St. Louis architect named to design new Missourian building

I recently produced a blog about the christening of the third steamer Cape Girardeau in 1924.

Among the passengers who sailed on the boat’s maiden voyage from St. Louis to the christening in Cape Girardeau were St. Louis Mayor Henry W. Kiel; Judge Charles H. Daues of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, a native of Cape Girardeau, and artist/architect Thomas P. Barnett.

I suspect that the latter was a regular visitor to Cape Girardeau in the early 1920s. However, his visit here in April 1924 made the newspaper because it coincided with “Art Week” and the showing of 18 of his paintings in the show room of Harris Garage on Broadway. The reason I suspect he came here frequently at that time was because George and Fred Naeter, publishers of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, had decided to construct a new building to house the operation. And they picked Tom Barnett to design it.

Barnett learned his craft from this father, St. Louis architect George I. Barnett. Eventually, Tom Barnett formed a business partnership with his brother, George Dennis Barnett, and brother-in-law, John Ignatius Haynes. Among St. Louis structures credited to Tom Barnett are the Cathedral Basilica and the Adolphus Busch Mausoleum in Bellfountaine Cemetery.

In addition to architecture, Tom earned accolades as a painter. One of his works, painted in 1922, is “Riches of the Mines”, a lunette in the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City showing a southwest Missouri zinc mine.

As guest artist in Cape Girardeau in 1924, he discussed his theories of combining art and architecture.

Published April 24, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

COMBINE ART AND BUSINESS SAYS BARNETT

Speaking to about 100 persons gathered to view his pictures, Tom P. Barnett, architect and artist, stressed the importance of combining art with business. While coming down to Cape Girardeau on the new steamer Cape Girardeau, a man from Jefferson City told him that last Sunday 1,900 people from Kansas City traveled to Jefferson City to view the State Capitol building because of its art.

“What does that mean to Jefferson City commercially,” he asked. “And what will it eventually mean to Missouri?”

Mr. Barnett said the Missouri Capitol is the greatest public building in the United States because of its art features. The capitol commission was allotted $750,000 for paintings and this money is being wisely spent, he said. As fast as this information is circulated, people will travel from all parts of the world to see this building, and they will leave their money here.

Art is making the State Capitol famous and therefore a splendid commercial venture, he said.

Art makes the home worth while. Art makes the business house attractive and it draws people. Art, combined with business, makes a combination of great power.

Mr. Barnett then described the meaning of his various pictures. It was the largest gathering of people for this purpose ever known in Cape Girardeau and was indicative of the growing interest in things beautiful.

Several months later, the Naeter brothers made public their plans to build at the southeast corner of Broadway and Lorimier Street and shared that Tom Barnett would design the structure.

The Southeast Missourian building was completed in 1925, and on Sept. 11 the newspaper published its “New Building Edition”. Along with lots of local history, the edition had one section devoted just to the newspaper. It included an article about Tom Barnett.

Published Friday, Sept. 11, 1925:

Tom P. Barnett (Strauss Photography, St. Louis ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED NEW MISSOURIAN BUILDING

MAKES A TRIP TO SPAIN AND GETS IDEAS FOR THE STRUCTURE

This picture shows Tom P. Barnett, St. Louis architect who designed the new Missourian building. Mr. Barnett is an artist as well as an architect, and his paintings hang in the best art galleries of the continent.

For 35 years this man has been designing buildings, and always from an artistic standpoint. It is said that a St. Louis manufacturer called him up and asked him if he could putt a touch of art in a warehouse building in one of the most unsightly parts of that city. “It’s the easiest thing in the world,” Barnett is said to have replied.

Tom Barnett studied architecture under George I. Barnett, one of the world’s most famous architects, and painting under Paul Cornoyer.

Before organizing the T.P. Barnett Company, of which he is the head, he designed such buildings as the Palace of Liberal Arts, the truly beautiful building of the (St. Louis) World’s Fair. At about the same time he designed the Jefferson Hotel in St. Louis. His monuments are scattered throughout the country, the Adolphus Hotel at Dallas, the Illinois Athletic Club in Chicago, the Hotel Connor at Joplin being good examples.

