruikshank who had moved to Hannibal from Alton, Illinois. Hannibal was well suited to the variety of lumber companies already in operation whose harvested logs from Wisconsin and Minnesota were floated down the river to Hannibal where they were then trasnferred to and conveyed by railroads to be distributed further west and south. John J. Cruikshank Jr took over his father's firm in 1864 an by the 1880s was said to be worth half a million dollars at the time.
The Junior Cruikshank died in 1924 at which point this house was left vacant. It remained abandoned and deteriorating for 43 years thereafter. During this time, local children were known to dare each other to venture inside the crumbling old house and go all the way to the top floor where they would take something to prove their bravery, usually ripping off a piece of a map in the schoolroom. This is a well-known pastime dating back probably as far as you can go in history and which is generally known as "urban exploration" today. Rockcliffe during this time was also the target of rocks thrown through many of its windows yet this mischief miraculously spared the stained glass. Futher miracles include the fact that otherwise very few of the original artifacts inside were stolen or destroyed and even the library retained all or most of its books during the 43 year vacancy.
By the 1960's, Rockcliffe Mansion was under threat of the wrecking ball; demolition was scheduled and nearly begun. A mere two weeks prior to the scheduled demolition, three local families came together to save the house and begin the restoration. Apparently one of the heirs of the property had later gone bankrupt and attempted to sell off all the valuable artifacts inside the house before their efforts were thwarted. As the house itself was nearly demolished years earlier, the entire collection of antiques inside it was also nearly broken up and sold individually to private collectors. Fortunately, both fates were narrowly avoided. The new owners are continuing to actively restore and preserve the building.
NOTE: This location (as well as the one in the next upcoming post) is, obviously, not abandoned. Rockcliffe Mansion is an awesome (seasonal) "Bed and Breakfast" located in Hannibal, Missouri and I highly recommend you stay here if you ever have the opportunity.
Source(s): NROHB, HABS and their current website.
Begin Historic Photos
The first photo here is from some time during Rockcliffe's 43 year period of abandonment. I'm going to assume the persons in the photo are the undisputed urbex champions of their generation.
The following photos were found scattered across the internet and are from various time periods.
End Historic Photos
Notable among the design choices here are the copious amount of bazongas on display, an aesthetic of which the current author fully approves. They sure don't make things with the same quality and attention to detail anymore.
Friday, January 6, 2023
The Jefferson Hotel was the largest and probably most well-known hotel in the Saint Louis area throughout the first half of the 20th Century. It was hurriedly constructed in the early 1900's to assist in accomodating some of the 19.7 million guests who would attend the World's Fair. Construction broke ground in March of 1903 and work at the site would see sixteen hour days in order to meet the impending deadline. Prior to officially opening for business, this hotel was chosen as the location to inaugurate the social season of the World's Fair. A formal ball was held on April 8, 1904 and was sponsored by the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Confederate Memorial Society. The ball was said to be the "most strikingly brilliant social affair ever held" in the area and guests were reported to include "representatives of every civilized country, high World's Fair officials, soldiers, consuls and multimillionaires". The hotel was able to meet the construction deadline, opening on April 29th 1904, the day before the Fair was to begin.
Among those registered at the hotel on the eve of the World's Fair included the official delegation of the U.S. Senate and House. President Theodore Roosevelt personally telegraphed the signal to commence the opening from the white house. The hotel would host several Democratic National Conventions throughout the years among other countless conventions and other events.
Despite ownership changes over the years, the hotel thrived up until some time in the 60s. In the mid 1970's, the hotel closed and was threatened with demolition. It was fortunately saved from that fate and remodeled into small apartments for "over-50" residents. It eventually moved from senior living to low income residents after which point it closed sometime around 2007.
The one time "Aristocrat of Saint Louis", "as handsome as the Waldorf-Astoria, or the handsomest hotel in America" has now been sitting vacant for the past 15 years and as a result has been in a state of rapid deterioration ever since.
Just within the past couple months, renovations have finally begun and they've even partially sealed it back up (hence finally using the hotel's real name). I'm not sure what their plans are for the ballroom but I'd be surprised if they bother trying to replicate the crumbling plaster and other features vs a complete remodel of the space, but I guess it's not impossible. After all, the Wright Arcadeseems to have been meticulously restored following its own long period of neglect.
Click here for the video.
Check out my post here from over ten years ago (!) when I referred to it as the "Ballroom Hotel" to avoid publicly identifying it.
Source: National Records of Historic Buildings Nomination form
All historic photos courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society (except for the KSHE stage photo for which I can no longer seem to locate the source. No idea who that is onstage either.).
Begin Historic Photos
End Historic Photos
