County of district: Franklin County
Location of district: Roughly bounded by Stafford, Olive, W. 5th, and W. 2nd Sts. , Washington
"The Stafford-Olive Historic District in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri is a
residential neighborhood which covers roughly 30 acres of land. The district sits just west of the
commercial center of town, and abuts both of the existing National Register Historic Districts in
Washington; the Tibbe Historic District is due east, and the Downtown Washington Historic District
is northeast Although geographically close, those districts contain different types of properties.
The Downtown District is for the most part a commercial area, while the Tibbe District contains a
cohesive collection of large high style residences. The working class dwellings of the Stafford-Olive
neighborhood represent a distinctly different grouping of historic resources. The Stafford-Olive
district stretches along Stafford and Olive Streets, between West Second and West Fifth Streets. The
houses throughout the area tend to be built close together, and set close to the street This is
particularly true of the older houses along Stafford Street; many are located no more than five or ten
feet from the street, and several are directly on the sidewalk.
"The houses of the neighborhood range from very small ante-bellum Missouri-German
dwellings to multi-story Victorian residences; modest dwellings predominate. There are also a
large number of early twentieth century houses, including many highly intact Bungalows.
Altogether, there are 167 buildings in the district Of those, 113 are houses, one is a commercial
building, and 53 are outbuildings. The overall level of integrity is very good; 140 of the 167
buildings are contributing. Contributing resources include 103 houses, one gas station, and 36
outbuildings. The oldest house in the area dates to ca. 1858, the newest to the early 1990's. New
construction is quite minimal, less than ten of the houses in the district are less than fifty years old.
"Overall, the buildings of the district exhibit a good cross section of construction dates and building types, and reflect the historic contexts discussed in the Multiple Property Submission
cover document "Historic Resources of Washington, Missouri." All three of the major periods of
development which were discussed in that document are represented. Those periods are as
follows: Period I. Early Development and German Immigration: 1839-1870 (19 contributing
properties), Period II. The Golden Era: 1871-1904 (15 contributing properties), and Period HI.
Assimilation and Twentieth Century Development 1905-1950 (69 contributing properties.)
Property types discussed in the cover document are also well-represented. Contributing buildings
include: 35 Vernacular Missouri-German houses, 9 Victorian dwellings, 3 Gabled Ells, 9 Gable
Fronts and 5 Narrow Gabled Ells, 9 Period Revivals, 7 Foursquares, 2 Pyramid Squares, and 30
Bungalows. The buildings of the Stafford-Olive District reflect city-wide patterns of architectural
and social development and are representative of the historic contexts discussed in the MPS cover
document.
"The current boundaries encompass the most intact segment of the neighborhood. With the
exception of the adjoining Tibbe and Downtown Washington Historic Districts to the east and
northeast, respectively, the surrounding areas are either open and undeveloped, or contain new or
greatly altered historic properties. Surrounding properties have been indicated on the boundary
map, to illustrate the location of buildings which would be non-contributing if included within the
boundaries." ~ NRHP Nomination Form