A Vanished Mansion at the Corner of Lindell Boulevard and Kingshighway

William Swekosky, 2 Westmoreland Place, 1959-60, Missouri History Museum, N07571

As I always tell people, if you come across a house that is much newer than all the houses around it, you need to be suspicious. Take 2 Westmoreland Place, built in 1895 by Henry Siegrist, an automobile lubricant executive on lot 33 of the Forest Park Addition. It passed through various owners before being demolished in 1961. The photo about is probably from around the time of its demolition. It was replaced by the house below, built in 1989, replaces it.

But as you can see below, the garage or carriage house below once stretched the property back all the way to Lindell, or as it was originally platted out, Park Road (there’s a 100 foot long stretch of the latter left at Union Boulevard).

William Swekosky, Henry A. Siegrest Residence, 2 Westmoreland Place, 1961, Missouri History Museum, N07558

That little building is still standing, though interestingly it now has a different owner.

There is also a smaller building to the south.

The interior of the mansion was amazing, as can be seen in this photograph below, when it was under the ownership of James Campbell.

Staircase Landing at the James Campbell Residence at 2 Westmoreland Place, William Albert Swasey, Architect, c. 1900, Missouri History Museum, N33548

In addition to its sumptuousness, you can also see just how large of a piece of land #2 possessed; it was easily one of the largest estates in the area, as seen in the lower right of this Sanborn Map.

Northwest Corner of Kingshighway and Lindell Boulevard, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, December 1909, Sheet 098

Lots One and Two of the Forest Park Addition are a fascinating relic of a lost mansion, and a quiet corner of a very busy intersection.

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Dorris Keeven-Franke says:

    Do you know anything about this James Campbell? Robert Campbell had a cousin by that name.

    1. cnaffziger says:

      I was wondering if he was somehow related to Robert Campbell. It is certainly possible.

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