Missouri Civil War Museum

222 Worth Road

St. Louis, MO 63125

Admission is $7 for individuals, $6 for seniors, and $5 for veterans and students.  Parking is free.

Website: http://mcwm.org/   

This relatively new museum opened in June 2013, funded mostly by individual donations. The museum and gift shop are housed in the 110-year-old brick building built in 1905 as the Post Exchange & Gymnasium Building for Jefferson Barracks. Over the years the building also served as a barrack, an overflow hospital, and again as an entertainment center for soldiers.  After sitting empty for sixty years, the not-for-profit Missouri Civil War Museum organization was formed and spent ten years restoring the building and raising funds for the museum.

A visit to the museum begins with a 5-minute background film then on to the two galleries on the main floor.  The first room, the Pre-War Gallery, has displays and a video covering four major events that led to the Civil War.

The second large room, the Col. John Emerson Main Gallery, has numerous displays about the war in Missouri.  The displays cover a variety of topics.

The three-inch ordinance rifle cannon in the center of the gallery.

On the lower level there are several rooms including Jefferson Barracks: Through the Years. 

Another new exhibit on the lower level is Hollywood and the Civil War. 

Saddle used in mini series North and South

There are also Post War Exhibits.

Finally in the lower level is a theater with a large screen showing a film about Civil War museums, battlefields, and other various Civil-War related sites in the state of Missouri.

The number of uniforms throughout the museum displays is very impressive.  There is clothing for most every area including these below.

Knights Templar Uniform

Two examples of women's dresses

 

The highlight of this museum are the over 800 artifacts.  All are displayed well and are accompanied by excellent written descriptions

Gunpowder Loading Flasks and Shot Bags

Surgical/Amputation Set made in Paris

Zither and Rosewood Fife

Pocket Surgical and Dissection Sets

Sabers and other weapons

Carpenters Tools

Artillery Artifacts 

One of the most interesting artifacts is a 19^th century undertaker’s cooling table. The sign tells us this: During the Civil War, the need to transport fallen soldiers back home for burial is what led to the dramatic rise and acceptance in America of preserving human remains.  Cooling tables were used by local undertakers and taken to the “parlor” room of a residence to display the deceased prior to burial.  Cooling tables have many holes drilled in them to allow cool air to flow upon the body from a block of ice that was placed under the table.

It is amazing the number of Civil War books available to purchase at the museum.  In addition to used books there is a nice sized gift shop with not only books and DVD’s but also Civil War memorabilia and Jefferson Barracks souvenirs.

A  number of the old barracks are visible from the museum steps.

Next to the museum is a smaller brick building that the museum has purchased and is restoring to use as a center for Civil War research and study.

Nearby the museum we had lunch at a wonderful relatively-new restaurant called Café Telegraph. http://cafetelegraph.com/

The café’s co-owner, “Stan the Man”, spent quite a bit of time talking with us.  He fortunately convinced us to try their smoked wings which may just be the best wings any of us have ever eaten. The café is known for its smoked meats as well as its pork chops and sweet potato fries, etc. All excellent. We will definitely return. 

A group of uniformed servicemen came to the cafe for lunch while we were there and between a member of our our party and another table, their complete tab was picked up.  We learned that being close to Jefferson Barracks, the café has soldiers most days and 50% of the time other costumers pay for their meals. 

Comments: We spent about 90 minutes at the museum, going through the exhibits at our own pace.  One could obviously spend more time there if they read every display. There are no guided nor audio tours. 

With five films and hundreds of artifacts this is obviously a very visual museum.  There are no interactive displays.  The displays are laid out easy to read and the artifacts are well-described. The main floor displays are easy to follow and again very visual.  The downstairs’ displays are in multiple little rooms. The films are well-made.  The films are on their own schedule so sometimes we entered rooms while a film was in progress and it was hard to know when the film would begin again.

This is also a museum in progress as they are continuing to add and complete displays. 

As a not-for-profit institution, several ways to donate are made available.  They are especially seeking donations to complete the building next door.

We have learned that there are bus tours that visit the museum.  Fortunately this afternoon we were alone in all of the exhibits but I would recommend calling ahead before visiting to check on the likelihood of tour groups being there. Their website shares this: Due to the high volume of praise and positive reviews through TripAdvisor, the museum is listed in the Top 3 Museums of St. Louis and received a 2013 Certificate of Excellence.

Nearby Jefferson Barracks Park and Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery include additional museums and monuments of historical interest. The cemetery has a number of notable interments among the 188,000 buried there.  

Final recommendation: Go to Café Telegraph for lunch or dinner!

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and Mosaic Museum

4431 Lindell Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63108

Free tour of Cathedral and free parking. 

