This was the home of the Kern family and their millinery (hat) shop.  

In 1912 the Bank of St. Peters moved here from down the street (at 10 Main Street) and it did very well until a bank swindling scheme and the Great Depression hit in 1929.  The depression continued and led to a run on the bank in 1932.  The bank shut down for several months, and reopened in 1933 under a new license from the State Finance Commissioner.

Eventually the building also housed a liquor store until the 1950’s and then J. J. Kitchen and Catering in the rear of the building.  In 1965 the bank’s cashier, E. Eugene Poteat, was arrested for, and pleaded guilty to, submitting a false FHA loan application.  The bank left this location and moved closer to Interstate 70, to a site near the present-day
Quik-Trip.  In 1972 the building was sold to James and Betty Burns, who operated Burns Printing Company here.  They sold it to Herbert and Mary Erb, who ran Herb and Mary’s Tavern here until 1985.  After that, the Amvets Post 106 was housed here until 1997.  When they moved to their current location on Brown Road, it opened as the Field Box tavern.

This building was built by George Radell in 1865.  George was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1861.  He served with the 30th Missouri Infantry and was listed as a tailor in the 1870 census.  The building was sold to Reinhard Kunderer in 1886 and was used as a tavern, dance hall, and rooming house in the rough railroad days. Supper, feed and water for your horse, a room for the night, and breakfast the next morning cost $1.  After Reinhard retired, his son Anton operated the building as a saloon.  After a fire in 1913, it was rebuilt as you see it today.  The original building now has two addresses, numbers 5 and 7, and the adjacent building was added on in 1950 and given number 9. Today it is owned and operated by Jerome Schneider as Schneider Hardware.

John Joerdens came to this country from Hanover, Germany in 1853.  In the early 1870’s he built the structure that currently stands at 6 Main Street.

Mr. Joerdens originally opened the building as Baer and Marheineke General Merchandise, operating from 1889 to 1909.  The building also served as the post office at that time.  Emil Marheineke, Joerden’s son-in-law, became the sole proprietor from 1910 – 1916.  

Nick and Joe “Hiddy” Schwendemann owned the property from 1916 to 1933.  George Stiefvater moved his Home Furnishing Enterprise to 6 Main Street in 1935.  In 1963 it became Stiefvater hardware, then Stiefvater Sales and Service by 1974.  It also was operated as an Army Surplus store in the 1980’s and as Sally T’s Deli and Bar in the 1990’s.  Today, 6 Main Street is the location of Brides By Design.

This building was a bank in the 1890’s.  Jules Henry Sprecklemeyer bought it for $3498 and turned it into a saloon.  He sold it during Prohibition for $1600 to pay his taxes.  Since then the bar has passed through a short list of owners and has had other names.  Jack’s Tavern was owned by Jack Penny.  Hyde Park beer was sold at Ferd’s Tavern, owned by Ferd Ell.  

In 1913, when 5 Main Street building burned down, Fred Hiler moved his barbershop into the small area on the right side, and through that door (now not used) the men had their hair trimmed before getting a drink at the bar.  In 1946, Elmer Schneider bought the bar and named it Uncle Elmer’s and the name has endured.  Marge Roeper was the tavern’s first female bartender.  During a beer shortage after World War II, the owner would keep a barrel in reserve for All Saints churchgoers after Mass.

Brenda Eisenbath acquired the bar in 1992 and upgraded the building to its current status.  The building has the longest continuous liquor license in St. Charles County.

St. Peters Garage, originally established in 1920, still thrives today.  The century-old business was founded by Arthur Ell, son of a German immigrant, and one of St. Peters’ first Board of Trustees members.  His experience running a steam threshing machine as a young boy on a farm earned him a job at a steel plant running a steam derrick. Afterwards, he worked at American Car and Foundry.

Arthur’s expertise with steam machines was considered so valuable to the US, he was exempt from going to war.  He witnessed the transition from horse and buggy to automobiles and taught himself how to repair cars.  
John “Toad” Gue owned a blacksmith shop next door.  When the opportunity to purchase the struggling blacksmith shop presented itself, Ell expanded the garage and worked on Maxwells, Humpmobiles, Overlands, Fords, and the Moon, a St. Louis-built car.

Father of two sons and seven daughters, Ell also volunteered as a fire fighter, became Chief in 1947 and held the office for the next thirty years.  He watched significant changes to St. Peters when the town voted to light the streets with electricity in 1926, and more than 44 years later witnessed the installation of water and sewer systems in town.

