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Robidoux Row Museum

Location Information

Date: 29 June 2024     Type: Museum

Location Title: Robidoux Row Museum     

City/State: St. Joseph, MO

Investigation Times: 8:30 PM - 12:00 AM     Status: Analysis

 

Weather Information

Sunrise: 5:56 AM   Sunset: 8:50 PM

High Temperature: 87°F   Low Temperature: 62°F

Sky Condition: Mostly Cloudy   Wind: North at 13 mph

Humidity: 76%   Precipitation: 0.07 in

Lunar Phase: Waning Crescent   % disk visible: 37%

Solar X-Rays: Normal   Geomagnetic Field: Quiet

Pressure: 29.11 mmHg  

 

Investigators Present

Becky Ray

Christina Quentin

Edward Quentin

Sarah Crowe

Jennifer Sprague

Angela Hodge

Tania Rounds

Greg Payne

Beckie Payne

PHOTOS
VIDEO
AUDIO

Location History

From https://www.robidouxrowmuseum.net/
It is believed that the structure referred to as Robidoux Row, located on the northwest corner of Third and Poulin Streets, was constructed in the 1840s and finally completed in the 1850s.

The building was probably built in three sections over about ten years. The building is constructed of bricks supported on a native limestone foundation.

Many history books refer to Robidoux Row as the “oldest or first apartment house west of the Mississippi.” We are unsure if this is correct, but it was an early adventure in apartment building. Those books also mention seven apartments. If this is true, then each apartment would have consisted of two rooms, back to back, with one facing south and the other facing north. Architects during the restoration believe that originally the Row was a series of one-room apartments back to back. This is the theory that we now promote.

Originally, the apartments were built to house families of “the right quality” who had purchased lots from Joseph Robidoux, the city founder. He would let the families stay at the Row rent-free while their houses were being built near the downtown area. Later, persons traveling west often stayed here at Robidoux Row while waiting for their wagons to be ferried across the river or during the long, hard winters. Robidoux Row could be considered “St. Joseph’s first motel.”

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Investigators Notes:

​Christina, lead investigator: 

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