Robert Campbell House, 1508 Locust Street, Saint Louis, Independent City, MO

Significance: Built in 1851 on what was then No. 20 Lucas Place, a fashionable street in St. Louis, the 3 story Italianate townhouse was bought in 1854 by Robert Campbell, a wealthy fur trader and businessman. In 1856 he purchased the adjoining property to the east and started to remodel his house. The double parlor on the first floor was combined into one room and an octagonal bay was added in the east wall. A rectangular bay was added as well as the third floor to the servant's wing. In 1877 a small porch was converted to a morning room complete with molding in the latest style. It was in this house that Robert Campbell entertained President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, General Sherman, James B. Eads and Father De Smet. When Robert Campbell died in 1879, the property passed to his sons James and Hugh. Living as recluses, they left the house and its contents virtually unchanged and upon their deaths in 1931 and 1938, the house and its furnishings were bough by the Campbell House Foundation, which has since turned the house into a museum of St. Louis' gold past.
Survey number: HABS MO-12
Building/structure dates: after 1850 Initial Construction