Auguste Chouteau, who had as a lad of fifteen accompanied Laclede and had assisted in the founding of the settlement, had now become a man of substance. The fur trade and other ventures had prospered him and he was looked upon as the first citizen of the town. He built himself a spacious mansion two stories in height, with wide verandas or galleries extending around it at both levels. Others of the French had prospered too and emulated their leader in the enlargement or rebuilding of their establishments; but comfort rather than grace was probably the goal they sought to attain. Far removed from the influences of European culture and only in slightly less degree from such as prevailed in the eastern states, the early architecture of St. Louis was crude, unformed and practically indigenous. It was not until a good many decades later, or until the railroads made communication with the east easier, that any signs of sophistication or any attempts at elegance of design began to appear. By that time, however, the Georgian and Colonial influence in the east had waned and had been succeeded by the so-called Classic Revival.
The charm of the columned and pedimented portico could not be resisted by those sons and grandsons of the early pioneers, who began to feel the obligation to dignity which they associated with affluence. A few examples of the domiciles of
the second and third generation of frontiersmen or of new immigrants from the eastern states remained standing long enough to be photographed, though they have long since disappeared. The old Benoist House and the Berthold House are of this period. And to this period also belong such public structures as the old Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Second Presbyterian Church and the Court House. This latter, like other municipal and governmental edifices, was a long time in building, having been begun in 1839 and finished in 1862. It still stands, not far from the old French Cathedral. Masses are said in the latter, and aching souls are comforted, while litigants clamor for earthly justice in the shabby halls of the Court House from the steps of which slaves were once sold to the highest bidder.
After the Civil War, the architectural chaos in which the country floundered touched St. Louis with the same blight that swept New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago. This slightly comforting fact must be recorded, however; that the hideousities of St. Louis, owing to the more modest resources of its people, were less splendidly terrible, less soul-searing than the depravities of her rivals. Conservatism is one of the characteristics of her people and if this quality had prevented them from reaching the pinnacles, it may also have saved them from the uttermost depths. Even during these dark years some architectural decency persisted in such
WALSH HOUSE, ST. LOUIS, MO. — ABOUT 1860