Moses Austin Outbuilding - Ste. Genevieve Historic District - Ste. Genevieve, Missouri - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

"Moses Austin Outbuilding. 68 South Gabouri Street, c. 1800. Property type: French vertical log house. This one and one-half story, vertical log and wood-framed, gable end house measures 27 feet by 26 feet 11 inches in plan. The present appearance of the house reflects restoration that took place following the 1993 flood. The southwest facade is marked by a recessed front porch whose roof is supported by wood box columns. The main door is centered on this wall. Fenestration consists of six-over-six, double hung, sash windows. The walls of the house are sheathed in clapboards, while the roof is sheathed in wood shingles. A single-story, gable-roofed ell adjoins the east gable end. The vertical log portion of the house is a one room cabin that measures approximately 14 feet by 12 feet. A balloon-framed, brick nogged building completely encases the original cabin.

Moses Austin, father of Stephen Austin, founder of Austin, Texas, owned the property. Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connecticut, came to Upper Louisiana in the late 1790s with proposals for increasing the area's lead production by introducing the reverberatory furnace.   He persuaded Spanish officials to award him a concession of land in the heart of the mining country. This tract amounted to about 4,250 acres. After he was awarded the concession, he dispatched his assistants, Elias Bates and Judather Kendal to launch preparations for mining.   By 1799, he had constructed a blast furnace, blacksmith's shop, saw mill and shot factory at Mine a Breton and was manufacturing lead and shot in the amounts of 100,000 to 200,000 pounds annually.  In 1809, Austin and Col. Sam Hammond co-founded Herculaneum, Missouri, north of Ste. Genevieve."  ~ Historic District National Register Nomination Form