Windows looking across Madison Street to the Governor's Mansion lawn were revealed during recent exterior renovations at 205 E. Capitol Ave.
The prominent corner has been home to newspapers and printing companies, furniture and office supply businesses, tire and cigar manufacturers, an engineering firm, and meeting space for civic groups.
The Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association has owned the building since 1996.
The organization felt it was time for renovations, Executive Director Ronald Leone said.
When they discovered three first-floor windows had been bricked over, he said, they decided to bring back a bit of the original look.
Built in 1846 by Kentucky brick mason Reuben Garnett, the structure is one of the oldest in town.
"We're making it better and more modern with a nod to its history," Leone said of the mostly interior improvement project.
That history includes Calvin Gunn, who printed the first newspaper in the Capital City, the Jeffersonian Republican, in 1826 and had the first state printer contract. He bought the building in July 1851.
Gunn was an "old-line" Democrat, according to James Ford's 1938 history of Jefferson City, and was father-in-law to Gov. B. Gratz Brown. The block north along Madison Street "was once known as 'Brown's Row,' an exclusive residential area built by Gov. Brown in the 1870s," according to the Sunday News and Tribune, Jan. 30, 1972.
John Heinrichs operated his business in furniture, carpeting, undertakers and upholstery from that office in 1800, according to the Illustrated Sketchbook. The father and son's business continued there at least through 1915.
The Knights of Columbus bought the three-story brick building in 1908. In 1913, tenants included the KK Printing Company and Jefferson City Produce Company.
The Capital News, later the Daily Capital News, moved from 223 Madison St. to 203 Capitol Ave. by 1915, where it operated 18 years before being bought by Robert Goshorn and merged with the Jefferson City Post Tribune to form the News and Tribune at 210 Monroe St.
Longtime early Capital News editors include founder C.B. Corwin, Charles Buchanan and Kelly Pool.
In 1920, Rufus Hollister bought the Daily Capital News and its sister paper, the Cole County Weekly Rustler. Hollister moved to Jefferson City in 1905 but had spent most of his time in Washington, D.C., as secretary to Sen. William Stone, according to the Dec. 22, 1919, Chillicothe Constitution Tribune.
Hollister immediately updated the printing company's mechanical equipment, investing about $10,000 by May 1920, the News reported. In addition to a state-of-the-art folding machine and wire stitcher, he added a Ludlow Type Caster, only used in Kansas City and St. Louis at the time.
That year, The Associated Press established a permanent presence in the Capital City, housed at the Daily Capital News offices.
By 1925, owners of the Knights of Columbus were using the upstairs for a meeting hall, and the City Tire and Battery Company, Kemp Asel proprietor, was next door to the News in 205-207 Capitol Ave.
After the News left, the Jefferson Printing Company filled 201 Capitol Ave. for at least five years.
In 1933, Ready and Woodman Engineering Company moved in and stayed through the 1970s in the corner space.
Its neighbors in 1938 included the state highway planning survey and Klee Appliance.
The Missouri State Guard Armory moved from 319 E. Capitol Ave. to 205 E. Capitol Ave. in the winter of 1943.
From about 1948 to the late 1960s, occupants were steady with Woodman Engineering, Western Union, the Elks Lodge and Knights of Columbus.
The Missouri Auto Dealers Association bought the property in January 1971.
Along with its neighbors in the 200 block of East Capitol Avenue, the association completely remodeled the interior of 201-205 E. Capitol Ave.
"We hope it will last another 175 years," Leone said. "It's such a beautiful location."