German-born Bernard Taubeler, father of Frank Taubeler (an original member of the St. Peters Board of Aldermen and the first Chief of the St. Peters Volunteer Fire Department), built the red brick house with white balustrades in 1872 as a wedding gift for his wife, Catherine Miller.  

Bernard died in 1877 from a horse accident.  His wife passed shortly thereafter from shock and sorrow while pregnant with their fourth child.  The substantial Taubeler home continued to house extended family.

In the early 1900’s it was pictured on penny postcards, captioned “A Suburban Residence.”  The cards were sold at the Iffrig General Store down the street.  This building survived the 1915 tornado which wiped out most of St. Peters.

Albert Klotz, a carpenter and contractor, and the son of immigrant John Klotz, Sr. married Victoria Chappue and they raised their large family in this house.

From 1967 until 1976 the building served as St. Peters City Hall, and from 1974 until 1982 it also was the St. Peters Police Headquarters.  After the City Hall portion, which was upstairs moved to its new location across Interstate 70, the upper level served as the City Jail until 1982.

The St. Peters Jaycees used the building as their office and storage facility for years.  It is now a private residence.

This building was built in 1870.  In 1945, the Weinerth Building, as it was known then, was renovated for use by the American Legion Post.  The American Legion Post in St. Peters was originally organized in 1919 by two young veterans of WWI, George Stiefvater and Oscar Schulte.  On May 7, 1920 a charter was received from the National Headquarters, and Post 313 was official.  In 1946 the women formed the American Legion Auxiliary.

Until 2010 the building was almost exclusively used by the Legion.  Then Hobo’s restaurant moved into the first floor.  It is open to the public, and over the years thousands of meals have been served by this very popular restaurant.

The story of the properties at 301 Main Street and 311 Main Street begins with the broader history of Main Street in St. Peters, Missouri.  A 1798 land grant to Laurent Durocher was later confirmed by the U.S. government to Etienne Bernard as United States Survey 762.  On the other side of Main Street was United States Survey 1731, confirmed to Pelagie Labbadie under Etienne Bernard.  Eventually, U.S. Survey 1731 became property of Etienne Bernard and was acquired by Hypolite Bernard.  Survey 762 was inherited by Jean Baptist Bernard.   Hypolite Bernard and Jean Baptist Bernard had a portion of their surveys platted at the town of St. Peters and added more lots to the town plat in 1860.

The original town appears to have begun on two acres deeded from Hypolite to Jean Baptist Bernard in 1849.  A further subdivision of U.S. Survey occurred in 1868 after Henry Deppe and Henry Reineke purchased 14.95 acres from Hypolite Bernard.  

Ida Gossow purchased lots 1 and 2 of Deppe & Reineke’s Addition from Deppe & Reineke in 1868.  This was part of the subdivision of Survey 1731.  She later purchased lots 3, 4, and 5, and the Gossow property now included both 301 Main Street, currently the home of Whistle Stop 301, and 311 Main Street, now home to 311 Wine House.  

Ida’s husband was Gustav Friedrich Gossow, who was born 14 October 1827 and baptized 23 November 1827 in Löbau, West Prussia. Dr. Gossow was an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. After the Civil War, he set up his medical practice in St. Peters. Dr. Gossow died on 13 February 1894 in St. Peters and was buried in All Saints Cemetery in St. Peters. The Gossow family retained the property until 1911, when they sold lots 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to Frank Taubeler. Taubeler built many houses in Old Town and helped to found the St. Peters Volunteer Fire Department in 1906. He gave the property on which Whistle Stop 301 sits to his son-in-law, Albert Bernard Iffrig, in 1914.

The Brick house standing at 301 Main Street was built in the 1870’s by carpenter Bernard Taubeler and framer Henry Wahrhausen.  It was intended as a residence, but was purchased by Gustave and Ida Gossow in 1881 and became both the couple’s residence and Gossow’s Drug Store.  On the west wall of the building, you can still see advertisements for Dr. J. H. McLean’s Crystal Coated Liver Pills; if you look closely, you can also see a Volcanic Oil Liniment ad painted on the bricks.

In the 1940’s, one of St. Peters’ early families, the Ohmes family, purchased the house and moved in.  During that decade, Robert Ohmes and one of his sisters made the home their residence.  Today the building has been completely refurbished and serves as a gift shop and boutique called Whistle Stop 301.

