Barnum's St. Louis Hotel was a historic 6-floor hotel built in 1854.[1] The Barnums were a family of hotel keepers who had run the famous Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore.[2] This building was located at the 2nd and Walnut Streets in St. Louis, Missouri, and has been considered to be St. Louis' first high-rise building. The hotel was designed by architect George I. Barnett.
The famous former slave Dred Scott worked as a porter here from 1857 until his death.[3] Dred Scott's new owners had freed him two months after the U.S. Supreme Court decision. Scott became a local celebrity, greeting visitors at the hotel until he died of tuberculosis on September 17, 1858.[4]
Famous guests included Henry Clay and Illinois Governor Richard Yates.[5]
Brother Frank and William Roberson had a barbershop beneath it. The hotel was demolished in 1890.[5]
References edit
- ^ "Barnum's Hotel". Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ^ Walter Barlow Stevens (1909). St. Louis, the Fourth City, 1764-1909, Volume 1. St. Louis: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 782.
- ^ Valerie Battle Kienzle (2017). Lost St. Louis. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 83.
- ^ "Barnum's Hotel". 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ^ a b "An Old Hostelry No More". Dade County Advocate. December 18, 1890.
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