Donation for museum is $2.00

Website: http://cathedralstl.org/

The Cathedral offers a docent-led tour of the worship areas plus has a small museum and a gift shop.  

The outside of the building is Romanesque in style.

However, the inside is in Byzantine style complete with beautiful mosaics.

The Cathedral contains 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces in 7,000 shades of colors that cover 83,000 square feet. Many artists were involved in the process.

The tour began in the narthex where we saw many mosaics dedicated to King Louis IX, the saint after which St. Louis is named.

Then we entered the nave and sat under the Historic dome where the mosaics tell many parts of the history of the church in St. Louis.  The dome is 96 feet high.

American saints are pictured on the four pendentives, inverted triangles.

We then moved to the Central Dome which is 143 feet high, which is equivalent to fourteen stories. (The outside of the building stands 21 stories high.)

The half domes on each side included the last of the mosaics, completed in 1988.

Unfortunately my only picture of the baldacchino and altar under the sanctuary dome is quite blurred but hopefully shows how impressive this area is. 

We then walked behind the alter area and saw an area of the cathedral one can only see if they are on a tour. 

On that North wall above all is the red Rose Window by Tiffany.

From the front when you look to the back you can see the blue Rose Window also by Tiffany.

We then visited three of the four chapels, the first one being Our Lady’s Chapel.

The fabrication and the installation of the mosaics here were done by Tiffany Company in 1912, making them the oldest mosaics in the cathedral. They are in the Italian style not the Byzantine style and thus do not include gold-leaf like the other mosaics in the Cathedral.

The mosaics in the All Souls Chapel are mostly on the ceiling level.

The last chapel we visited was the All Saints Chapel.

The tour group does not enter the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, but outside the chapel we saw the rare bronze replica of Michelangelo’s Pietá that is on temporary loan to the Cathedral.  

The cathedral has many marble statues.

Marble is throughout the cathedral.

The Stations of the Cross are all in marble, also.

And of course the floors are made of marble, some very decorative.

The ceilings are often covered with beautiful mosaics as shown in the next five pictures.

This ceiling outside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is done in red mosaics to symbolize the blood of Christ.

The ceiling in Our Lady’s Chapel has no gold leaf because just like the walls in this chapel the ceiling was done in the Italian style.

This ceiling outside the All Soul’s Chapel was done in a Navajo design.

Close-up pictures reveal the shine brought to the cathedral through the use of gold-leaf.

The tour took a full ninety minutes.  We then went to the basement Mosaic Museum to learn more about the making and installation of the mosaics.

In addition to pictures and posters of explanation there are some artifacts from the procedure.

There are also artifacts belonging to the Catholic Church such as pictured below.

This is a fourteenth century song book.  It is huge!

Here there is also a crypt where the remains of Saint Louis’ Cardinals and Archbishops are interred.

And lastly we visited the Cathedral Shop where there was a good collection of religious books and items as well as mosaic and Cathedral themed gifts. 

We went to lunch nearby at the Osage Café which is at Bowood Farms at 4605 Olive.

http://www.bowoodfarms.com/cafe_osage  

You enter through a large very fun garden and gift shop.

The restaurant has a good reputation and the food was presented well.  Below are Greens, Eggs, and Ham and the Strawberry Apricot Salad with panko crusted goat cheese!

Comments:

The cathedral is truly beautiful – a real gem in St. Louis.  The building was begun in 1907 and opened in 1914.  The first mosaics were installed in 1912 and the last mosaics were not completed until 1988 thus it took 76 years to complete. It was interesting to learn that until the mosaics could be completed paintings were first done on the walls.  

Our docent was excellent and the tour was very good. It centered on the significance of the different pictures and artwork and included a lot of St. Louis Catholic history. It took a full ninety minutes and was worth every minute. We highly recommend taking it to help you understand and appreciate what you are viewing.   

The tour included very little information about the process of making and installing the mosaics. To learn more about the mosaics one can go to the relatively small basement museum.  Frankly it is at time difficult to follow which description goes with which photograph or artifact in the museum. In order to really understand the mosaic process one must read the long explanations.  The museum was worth going to but could use an update and a better layout. We spent about 20 minutes in the museum. (The $2 fee was on the honor system thus no one to make change so having the correct change is very helpful.)

Be sure to schedule your visit around the masses which are held several times a day.  We called to make reservations for the tour (suggested but not mandatory) and learned that our first-choice date was not available because the cathedral was closed for a special event (rehearsal for a concert). Call ahead and affirm availability.

If you live in St. Louis and haven't been here, you should really go and enjoy being impressed with the artistry and beauty.