County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: S 6th St. & Jefferson St., NE corner, St. Charles
Built: 1880
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Original Occupant: Unknown
Map
"256. 572 Jefferson Street, Old St. Charles Public Library; Queen Anne; circa 1880; Contributing
Originally built as a single-family residence and later converted into the St. Charles Public Library, the
house once again serves as a residence. This highly elaborate example of Queen Anne architecture
utilizes detailing from both the patterned masonry and half-timbered subtypes of the style. The 1½-story,
red brick structure has a coursed rock-faced stone foundation, brick walls in a running bond and
highlighted with 3 patterned terra cotta belt courses, and a hipped roof with intersecting cross gables.
The belt course at sill level is fluted, the 1 at the lintels has a series of X’s, and the 1 under the cornice
has a series of circles. There is a gabled bay on the west end of the façade and another on the east
elevation that has a higher roofline that is pierced by a massive paneled end wall chimney with corbelled
cap. The chimney has a pedimented gablet at the peak of the main roof and it is trimmed with a pierced
frieze and has a tympanum filled with lozenge-patterned panels, each with an applied globe. Both the
front and east gable ends have decorative half-timbering, but the east bay has decorative embossed metal
shingles on the second floor walls, a material used on the second floor walls of the rounded bay that faces
west. There is a hipped dormer facing west between the front cross-gabled bay and the rounded bay on the west elevation, and there is a gabled wall dormer on the face of the rounded bay. These dormers have
paired 1/1 windows separated by bead-and-reel mullions and have elaborate detailing that includes
sunburst panels, scroll brackets, incising, bullseye corner blocks and dentils. An eyebrow dormer is on
the front slope of the roof and has a multi-light colored glass window. In 1953, while the building was
being used as a library, the front porch that spanned the east half of the façade was enclosed with
matching brick and 2 terra cotta belt courses aligned with the lower 2 on the remainder of the house. The
steeply-pitched hipped roof is an extension of the main roof and the entry bay projects slightly forward of
the remainder of the enclosure. The paired half-light wood paneled doors have etched glass, and above is
a wide stained glass transom. Above the transom is a Syrian arched wooden sunburst detail and the doors
open onto poured concrete steps with side walls. To the east of the entrance are two 1/1 wood windows
and to the west is a pair. Like the door, the windows are topped by a wooden sunburst detail and a
Syrian arched, brick lintel with limestone keystone and spring blocks. The mullion between the paired
windows is a bead-and-reel molding. In the pedimented front gable is another pair of 1/1 wood windows
trimmed with raised-panel pilasters with bullseye blocks, dentil molding, and applied globes. Above the
windows is another pediment that has a tympanum clad in lozenge-shaped panels with applied globes in
each panel, and the window sill is supported by brackets. In addition to the end wall chimney on the east
elevation, there are 3 other tall, paneled brick chimneys with corbelled caps. The house was built circa
1880 and in 1931 it became the public library. It served that purpose until 1982. Even though the front
porch was enclosed and possibly enlarged in 1953, it was very well integrated to match the existing
architectural detailing on the building and was done during the period of significance." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1880 ca.
Style/Design: Queen Anne
In 1891-92, this is listed as the residence of H. W. Bergfeld. By 1906, the city directories listed this as the residence of Edward
and Pauline Steinbrincker, whose family continued to live in this house through 1930. Edward and John H. Steinbrinker had a
furniture, undertaking, embalming, sewing machines, bicycles, picture framing, and upholstery business at 303-305 N. Main.
Dorothy Steele’s Master’s thesis, The History of Public Libraries in St. Charles says that the house had been built before 1850,
but the stylistic detailing makes that highly unlikely, unless it was expanded and redesigned in the late nineteenth century.
"Steele’s thesis does explain that the home was purchased in 1931 for $8,000 to become the public library for the city of St.
Charles. Previously the library had been in the hallway of Kathryn M. Linnemann’s home, when it was founded in 1913, and had
moved to the high school in 1914. The high school had been destroyed by fire in 1918, after which the library was stored and
opened in a shed behind the burned out school. In 1929, the city voted tax support for a library and Linnemann was hired as the
first librarian. The city directories confirm it was used as the St. Charles Public Library after the directory was published in 1931-
1932 (it was listed as vacant in the 1931-32 directory and the next directory was not published until 1936) and it was the first
official public library for the community. By 1935 the library was already outgrowing the building and looking into expansion, and
by 1953 the library raised $10,000 for expansion. The bid from the contractor was $9,325 to complete an addition to the first floor.
In 1956 the upstairs, which had never been used, was painted and the floors covered in linoleum for use as storage, and by 1958
downstairs walls were paneled and acoustical ceilings and new lighting were installed along with the first non-pay phone and a
new oil-burning furnace. By 1964, the library was planning for a new building when a tax was passed, but a bond issue failed
(meaning they could afford books and staff, but no funding for more room or a new building). In 1968, they went ahead and
remodeled upstairs as additional space, but by 1972 the library was already too small. The library was renamed in 1964 for
Kathryn M. Linneman, who served for 50 years as the first librarian, and there is still a Kathryn Linneman branch library today in
her honor. It continued to be used as the city’s only public library through 1982.
