County of house: Cooper County
Location of house: 2nd St. & Vine St., NE corner, Boonville
Built: 1912
Architect/Builder: James Wm. Jones
Architectural Style: Vernacular
Original/Historic occupant: Phoenix American Cob Pipe Factory
Current Occupant: Eddie Wiemholt
"The Phoenix American Cob Pipe Factory is located at the northeast corner of Second and Vine
streets in Boonville (Cooper County), Missouri.1 One contributing building consists of the historic
three-story mill method manufacturing facility completed in 1912, and a one-story concrete
masonry unit addition wrapping two sides and dating to 1968. The building’s character is
defined by the repetition on all elevations of window bays containing wooden double-hung sash
still present, along with the industrial loft interior spaces that are largely still in historic condition.
Although the addition necessitated the removal of a previous one-story boiler house, the original
portion of the factory has changed little since its original construction. The most consequential
alteration has been the modification of the first floor office area and the construction of a
partitioned area at the south side of the second floor. The exterior and interior are remarkably
well-preserved, and the factory retains integrity in all seven aspects. A non-contributing yard
and paved areas to the east contains areas cobs were stored, but lacks any evident features to
convey historic use. The yard is counted as a non-contributing structure due to the presence of
the paved area.
Setting
The site of the factory is on the western edge of the historic center of Boonville, which is marked
by a gridiron street plan (see figure 2). The topographic slope downward from the commercial
core to the western end is notable, and a historic reason for the location of railroad
infrastructure and heavy industry here. The factory site is located immediately adjacent to where
historic freight rail spurs from the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad ran along Second Street
and also on a dedicated right-of-way just west of Second Street (see figure 9). Along the rail
spurs, several manufacturing businesses located. Just south of the Phoenix American Cob Pipe
Factory is the Kemper Military Academy campus (now State Fair Community College), which
also was served by the railroad line. Immediately east of the factory are historic single dwellings.
North of the building across Chestnut Street are three self-storage warehouse buildings.
While most of the center of Boonville possesses historic sidewalks and tree lawns, at the factory
site there are no sidewalks, and the pavement of the streets and pavement around the factory
building have no real separation. The gravel area at the west was the bed for the rail spur
serving the building. The railroad infrastructure is now gone, and Second Street is paved in
asphalt. To the west, where a railroad right of way once existed, is a trail and a public park. The
historic factory yard to the east no longer retain any of the cob storage sheds, but the remainder
of the historic site is open and devoid of built features save the paved area (see figure 1; page
20). Small paved areas at the north and south of the building run from the building line to the
street, and served as loading areas for later use of the building after the period of significance
"Historically, the sloped land to the east of the factory was the site of three corn cob storage
sheds (see figure 9). Today, the site is planted as a grass lawn around a non-historic asphalt paved parking area. Since the sheds are no longer standing, and the site provides no sense of
past use, it is non-contributing due to lack of integrity of materials, design, workmanship, feeling
and association. The paved area is a non-historic structure." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1912
Style/Design: Vernacular
The large structure has clean, commercial lines typical of factory construction. The wood post columns are set on 16' centers. The numerous windows are 4/4 with double row lock, segmentally arched headers and frame sills. There are 2 double leaf entrances
to the W, the N one is a loading dock, the S one is an employees entrance. There is a frame enclosed entrance to the S. Additions include a concrete block section at the SE corner, extending across the E facade and joining a concrete block addition extending to the N.
The SE corner section 1S offices and has a S entrance, The N section has loading docks to the W.
"The Phoenix American Cob Pipe Factory in the first half of the 20th
century was Boonville's largest industry and was the basis for Boonville's claim to being "THE CORN COB PIPE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD". The company was founded in 1893 by C.O. Strutz in Washington, Missouri, and was a family owned and run business. Desiring to be where the corn was, the company moved to Boonville in 1911 and into their building in 1912. The construction of the building was the largest and most important contract of James William Jones who had built such buildings as the Farmers State Bank, Colored Public School,
I.O.O.F. and the Gmelich Residence (323 E. High). The building, which cost $40,000 to erect, has 38,000 square feet of floor space with a warehouse capacity for storage of 151 carloads of materials including space for over 10 million corn cobs. The office was in the 1st story S end. The remainder of the 1st floor was used for cob sawing, machine shop, and pipe tumblers for shellacing. The 2nd floor had the sanding, turning and varnishing areas. The 3rd floor was for packing, assembly, and drying. There were 2 elevators. The company is credited with revolutionizing the industry through developing mechanized mass production and modern marketing techniques. In 1917 it employed 150 workers and produced 100,000 pipes per day, but by 1932 it produced only half that amount. The company became world famous for the
production of quality, low cost pipes among which were the Dewey (1890's), Hel-O-Cob (1935)and the Ima-Cob (late 1930's). By 1940 the company employed over 70 workers and was still Boonville's largest private employer. The company ceased production in 1953.
The building was bought and modernized in that year by McGraw Edison, Inc. In July 1954 the building again became operational with housing of the P.A.T.G. Division offices and the service department (small appliance's repair). In 1979 the P.A.T.G. Division was sold to Toastmaster Inc.
Due to its historical importance to both Boonville and the State for its commercial associations, the factory rates a primary significance.
"The factory faces W onto 2nd St. and the railroad. There are no outbuildings. There is a parking area to the W and a parking lot to the E. This lot to the E and the adjoining E property was originally used as a cob storage area." ~ Boonville Historic Survey PDF pages 88-91