County of house: Cooper County
Location of house: 4th St., 2nd House N. of Vine St., west side, Boonville
Built: 1909-1910
Architect: Mildner & Eisen
Architectural Style: Box or Foursquare, with Queen Anne porch
Original/Historic occupant: Maximilian E. Schmidt
Current Occupant: William Wood Funeral Home
Phone: 660-882-2495
Located in Boonville, MO - William Wood Funeral Home provides expert service for cremations and funerals, supporting families and their communities through funerals, memorials, and celebrations of life held in honor of their loved one.
"8. William Wood Funeral Service, 517 4th Street, 1909-1910. This classic
Box style house is two and one-half stories, brick, and has a hip roof.
An ornate porch extends to form a porte-cochere." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1909-1910
Style/Design: Box
The Queen Anne arch is a common motif, especially on the E façade, The attic dormer with 3 windows 1S capped by this arch, The primary entrance has this motif though topped by a rectangular transom, sidelights, and corner lights, The floor plan of the front porch also echos this motif, This 1 story porch has a
brick foundation, large frame iconic columns, This extends to the S as a porte-cochere with a flat roof, brick piers, and fluted iconic column
This E façade has a slightly projecting frame rectangular I story bay to the N. The central entrance has a polygonal bay
window over it on the 2nd floor. To the S is a 2 story polygonal bay. The S façade has
a chimney with flanking lead glass windows, and a polygonal 1 story bay which has asbestos
shingles. A small hip dormer is on this façade. On the N façade, there are 2 basement
entrances under a slightly projecting rectangular bay supported by brackets and sheathed with
asbestos shingles. This bay is used as a staircase and has a 3 part window at the l~ story
level and a hip roof dormer with a palladian window at the 2- story level. To the W of this
bay is a I story bow window which has a flat roof. Its ashlar brickwork may indicate that
it is a later addition. The windows are l-over-l, attenuated, and have a sill course and
a wide entabular buff brick 3~ story bay which houses an elevator, is centrally located
with an entrance on the W that obscures the hip dormer, and a pent frame addition along the
S bay. Windows are generally l-over-l with soldier lintels and concrete sills. There is
a soldier course belt course between the floors.
"The structure was built in 1909-10 as a residence for Maximilian E. Schmidt. It was designed by the Mildner and Eisen Architectural firm of Detroit, Michigan, and
the plans remain in the possession of William Wood. M. Schmidt married the daughter of Lt.
Govenor J.F. Gmelich and owner of the Gmelich Jewelry Store and entered the business 1n 1895.
The firm has been known as Gmelich and Schmidt from that date to the present. The structure
remained in the Schm1dt family t1ll 1952 when it was purchased by the Goodman-Boller Funeral Service and converted into a funeral home. Alterations at that time included first floor wall alterations, a basement to top story
elevator, conversion of 2nd floor into an apartment, and conversion of top floor into casket
display area. Also at that time a 6 stall garage with storage area was built. In 1964,
W. Wood bought out Boller-Goodman and it became known as William Wood Funeral Home. In
1965, the firm was incorporated as Thacher-Wood Inc.
"The structure faces E onto 4th St. There is a concrete drive to the S, an asphalt shared drive to the N, and an asphalt parking area to the rear (W). The concrete block, pent roofed outbuilding extends across the full W property line. The S addition has overhead doors to the E & W, The N section has a garage and single leaf entrance and contains a storage area." ~ Boonville Historical Survey PDF pages 474-477