Howard Telephone Company - Glasgow, MO - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

County of building: Howard County
Location of building: 1st St., 2nd Store front S. of Market St., west side, Glasgow
Built: 1885
Architectural Style: Italianate

"521 First Street: (Before 1885) Two story, Italianate influenced, brick (common bond) commercial building. The structure has a brick foundation and a composition roof. Its four-bay lower front contains a recessed store entrance with sidelights between fixed one-light display sash to the south, and an entrance to the second story to the north. The windows and store entry all have opaque glass transoms, that above the door altered to house a screened exhaust fan. The right window has a boxed enclosure within, while the left is open from floor to ceiling. Cast iron pilasters flank the store entrance, and a wood pilaster stands left of the second story entry. Above the first story is a metal cornice carried on three simple scroll brackets between angular end brackets. The interior has a fine pressed tin ceiling, and the first-floor space is open the full depth of the building. The three-bay upper facade on First Street has three segmentally arched sash with brick voussoirs and a shallow brick cornice with four flattened drops and small corbels. The building extends the full depth of the block to Water Street, where it is two stories high, but lower than adjacent buildings. The three-bay brick Water Street facade features a broad central entry, segmentally arched under a double row of header bricks; this is flanked by two windows of similar shape, now bricked in. The second story here has three segmentally arched windows, the southernmost infilled with wood, the others having louvers in place of their upper panes above 4-light sash. (Contributing)" ~ NRHP Nomination Form

"521 First Street: This property was early on held by several of the important early figures in Glasgow's history, including such names as Earickson, Turner, Harrison, and Shackelford. Its historical interest lies not only in its origins and its interesting architecture, but also in the fact that its second story served as the headquarters of the local telephone company for many years in the early 20th century. Initially sold to the Howard County Telephone Company in 1903, it is thus related to the coming to Glasgow of an important technological development. The first story was occupied by various businesses, becoming a billiards hall sometime after 1935. In 1947, then-owner Augustus Noth leased to I. E. Siramerman the space known as the G. C. Massie Recreation Parlor, stipulating that no liquor could be sold in the pool hall. This requirement can be related to slow-changing local social mores in the post Prohibition era." ~ NRHP Nomination Form