County of building: Franklin County
Location of building: W. Front St. & Cedar St., SW corner, Washington
Built: 1886, 1890, 1905 & 1920
Architectural Style: Victorian Commercial - Italianate
Classified: 2
Current Occupant: Missouri Meerschaum Company
District Map
This huge factory is in fact 4 buildings built connected to each other. As the business grew, more space was needed, and this plant needed power, so the owners built electric power plants to fulfill the needs.
Today, the factory is still in full production, and on the back side (up Cedar St.) it now houses a museum.
"On original section and four attached additions comprise this three story/masonry industrial complex. The original section of the building, dated 1883, has three bays fronting Front St. by a depth of thirteen bays running parallel with Cedar St. The third story is circa 1890 addition to this building. An early photo of the original building in the Mo. Meerschaum office shows this to be a 2! story federal style
building with tin pyramidal hipped roof. The original entry is now reduced by frame infill however the original opening is discernible. Windows
are 2/2, double hung, sash is curved at the top. Arched brickwork appears
above the doors and windows. Some Victorian style carved wooden moldings
are in place above windows on the first floor facade and here sash is flat
topped. Third floor windows on east elevation are flat topped sash. These
window treatments are circa 1890. An additional door was added circa 1920
which accessed Cedar st. This door has a soldier's course brick lintel.
A circa 1890 addition contains five bays fronting on Front st. On the
interior this addition has decorative, slender cast iron posts, supporting
wooden beams. This system runs the length of the addition. These supports
match supports in the original section of the building. There is an entry
accessing Front St. in this addition. Windows are 2/2, double hung with
curved upper sash. Brick arches appear above openings. The words "Missouri
Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipes" and "Missouri Meerschaum Mfg.Co. Estd. 1872"
span the facade of these two buildings. This addition contains a three
story maple staircase.
"A second addition, circa 1895, exists at the rear of the first addition.
First addition exterior window sills face into the second addition. Interior
supports consist of wooden piers on stone pads supporting wooden joists.
"A third addition, circa 1910, has nineteen bays fronting Front St.
A double leaved central door with multi-paned transom above provides access
to Front st. Windows are 9/9 on the first floor facade, 6/6 on the second,
and 3/3 on the third floor. All are double hung with stone sills and flat
tops. Soldier's course brickwork forms lintels.
"A fourth addition, circa 1920 has five bays fronting Front St. Door
and window treatment are similiar [sic] to that of the third addition. A metal
pipe originally entered this building from the west elevation, carrying
steam from an exterior source throughout the building. This addition alone
has a concrete foundation.
"Henry Tibbe worked making furniture and spinning wheels in Enschede, Holland.
After a fire destroyed home and business he immigrated to the United States.
In Washington, Mo. he opened a woodcraft shop circa 1868. He produced a lathe turned corn cob pipe in 1872 at 209 W. Second st. (demolished). He added plaster of Paris to increase bowl durability and smoothness and patented the process in 1878. That year he moved to a building at Jefferson and Front (demolished). In 1883 Tibbe began the first section of what is now known as the Missouri Meerschaum Pipe factory. The name Mo. Meerschaum derives from
the fact that the Tibbe pipes had the same porous quality as the white, claylike mineral called meerschaum used in expensive carved pipes of that name.
Tibbe incorporated under that name in 1872. Under Henry Tibbe and his son,
Anton, after his death in 1896, the corn cob pipe became an international
business commodity. Henry Tibbe was born 1819. he entered this country 1867
coming to Washington. MO, in 1870"
~ DNR Historic Survey PDF page 49
"Industrial, circa 1865-1935, Coded 2 (Photos # 4, 5, 21 through 30).
The articulation of the twelve industrial buildings generally follows
materials, forms and detailing of commercial/residential properties
dating to the same period of construction. They are usually devoid of
stylistic ornament but occasionally exhibit generic corbeled brick
cornices. ... Typically,
industrial buildings have brick masonry walls resting on stone
foundations, and have regular fenestration of segmental arches until
after the turn-of the century when soldier course brick lintels are
more often employed. The additions to the Missouri Meerschaum Company
factory at 400-20 W. Front (Photo #27 and Survey Map) clearly
illustrate this change in window form." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
" ... The
largest industrial plant, the Missouri Meerschaum Company, introduced a
unique product, the corn cob pipe, which gained national recognition
and distribution: the company was a major employer in town. ... '
" ... Although at the end of the 19th century a diverse assortment of Revival
styles began to appear in Washington's architecture, the majority of
buildings were little affected. The conservative bias towards
unembellished planar brick facades articulated with familiar forms was
as much in evidence in commercial and domestic buildings as it was in
industrial designs such as the Missouri Meerschaum Company plant ..."
"Washington's unique industry, the manufacture of corn cob pipes,
earned the city a national reputation as the world's entire supplier of
commercially made cob pipes while producing a commodity which gave
employment to many local men, women and even children. In 1878, Henry
Tibbe, a native of Holland who came to Washington in 1870 as a wood
craftsman, secured a patent for a lathe turned corncob pipe finished
with plaster of paris. When first marketed the product met with great
success, and in 1886, the firm was incorporated as H. Tibbe & Co.,
known also as the Missouri Meerschaum Company. The first section of
the large complex still manufacturing today at 400-20 W. Front Street
(Photo 827) was erected in 1886, and as production demanded, additions
were made in 1890, 1905 and 1920. In 1895, it was reported that 85 men
were employed, and 25,000 pipes were manufactured daily. At about the
time Tibbe's patent expired, other pipe firms entered the industry.
One of these, Hirschl and Bendheim, had been St. Louis jobbers for
Missouri Meerschaum, and had established their own factory in St.
Louis." ~ NRHP Nomination Form, PDF pages 7, 16, & 21