Capital City's history feted on Heritage Day

This July 2012 photo shows the Jefferson City house at 712 E. High St., which is a recipient of the Golden Hammer Award.
This July 2012 photo shows the Jefferson City house at 712 E. High St., which is a recipient of the Golden Hammer Award.

History was celebrated Tuesday with awards and presentations during the annual Heritage Day, hosted by the city's Historic Preservation Commission and the Historic City of Jefferson.

Henry Gensky was presented with the 2017 Gregory Stockard Distinguished Service Award. The part-time interpreter at the Missouri State Museum also provided a slide show of historic photos of the centennial Capitol throughout its construction.

He threw out some novel facts, such as the Missouri-quarried Carthage marble is in fact high-grade limestone, the southside statue of Thomas Jefferson was made from the former president's death mask and the two bronze doors behind the statue weigh a combined 18,000 pounds and are the largest cast since Roman times.

Commission Chairman Art Hernandez named the 2017 Landmarks. This is the 25th year for the commission to recognize local historic buildings based on significance, property type, location and integrity.

Since 1993, 106 properties have been awarded the large bronze medallion featuring the silhouette of President Jefferson.

This year's honorees are:

The High Street Retreat, 712 E. High St., owned by Donna Deetz and HBC LLC, is a Victorian home built by Frank Heinrich in 1900, where the city's first public funeral home operated.

The Dix Home, 1919 W. Main St., owned by Brad and Kay Lindsey, was built for James Babbit, a U.S. commissioner of land sales, in the 1880s. Leander and Mary Dix moved their family there in the late 1880s. Today's Dix Road runs through the original 80 acres the family converted to a successful orchard.

The Historic City of Jefferson also presented its annual heritage art, essay and multimedia student awards, a fixture since 1994.

Multimedia winners from St. Joseph Cathedral School were: first place, Raygan Hamilton for "Old Bolivar Street Bridge;" second place, Olivia Manner for "Missouri State Penitentiary;" third place, Craig Mueller for "Coca Cola Plant;" and honorable mention, Thomas Roehl for "Missouri State Penitentiary."

Essay contest winners, all from St. Joseph, were: first place, Troy Austin for "The Historical Governor's Mansion;" second place, Dustin McElwaine for "The Best Mansion You'll Ever See in Jefferson City That Has a Governor Living At It;" third place, Nicholas Schaben for "Missouri State Capitol;" and honorable mention, Stephanie Dallmeyer for "Dallmeyer's Jewelry Store."

Art contest winners included: first place, Addison Luetkemeyer, Helias High School, for "The Struggle" in pencil; second place, Emily Reed, Jefferson City High School, for "Union Hotel" in watercolor; third place, Claire Battson, Helias, for "The Spirit of Missouri" in pencil; third place, Skylar Nelson, Helias, for "Missouri Pacific Railroad" in mixed media; honorable mention and Mayor's Choice, Evan Rackers, Helias, for "Jefferson City Bridge" in charcoal; and honorable mention, Christina Durk for Missouri Pacific Railroad in pencil.