"Despite the fact that two local histories, McElhiney and Steele, both think the building pre-dates the Civil War, it does not appear
on the 1869 Bird’s Eye view, although other buildings at this intersection are clearly visible. It appears more likely that the house
was built between 1869 and 1886, more likely around 1880 since it is an elaborate Queen Anne residence, a style that was not
popular until the latter nineteenth century. The 1886 Sanborn map identifies this as a two story residence, but all the later maps
identify it as a 1.5 story residence (except the 1947 map which shows it as the public library). There seem to be some other
errors in the mapping of this property since the 1886 and 1893 map show a 2-story porch on the front (east three bays), and the
remaining maps show it as a 1 story porch, but the 1947 map shows the open porch had changed profile. In 1953, the library
added to the first floor, but a comparison of the building dimensions from the fire insurance map in 1947 with its current
appearance indicate that the only place this addition could have occurred was the enclosure of what was originally a front porch
with a new brick entry and a small, narrow front wing. So, even though there was an addition on the main façade, very well
integrated to match the existing architectural detailing on the building in 1953, this alteration occurred during the period of
significance of the historic district and even the period of significance as the town’s first library. At some point after 1982, the
garage wing was added to the rear of the house. This building is not only an extremely significant Queen Anne house in St.
Charles, it is also extremely significant to the historical development of the community as the town’s first library and as such, it is
probably individually eligible for listing in the National Register, but the integrity of the interior and historic photos of the exterior
would need to be evaluated to get a better understanding of whether some of the details are recent embellishments or original to
the building.
"Note: Although McElhiney’s Guidebook says that this house was built in 1859 for Judge Samuel Stewart Watson, an early
benefactor of Lindenwood College, this appears to be an error since this house is not visible on the 1869 Bird’s Eye View and
besides, his home at 205 S. Duchesne Drive is listed on the National Register as his retirement home, which was built in 1859.
"This 1.5 story, red brick, hipped roof with cross gabled house is a highly elaborate example of the Queen Anne style, one that
utilizes detailing identified in two different subtypes of this style, patterned masonry and half-timbered elements. There is a
gabled bay on the west end of the façade and another cross gabled bay with a higher roofline, facing east, which is split by one of
the massive, end wall chimneys. Both have half timbered walls in the gable ends, but the east elevation bay has a decorative,
embossed (metal?) shingle siding on the second floor walls, a material used on the second floor walls of the rounded bay facing
west. There is a hipped dormer facing west between the front cross gabled bay and the rounded bay on the west elevation. There
is another hipped dormer facing the rear, on the north elevation, and there is a gabled wall dormer on the face of the rounded bay.
There is also a stained glass window in an eyebrow dormer on the east end of the façade. Except for the rounded bay and the
east cross gable, the steeply pitched roofs slope down to the first floor with a raised, rusticated, limestone, coursed foundation.
Three courses of patterned terra cotta (series of bullseyes or Xs) highlight the masonry walls, one at sill height, one at the base of
the lintels and another under the cornice. The windows on the first floor have limestone sills and Syrian arched brick lintels with
dressed stone keystones and bases. The windows are either paired, 1/1 sashes with a wooden sunburst detail in the transom
area and a turned post mullion or a single 1/1 sashed window with a similar wooden sunburst detail. The second floor windows
are also 1/1 wood sashed windows, some of them paired with elaborate pilaster strips and bracketed sills. Besides the end wall
chimney on the east elevation that splits the cross gabled bay, there are three other brick chimneys, all retaining their corbelled
caps. The sunburst detailing is repeated in the pediment of the rounded bay wall dormer, as half-fans on the sides and above the
windows of the west hipped dormer above the main entry. The pediment at the peak of the cross gables on the façade and east
elevation are deeply embossed with a series of balls.
"In 1953, while the building was being used as the St. Charles Public Library, the front porch that spanned across the east half of
the facade was replaced with a matching brick, one story room and entry door with a steeply pitched hipped roof extending from
the main hipped roof. The addition’s façade is tiered, with the entry projecting slightly forward of the two window bays to the east
and the eyebrow dormer is centered over these two windows. The entry door is a paired half light, wood paneled door with a
stained glass transom. Above the transom is a Syrian arched wooden sunburst detail and the same Syrian arched, brick lintel with
limestone keystone and bases. There are poured concrete steps with side walls and metal railings leading up to the door.
"At some point after the library moved out of the house in 1982, a one-story, end gabled, brick garage with a coursed limestone
foundation was added on the north side of the house, with three 1/1 sashed windows along the west elevation and two garage
doors on the north gable end. These doors have three, 4-pane, square lights above the three tall recessed panels and there is a
basket-handle arched brick lintel with limestone keystone and bases above each garage door. Centered in the attic in the gable
end is a louvered, rectangular vent window with a matching stone sill. Great care was taken to make sure the garage blends with
the historic features of the house and, as an addition, it does not overwhelm the original design of the house. To the east side of
the garage, against the house, is a screened porch with a hipped roof and a set of stairs with wood railings that lead north to the
concrete sidewalk that extends out to the alley. There was historically a porch in this location, but it appears that this may be
slightly larger than the original porch.
"The only other visible alteration to the exterior is the metal spiral fire escape that extends from the west elevation’s hipped dormer
near the façade. It is likely that this is a remnant of the building’s use as a public library, probably added when the second floor
was converted to use for the public rather than simple storage in 1956, but that has not been confirmed.
"This is a corner lot in the residential area." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase I, PDF pages 287-291