Show Me MO

The latest issue of Show Me Missouri, a quarterly travel magazine, features a great article about Mesker facades by Jim Winnerman, who in recent memory has already written several Mesker pieces. Entitled Pressed for Time, the article provides the usual historic information about the companies and their products, but the real treat lies in Jim’s profiling of specific communities, buildings, and owners. Examples from Louisiana, Cuba, and Manchester are highlighted along with local efforts to preserve these resources. Jim also interviewed David Mesker, the grandson of Frank Mesker of Mesker Brothers, and several of David’s quotes appear in the article. The piece concludes with information about a contest, which Jim and I are sponsoring, to find some MO Meskers (or even more Missouri Meskers, to be exact). All submissions that are new to the database will be entered into a drawing for a Mesker Brothers hat, to be held on August 1. Of the nearly 5,000 projected original Missouri installations only 162 have been identified thus far. So there should be plenty of opportunities to find a few more. After you’ve verified with the Missouri database that the building has not yet been identified, you can send a photo of the facade along with other pertinent information to darius@inalliance.biz

The magazine does not have an online edition and I am not allowed to reproduce the article here (at least not yet…) so unless you already subscribe, you can get a copy when it hits newsstands on June 1. In the meantime, below are a few great Meskers from the Show Me State that were recently added into the database.

Marshfield, MO: The Robertson Block features a classic Mesker Brothers sheet-metal upper facade on the main elevation and a brick side wall adorned with patented window hoods and cornice. Image courtesy of Dustin Holmes.

Hermitage, MO: Blair’s Cash Store has a parapet and cornice clad in Mesker Brothers’ galvanized steel panels, while the storefront appears to have wooden display sash also supplied by the St. Louis Mesker company. Image courtesy of Mike Haney.

Greenfield, MO: Amos Helphenstine Building (1891) retains its full two-story front manufactured by Mesker Brothers Iron Works from St. Louis. Helphenstine was included in a list of satisfied customers in an 1894 Mesker Bros catalog. Image courtesy of Kevin Stewart.

Lowry City, MO: L.T. Armstrong Building (1895). Despite some storefront infill, the facade retains Mesker Brothers’ columns and pedimented cornice. Image courtesy of Delbert Scott.