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
Becky, Sarah, Angela, Tania, Greg, Beckie, Edward, Jennifer, Christina
Built in 1840, Photograph circa 1916
Becky, Sarah, Angela, Tania, Greg, Beckie, Edward, Jennifer, Christina
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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