CoMo Brick & Mortar Project
The Herald Building, 1892 (1020 E BROADWAY)
E.W. Stephens, Walter Williams, and the Missouri School of Journalism are all famous in Columbia. They have in common this fantastic Victorian-style commercial building, built for E.W. Stephens’ Columbia Herald newspaper and the associated E.W. Stephens Publishing Company. Many thousands of books were printed here, along with local newspapers, school yearbooks, and law records for several states. In 1900 this was the largest private employer in the City of Columbia. The ornate clock tower once held a steam whistle that not only told the time, but communicated the weather forecast. Walter Williams was first hired by Stephens to be the editor of the Columbia Herald and it is likely here that plans were made to create the world’s first school of journalism. Later the building was home to the first location of Slackers Games and is now mixed use, with business on the first floor and apartments on the second.
Howard Municipal Building, 1932 (600 East Broadway)
By Sam Meservey
Built in a grand Beaux-Arts style, the Howard Municipal Building, or just the Municipal Building as it was originally called, holds an important spot in the history of Columbia city government. The structure was designed by famed regional architect Edmund Eckel, his partner Will S. Adrich, and local architect of note Harry Satterlee Bill. Eckel especially influenced the facility’s final architectural design. Having been born in France, Eckel was educated in architecture at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, where he was thoroughly infused with the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for which he would become known.