Archives revive 58 maps of Jefferson Barracks

Mapping out a place in history

Conservator Sandy Hempe wash two of 58 maps brought to the Missouri State Archives for restoration by the Jefferson Barracks Heritage Foundation.
Conservator Sandy Hempe wash two of 58 maps brought to the Missouri State Archives for restoration by the Jefferson Barracks Heritage Foundation.

A bundle of yellow pages donated to the Jefferson Barracks Heritage Foundation were unfurled by the Missouri State Archives this spring.

The foundation knew the risk of such aged documents and sought out Lisa Fox, senior conservator, to restore 58 maps and drawings of the barracks offering insight into its development, since the land was purchased in 1826.

"Many of the buildings on these maps don't exist today," said Bill Florich, foundation executive director.

The discovery will help with both practical measures and historic preservation.

As infrastructure and new construction have crossed the barracks site in St. Louis, they often have come across limestone foundations and brick waterways.

Because Jefferson Barracks is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the construction will pause for archaeologists to analyze and document. But then the unearthed pieces of the past are filled in again.

These maps will allow construction crews to work around the likely sites of former buildings. The new information also will preserve those locations from damage from future construction.

In the past, if historians went looking for by-gone locations, they used ground-penetrating mapping. And before that, an educated guess and a shovel.

The map collection has been a "great find," Florich said.

"We didn't know these maps existed," Florich said. "A fellow walked into the office with a bundle. When I touched them, I knew well enough not to open them."

Fox traveled to St. Louis thinking she'd offer a bit of advice.

"We were wowed with what a history this provides for the barracks," Fox said.

The state archives local record division exists to serve such localized projects, which hold significant historical relevance, as well as conserving state-specific items.

Jefferson Barracks was named for President Thomas Jefferson, who died the same year the oldest operational military installation west of the Mississippi River was established as an "infantry school of practice" by the war department, said Art Schuermann, president of the Jefferson Barracks Community Council.

It once was the largest military post in the nation. And during its 120-year activity before being surplused, the base served roles including ordnance depot, engineer base, cavalry post, prison camp, hospital, induction center and basic training site.

The final conservation step is encapsulation, where a mylar envelope is sealed around the document, but not attached to it like lamination.

Before that, the delicate pages are cleaned and washed.

Conservators Diane McKinney and Sandy Hempe demonstrated their conservation techniques Thursday morning in the lab for foundation representatives and media.

Like treating a clothing stain, the first step is to remove as much dirt and debris in a dry state.

Then, deionized water with a bit of calcium hydroxide added for a mildly alkaline pH, helps remove the acidic degradation damaging the paper through an osmosis effect.

Incomplete sheets are mended with special Japanese paper and a wheat starch paste.

Most of the 58 maps were drawn by hand, Fox noted.

Once restored at the state archive, the maps will be digitized for the foundation.

"That means anybody with an interest could see the maps of our historical past," Schuermann said.

The information they provide may help with future projects on the historic site, including a Ulysses Grant Library Center, a Buffalo Soldiers museum, and a museum in honor of Prisoners of War and/or Missing In Action.

The historians were most excited with the 1908 map revealing the double trolley line, which ended at the barracks post office, near today's Missouri Civil War Museum.

"I pick up more interesting information every time I look at these," Schuermann said.

The largest map in the collection shows the transition the barracks went through at the turn of the century.

An undercover reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was enlisted in the late 1800s to discover why the base had such a high number of deserters. After only six weeks, he reported "it wasn't fit to stay."

The base received an expansion and overhaul in the 1890s, which is captured on the largest map.

It shows where the 1826 parade grounds were, but also the band barracks built in the 1890s.

Jefferson Barracks was the prototype site for the military vernacular architecture replicated in many bases during the 20th century, Florich said.

With several maps still under conservation, the barracks historians are anxious to really look closely at the their details.

Florich hopes to find the exact location of the gazebo where the company band would play, because the foundation would like to recreate it, he said. He asked if the records division had noticed it.

"Conservators pay attention to the object, not the details," Fox apologized.

Once digitized and researched, the maps likely will find a home at the Missouri Museum of Military History, Schuermann said.