The Gittemeier House

1067 Dunn Road
Florissant, Missouri
314-565-1468

Admission is $3; parking is free in lot or on street. 

www.Historicflorissant.com

Opened after 1991.  

The Gittemeier House was built by German immigrant Franz Gittemeier who after working the California gold fields for seven years, returned to Florissant and purchased fifty acres.  On it he built the two-story brick house about 1860 and he and his wife Gertrude raised ten children there. 

Two families and their descendants lived in the house until 1990 when it was purchased by Historic Florissant, Inc. Initially the home was used just by the organization and the three front rooms still serve the organization.  This room is a resource center.  

This room houses, among the other things, a gift shop. 

These front rooms are not period-restored but do include a few items such as this cabinet that displays old barbershop mugs from the Montaigne family barbershop.  The shop opened in the mid-to-late 1800's and closed in 1952.

The room behind the library is one of several that were restored a few years ago expanding beyond using the building as a head office for the organization. The furniture and items in this room were all donated by a local family. 

The room does have one item donated by the Gittemeier family and that is Franz's wooden shoes that he wore when working in the fields. 

Outside this room is a display area.  This wall is dedicated to old Florissant houses that no longer exist. 

Another portion is dedicated to the narrow gauge railroad that made it possible for people living in the city to travel to Florissant for recreation on week-ends or in the summer. 

Going up the stairs to the second floor you are greeted by a display of early sewing items. 

The second floor landing also has a cabinet filled with antique toys. 

A room on the back of the second floor has one of many fireplaces in the house. 

An unfinished needlework by a Gittemeier daughter is on display.

On the front of the house are two bedrooms. 

The bed in the other front room has one of several beautiful quilts on display in the house. 

Even the cradles have quilts. 

Quilts not on beds are stored in a chifferobe. 

This beautiful bedroom piece has two hidden compartments. 

This chair sits very low to the ground and has a rocker.  It was probably used by a nursing mother. 

This beautiful dress and boots are on display. 

The fourth upstairs room served as an office for the organization head for many years and remains as it was then. 

We visited in December and enjoyed the period seasonal decorations including this Christmas feather tree. 

Here one feather got loose enabling you to see how the feathers are used to create the tree. 

The hanging oranges were beautiful! 

A second floor Christmas tree was decorated with strands of popcorn, cranberries and orange slices. 

After visiting this house we had lunch at Hendel's in Old Town Florissant.   A grocery store was established in the building in 1873 and then in 1994 it was re-opened as a restaurant. There is restaurant-seating in the expanded front porch as well as, when weather permits, on the beautiful patio. 

This menu item was EXCELLENT! Pears and Brie Flatbread with mixed greens and balsamic glaze!  YUMMY! 

This meal of  a vegetable quiche, a mixed salad, and a cup of soup was only $10 and was enjoyed by three of our group.  

What every restaurant needs - a throwback candy counter! 

Comments:  We visited this house on Historic St. Louis Holiday Tour Saturday when many groups got together and opened their houses, etc. for tours.  Normally this house is only open on Tuesdays.  It was a busy day and there were others touring the house so I don't know how crowded it would be normally.  We did have tour guides which I understand is the norm.  

The house is in good shape and we enjoyed going through it.  I especially enjoyed the two bedrooms. 

We were told that their library/resource center has a lot of material for historians and genealogists. 

Hendel's was a great restaurant.  Despite limited parking and a wait to get seated, I would definitely return. The menu was interesting, the food excellent, and the service very good.  In addition to the candy counter, they had a fairly extensive drink list.  

Overland Log House

2404 Gass Avenue
Overland, MO 53114
314-426-7027

Admission:  Adults are $3 and children are free. Free street parking

overlandhistorical society.org

Opened in ?

The Overland Historical Society moved this log house to Overland from Wildwood where it had overlooked the Missouri River and stood since the mid-1800's. It was dismantled at its original site and rebuilt by society members on the Overland site. It is a two-story log house built in the dog-trot design (two log cabins connected). 

On the day we visited there were fires burning in the two first-floor fireplaces filling the house with the smell and smoke of burning logs. These next three pictures are of the parlor. 

We were able to hear the pump organ played. 

Also on the first floor is a kitchen. 

The second floor has two rooms with this one set up as a bedroom. 

The bed quilt is filled with sewn names of different families in Wildwood that were friends of the home owners - the Links. 

Quilts and clothing on display. 

Antique hair-care items. 

The second upstairs room is filled with items associated with sewing and other handmade items and equipment. 

Signs inform you that you are looking at a spinning wheel, a spool winder, and a spool rack. 

The dress in the corner was created by a volunteer by sewing many, many buttons on the outfit. 

The quilts on display were also all labeled. 

The house was decorated for Christmas including this period tree in the parlor. 

The tree chain is constructed with fabric as opposed to paper. 

Dried apples are strung as are spools and beads. 

This cute Christmas tree sits on the mantle in the kitchen. 

Notice how low the front door handle is.  

Next to the house is a large barn that was also constructed using wood from old buildings.  

The walls are covered with period tools. 

A man demonstrated old tools including this turning saw. 

A long antique sled leans against the barn door. 

A covered wagon is also on the grounds. 

This buggy has a sign inviting guests to sit in it for picture taking! 

Comments: Several things were done on our visit here to make one feel that they were having an experience from the past!  From the wood-burning fireplaces heating and lighting the rooms to the display of several items from the 1800's, one is taken back to that period. We have toured 13 historical houses in the St. Louis area and this is the only one that is made of actual logs so that was fun. 

There were several docents that answered questions and performed demonstrations. They were very friendly. 

The sad thing is that no one directed us to the museum building and the gift shop building so we totally missed going through them.  The museum features exhibits of Overland, the Overland Trail, and Ritenour School District history.  There is also an office for the society on the grounds as well as a storage building. 

Also neither their website, Facebook page, nor brochure refer to the house or museum being open for tours at any regularly scheduled time. I wonder if you contacted one of the people listed if you could arrange for a tour.