Buildings of Missouri red granite are vestiges of Depression

Here and there in southern Missouri cities like Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Ste. Genevieve and Van Buren can be found houses made from Missouri red granite.

These houses are architecturally significant because of the way they were made. The stones were put into forms, and mortar was filled in around them. Typically, the largest dimension in stones is horizontal, but in these houses the largest dimension is vertical.

"It's a technique I think is only found in Missouri," said Esley Hamilton, a St. Louis architectural historian.

The pinkish stone is also exposed for tourists' delight at Elephant Rocks State Park near Graniteville in Iron County. In St. Louis, red granite was used primarily for public buildings. It can be found in the basement of city hall and on the first floor of the Old Post Office. Washington University is all Missouri red granite, as are the paving blocks on The Landing.

From 1920s to 1940s

Missouri red granite houses are part of a bigger tradition of Ozark rock houses built in the 1920s through the 1940s. These houses were often modest in size, and yet the granite was expensive. Much of the cost was in shaping the stones.

Dr. Bonnie Stepenoff, director of the Historic Preservation Program at Southeast Missouri State University, said the houses probably were built by stonemasons originally brought to the state by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration to construct public buildings during the first half of the 20th century.

"Their philosophy was to use native materials," she said.

The stonemasons who built these houses were highly skilled, Stepenoff says. The stones are consistently irregular in size and shape. Often the masons added signature touches, embellishments that set their houses apart. One group of stonemasons in the Ozarks designed flowers into their houses as their calling card.

For some reason, a number of the Missouri red granite houses in Cape Girardeau surround Capaha Park. Robert and Janice Shirley have lived in their house at 1500 Parkview Drive since 1998. The house was built in the late 1930s. The stone was quarried near Elephant Rocks, Robert Shirley said. He does not know the builder's name.

'It's really quiet'

Besides its distinctive look, the house has another outstanding attribute, he said. "It's really quiet."

Another Missouri red granite house nearby at 721 Perry Ave. has a distinctive mosaic design on its chimney. Owners Steve and Easy Stilson bought the house two years ago, even though they weren't looking for a house at the time. "My husband went to SEMO in 1979, and while he was in college he fell in love with the house," Easy said. "We saw it was for sale and put a bid on it the same day."

The Stilsons know their house was built in the 1930s but not the name of the builder. She also praises the stone's ability to block out sound. "I'm an R.N. and work at night. But I have no problems sleeping during the day," she said.

Part of the First Church of God at the corner of Middle and Emerald streets in Cape Girardeau is made of Missouri red granite. The original church was built in 1924. In 1941 it was replaced by a red granite church built by its pastor, the Rev. J.H. Shirrell, who also was a contractor.

An addition not made of Missouri red granite was built in 1975. It houses the church's educational facilities and gymnasium. The entire structure is now for sale.

Skill has been lost

As stone houses replaced log houses, they were supplanted themselves by brick and plaster and prefab construction. The stonemasons who built the Ozark rock houses did not train younger generations.

"The skill has been kind of lost," Stepenoff said.

Now, the cost of building a Missouri red granite house would be prohibitive. "The Depression era made a lot of those things possible," Stepenoff said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182