The story of the properties at 301 Main Street and 311 Main Street begins with the broader history of Main Street in St. Peters, Missouri.  A 1798 land grant to Laurent Durocher was later confirmed by the U.S. government to Etienne Bernard as United States Survey 762.  On the other side of Main Street was United States Survey 1731, confirmed to Pelagie Labbadie under Etienne Bernard.  Eventually, U.S. Survey 1731 became property of Etienne Bernard and was acquired by Hypolite Bernard.  Survey 762 was inherited by Jean Baptist Bernard.   Hypolite Bernard and Jean Baptist Bernard had a portion of their surveys platted at the town of St. Peters and added more lots to the town plat in 1860.

The original town appears to have begun on two acres deeded from Hypolite to Jean Baptist Bernard in 1849.  A further subdivision of U.S. Survey occurred in 1868 after Henry Deppe and Henry Reineke purchased 14.95 acres from Hypolite Bernard.  

Ida Gossow purchased lots 1 and 2 of Deppe & Reineke’s Addition from Deppe & Reineke in 1868.  This was part of the subdivision of Survey 1731.  She later purchased lots 3, 4, and 5, and the Gossow property now included both 301 Main Street, currently the home of Whistle Stop 301, and 311 Main Street, now home to 311 Wine House.  
Ida’s husband was Gustav Friedrich Gossow, who was born 14 October 1827 and baptized 23 November 1827 in Löbau, West Prussia.  Dr. Gossow was an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army during the Civil War.  After the Civil War, he set up his medical practice in St. Peters.  Dr. Gossow died on 13 February 1894 in St. Peters and was buried in All Saints Cemetery in St. Peters.  The Gossow family retained the property until 1911, when they sold lots 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to Frank Taubeler.  Taubeler built many houses in Old Town and helped to found the St. Peters Volunteer Fire Department in 1906.  He gave the property on which Whistle Stop 301 sits to his son-in-law, Albert Bernard Iffrig, in 1914.

311 Main Street was under Iffrig ownership until 2004.  After brief stints as a gift shop and salon, it is now 311 Wine House, a thriving gathering spot in town.

The log cabin at 141 Gatty Road near the west end of Old Town Park in St. Peters was originally located east of Belleau Creek Road, just inside today’s St. Peters city limits, near Belleau Creek south of where Interstate 70 intersects Missouri Highway 79.  The cabin was owned by Jacob Sattler, who was born on 22 February 1822 in Bavaria.  He immigrated in 1828 to St. Charles County and grew up here.  Sattler married 27 November 1848 to Magdalene Berthold, and was a farmer. Sattler’s great-grandson, Bill Salfen, decided the log cabin was probably built by Sattler circa 1850, shortly after Sattler’s marriage. Listed as Jakob Sattler on his tombstone at Assumption Cemetery in O’Fallon, Missouri, Sattler died on 10 February 1903.  He was survived by his wife, who died on 2 January 1904 and was laid to rest next to her husband.

When a subdivision was developed on the former Sattler property, Harlan Schwendemann led a group of people in 1995 to preserve the log cabin located there.  Four years later, the log cabin lay in storage.  St. Peters residents and Old Town Association members Bonnie Callahan and Herb Iffrig led a campaign to raise funds for the reconstruction of the log cabin on a new site located along Gatty Rd.  The fundraising campaign proved successful. Reconstruction began in August 1999, and the Old Town Log Cabin opened to the public in 2005.

Albert Bernard Iffrig was born on 7 December 1887 in St. Peters, MO to Aloysius and Helena (Schwendemann) Iffrig. His fifteenth birthday party made the St. Charles Cosmos-Monitor in 1902.  He judged a debate at the St. Peters Public School in 1903.  He served as a groomsman at the Sammelmann-Joerdens wedding at All Saints Catholic Church in 1907.  Albert Iffrig married Kathryn Taubeler on 1 May 1912 at All Saints Catholic Church in St. Peters.  At that time, he was in business with his brother, Hubert Iffrig. The newlyweds moved into a newly built house on Second Street in St. Peters.  On 16 July 1914, Albert B. Iffrig was appointed postmaster of St. Peters.  Two years later, Iffrig was elected president of the fourth-class postmasters of St. Charles County.  In 1921, he managed the St. Peters baseball team, which were baseball champions of St. Charles County that year (see photo below).  The Albert Iffrig building on Main Street in St. Peters became home to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Mahon in 1929.  The Iffrig family moved to East Main Street into a new house built in 1940.  Prior to being the site of the Iffrig house, this property was used as the city campground.  Kathryn Iffrig died on 14 May 1956 and was buried in All Saints Cemetery in St. Peters.  Albert Iffrig was appointed to the membership committee of the St. Charles County Historical Society in 1961.  Albert Bernard Iffrig died on 4 April 1973 and was laid to rest next to his wife in All Saints Cemetery in St. Peters.