Louis Kohmueller House - Washington, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 33.622 W 091° 01.962
15S E 671408 N 4269826
Fredrick Kohmoller or “Kohmueller” of Krukun, Hanover Province, Germany, bought the land, 80 acres, in 1844 for $900.
Waymark Code: WM12YJZ
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2020
Views: 0
County of site: Franklin County
Location of site: S. Lakeshore Drive & Grand Ave., Washington
Built: 1878
Listed on NRHP
Marker Text:
KOHMUELLER HOUSE
Built by Louis Kohmueller, a son of Fredrick who had emigrated from Osnabruck, Germany in 1843 and purchased what was once an 80 acre farmstead. Clay was mined extensively here for brick manufacturing purposes.
1878
"A notice in the Washington Missourian newspaper in November 1878 stated that Mittendorf and Theerman had received from Louis Kohmueller $435 “on account of house.”
"Two months later another notice ran in the newspaper stating Mittendorf and Theerman had received $419 “in full of account.” Washington history lists John H. Mittendorf as being a carpenter.
"Louis Kohmueller used the clay on the property to build a three-room brick house and a brick smokehouse.
"The house was completed in 1879. In 1908 a large barn was built on the property and still stands at this time.
"In 1989, Washington Preservation Inc. received permission from the City of Washington to restore the house and barn. In 2012, with the decline of Washington Preservation Inc., the house and barn's preservation became the Washington Historical Society's responsibility. The house and barn are used by the society for living history demonstrations.
"The farmstead is located at the corner of Grand Avenue and South Lakeshore Drive." ~ Washington Historical Society
"The Louis Kohmueller house at 1380 South Lakeshore Drive in Washington, Missouri is a
one story brick house with a stone foundation, a side facing gable roof, and a dentiled cornice. It has
a standing seam metal roof and segmental arched door and window openings. The six-over-six
windows are early or original. The house is unusual in that it has no formal facade. A recessed
porch on the east side of the house provides access to the three entry doors of the house, and there
are no doors on any of the other exterior walls. The house is, however, typical of early Missouri-German
architecture in most ways, and is representative of Property Type B. Vernacular Missouri-German.
The house was built ca. 1878; a one and one half story brick smokehouse just east of it was
built about the same time. A low-pitched shed roof which runs between those two buildings shelters
a patio below. There is also a large frame barn south of the house which was built ca. 1908, and a
small modern shed shaped like an outhouse between the house and barn. The house, barn, and
smokehouse are contributing buildings, and the modern shed is a non-contributing building." ~ NRHP Nomination Form