Mothball Woodside!

This is a repost.  This article was posted a short time ago but was somehow lost to cyberspace.  Editor Miner was unable to determine what caused a couple of days worth of articles to disappear.  This post generated many interesting comments so I’ve decided to make it available again.  DH

An online debate is now occurring over whether or not to demolish Woodside, I’ve been told.  I’ve not read it because I believe those who are in favor of demolition either don’t know of or disrespect the thousands and thousands of hours already expended on this project by the city staff, our area historic preservation specialists and many, many volunteers of which I am one.

That Woodside is worth saving is unquestionable.  That it is taking a long time is undeniable.  To demolish the building now would be to toss away all of our hard work along with our oldest structure, our tangible link to the mid-1800’s.

Our research showed that Charles Rannells purchased the property in 1848.  By the time the 1850 census was taken, he and his family were living there.  We speculate that the house was built in that time period.  Stylistically and construction wise, it fits.  Sherman Shewmaker has done a bit of research to connect some of the other events that were occurring at the same time.

Here are a few.  The California Gold Rush, The Irish potato famine, the first US 20 dollar gold piece was created, Nathaniel Hawthorne published “The Scarlet Letter”, Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first woman physician in the US, James Polk is first US president to have his photo taken, Abraham Lincoln first utters, “You can fool some of the people all of the time…”, The Great St. Louis Fire immolated more than 400 buildings, 6 per cent of the population of the City of St. Louis died of cholera, Lafayette Park, the city’s first public park had not yet been opened, the first train through the City of St. Louis would not arrive for several years, and Dred Scott had won his freedom several years earlier but would lose it again in the 1857 decision by the US Supreme Court that ruled that black slaves were not US citizens and thus had no constitutional rights.

Woodside was brand new in those days.  The miracle is that we still have her.  But we haven’t taken as good care of her as we could have.  Woodside must be properly mothballed.  The chimneys should be capped, broken windows fixed or plywooded over, the decayed addition on the west end should be removed.  The house must be made secure.  We can’t lose her now.  Many, many fine folks have contributed to much to let that happen.  It is very easy for those who have contributed nothing to say let her go.