The Barnett Company has to its credit such buildings as the wonderful Arcade building in St. Louis, buy far the greatest commercial building in that city. The new Eden Seminary plant at Webster Groves is another recent effort. The two magnificent new buildings at Crystal City are products of his office.

It is said that the Busch memorial chapel in Bellefountaine Cemetery, St. Louis, cost more than any other building in the world of its size. The exterior is of red granite.

Memorials a specialty

Mr. Barnett has specialized in memorials, etc. Entrances for memorial parks in Toledo and Dayton are now being designed. Mr. Barnett was one of four architects selected to lay out the general plan of the St. Louis World’s Fair, and he won first prize in the national competition for the Cook County courthouse in Chicago. He was recently appointed to assist in designing the St. Louis City Plaza, the central feature of the $7 million dollar bond issue for the beautification and betterment of St. Louis.

F.E. Rixman, vice president of the T.P Barnett Company, has long been associated with Mr Barnett and is regarded as one of the foremost construction men in St. Louis. His association with the company adds greatly to its strength.

Mr. Barnett, still a vigorous and active man, declared that the truest type of Spanish architecture in this whole section is the new Missourian building. His technical description of this building is given in this connection.

Two years later, Tom Barnett was a guest of the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club at its monthly night meeting. After hearing an address on “Memorials” by the Rev. O.L. Smith, Christian minister, Barnett made a few remarks “in keeping with the spirit of the occasion” and again emphasizing architecture as art.

Barnett urged members to preserve the old Ellis-Wathen-Ranney house on North Main Street, “because of its colonial architecture, which he described as the finest he had ever seen.

“‘There is nothing in St. Louis to compare with it,’ he declared. ‘It is a mark of the old days of the refinement and culture that existed here.

“’There should be some concerted move to preserve this architectural masterpiece because of its beauty and charm. It should be a shrine for Cape Girardeau.’”

The Ranney house was demolished in 1958.

Barnett passed away Sept. 23, 1929, at the age of 59 in a Boston hospital. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Louis County.

Here's how the Naeters editorialized about his death in the Sept. 27, 1929 edition of the Southeast Missourian:

TOM P. BARNETT

In the death of Tom P. Barnett, noted St. Louis architect and painter, the publishers of The Missourian feel a personal loss. It was Mr. Barnett who designed The Missourian's building, which last weekend was declared one of the finest pieces of work done by its designer. Mr. Barnett also designed the Hecht building on Main Street and the beautiful Grecian pool and garden for Mr. Charles L Harrison. Some of his paintings hang in the State College, the High School and in several local homes.

Mr. Barnett endeared himself to every one he came in close contact with because he inspired them with his genius. He had the ability to mix beauty with material things. When he visited with one he would invariably leave a thought leading to something beautiful although art was not discussed. "Utility joined with beauty of form attains a higher utility for the delight and inspiration of the community." This statement, used so often in connection with The Missourian building, was an expression of Mr. Barnett's and he practiced the thought in all his work.

Now that his life's work is being summed up we enjoy his accomplishments here in Cape Girardeau all the more. He was the youngest architect to be employed in building the World's Fair at St. Louis in 1903. It was he who made the original, design for the cascades at the fair, the outstanding object of beauty. Then he was called upon to design the fine arts building, the architectural piece de resistance of the fair. It is related that in his commercial affairs he was called upon one day to design a building for a restaurant to cost not more than $25,000. After studying the project he went back to the owner and told him that an investment of less than $100,000 would be a waste of money. The building when finished cost $125,000 and the owner, as well as the lessee, made a fortune in a few years. People were attracted to the place, not because of the meals served, but because of the beauty of the surroundings. Many here will recall the Cicardi restaurant in St. Louis.

Mr. Barnett designed what is believed to be the most costly building of its size ever erected. It is the Adolphus Busch mausoleum in St. Louis, made of the finest marble, all hand carved, which stands as a pattern in art of this type.

We are satisfied that Mr. Barnett has gone to a rich reward because his entire life was spent in encouraging people to see the beautiful in life, to mix sunshine with materialism. Cape Girardeau is much richer because he lived.