The Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum

634 South Broadway, 
St. Louis, Missouri 63102
Admission: $10.00; children 7-16 $5.00; parking is free

 http://fieldhousemuseum.org/

The Eugene Field House was built in 1845 as one of twelve row houses. In 1850, attorney Roswell Field and his wife Frances bought the house and there in September their son Eugene was born. In 1853 Roswell served as the attorney for Dred Scott and family when the Scotts brought action in federal court for their freedom.  In 1856 Eugene's mother died, and the following year Eugene left this home to live with an aunt in Massachusetts.   

In 1936 the house opened as the first historic house museum in St. Louis.  Among the many period furniture pieces in the house is this 1876 Steinway piano in one of two parlors on the first floor.

This beautiful ornate bed is in the second floor bedroom.  

Although on display in the second floor library, this piece of furniture actually belongs in a dining room. The tiny drawers on the right bottom are designed to hold silverware and a decorative door can hide the drawers. 

There are a number of antique toys interspersed upstairs including this horse on wheels. 

There are also several doll houses on the second floor.  This replica of a lake house however is not a child's toy. 

We toured this house as part of a Christmas tour of three historic homes and thus were able to enjoy the period holiday decorations.  This second floor tree is made of turkey feathers. 

On the first floor was a decorated tree made of goose feathers. 

The entrance hall floor cloth is hand-painted vinyl that was designed and hand painted for this space as part of the restoration.   

In April 2015, ground was broken for the new 4000 square foot Field House Museum.  We were able to tour as part of a Christmas historical house tour just days before it opened to the public. 

There are currently two exhibits in the museum as well as the toy collection. The walls are covered with informative displays for the exhibit titled What's Past is Prologue: A House Brimming with Stories. 

Stories include that of attorney Roswell Field and his legal work for Dred Scott and family...

stories of Eugene Field and his verses...

and of school children whose pennies helped save the house from the wrecking ball. 

There are also artifacts on display such as this beautiful Italian Monteith Bowl, ca. 1762-1781.  It was used to chill wine bottles and glasses. 

The majority of the artifacts in the new museum are part of the collection of the St. Louis Toy Museum that is a part of the Field House Museum.  These Buckskin Indian Dolls, from the 1800's came from Colorado and belonged to Eugene Field. 

This is a Wind-Up Black Doll, from 1881. 

These three toys are: Boy on Tricycle, 1870, USA; Wind-Up Carousel, 1875, France; and Wind-Up Bird on Wheels, 1870's. 

These German toys displayed together are Pool Shooter, late 1800's and Tut-Tut Man, circa 1903. 

This Baby Carriage from mid-1800's is probably American made. 

The second exhibit is titled Field of Play:  The Joyful Collections of Don and Shirley Zork. The Mickey Mouse Memorabilia comes from The Zork Family Mickey Mouse Collection.  On display is this small portion of the 450 items in the collection dating back to 1928. 

There is also a Zork Bear Collection with 200+ items.  Those on display include Steiff bears dressed in authentic Ralph Lauren Designs and the Muffy Vanderbear Collection dressed in winter finery. 

A variety of teddy bears from the Zork Collection will be on display this spring as part of the upcoming Teddy Bear Picnic Exhibit. 

Another room in the new expansion is the new Eugene Field Library. 

Among other things the library houses the largest Eugene Field collection in private hands. 

The Field House Museum Gift Shop sells books, toys, and other items. 

Comments:  We visited the Eugene Field House as part of a Christmas Tour that included three historic houses and 450 participants.  It would be nice to visit it when it is not so crowded.  They offer docent-led tours during normal visiting hours. 

The house is well preserved. The new museum is visually attractive and interesting. There is no special area for the toys as some are placed by wall displays covering other topics. This was a little confusing to me at first until I realized that these artifacts were part of the toy museum. 

There is a free parking lot behind the house plus there is street parking.  

The website has additional information.