The Preservation Research Office collection includes many lavishly-illustrated brochures for office buildings, hotels and development projects in downtown St. Louis. Once upon a time, real estate agents printed multi-page brochures to lure tenants to what were presented as prestigious, beautiful and often exotic buildings. While floorplans and basic information are included to guide decision-making, the brochures are more concerned with using striking images and often-poetic language to persuade would-be tenants.
Here we present a sampling of brochures. These include those for long buildings (the Ambassador), shuttered buildings (the Arcade and Hotel Jefferson), adapted buildings (the Marquette and Paul Brown) and a not-quite-realized project (the Midwest Terminal Building).
Ambassador Building
Location: Northwest corner, 7th and Locust streets
Architects: C.W. and George L. Rapp
Built: 1926
Demolished: 1996
Ambassador Building
Location: Northwest corner, 7th and Locust streets
Architects: C.W. and George L. Rapp
Built: 1926
Demolished: 1996
Arcade Building
812 Olive Street
Architect: Tom Barnett
Built: 1918
Hotel Jefferson
Location: 415 N. Tucker Boulevard
Architects: Barnett, Haynes & Barnett
Built: 1904; 1928
Marquette Building
Location: 300 N. Broadway
Architects: Eames & Young
Built: 1913
Midwest Terminal Building
Location: 710 N. Tucker Boulevard
Architects: Mauran, Russell & Crowell
Built: 1932
Paul Brown Building
Location: 818 Olive Street
Architect: Preston J. Bradshaw
Built: 1926
Credits
Principal Author: Michael R. Allen
Additional Research and Writing: Laurel Morris
Digitization: Alyssa J. Stein