Wallendorf, Joseph and Elizabeth House, Jefferson City, MO - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The 2-story log house of the Wallendorf family has been preserved by the Missouri State Farm Bureau Foundation. It is planned to function as a farm life museum and cultural center remembering Missouri German immigrant farm family life in the early days of Missouri's history.

The Wallendorf's were German catholics who first settled in Westphalia, Missouri before coming to Jefferson City. The old building was saved from demolition and purchased by the Farm Bureau Foundation in 2004. It was moved from its original location and reconstructed approximately 1.5 miles from the Frog Hollow Valley site it occupied.

The house had an important Civil War guest in the fall of 1864, as Confederate General and former Missouri Governor Sterling Price stayed at the house as he decided not to attack Jefferson City.

Confederate General Sterling Price was quite familiar with Jefferson City- he had been Governor of Missouri in the 1850's, On October 7,1864 the forces of his calvary raid across Missouri were on the city's outskirts. The raid was in response to Sherman's march to the sea in Georgia. That evening under a sky that was threatening rain he decided not to attack Jefferson City, but to bypass the city through Russelville,Boonville and points west. His route took the troops through the Frog Hollow Valley and the nearby the farm house of the Wallendorf family.

If the walls of the house could talk they might relate the conversations that went on between Price and his staff as they made the decision that would ensure that the Battle of Jefferson City was one that didn't happen.

Thus, as the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is observed, the historic Wallendorf log house will play an important role in helping the public understand the visit of Confederate General Sterling Price
to Missouri's capital city on an October day in 1864.

It will also give Missourians and our visitors the opportunity to remember that Missourians played key Civil War roles in places like Wilson's Creek in Missouri,Shiloh and Franklin in Tennessee, and Vicksburg in Mississippi--on both the Union and Confederate sides.

Street address: Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation 701 Country Club Drive Jefferson City, MO USA 65109 County / Borough / Parish: Cole County Missouri Year listed: 2008 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/ Engineering Periods of significance: 1825-1849;1850-1874 Historic function: Domestic: Single Dwelling Current function: recreation and culture: museum of farm life and history museum Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/26/2021 sokrkx visited it