Historic Structure Report: Bauvais-Amoureux House
Raths, Raths & Johnson, Inc.. 2021. Historic Structure Report: Bauvais-Amoureux House. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office. Omaha, Nebraska
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park was established as a unit of the National Park Service,(NPS) on October 30, 2020. The settlement of Ste. Genevieve was originally founded on the west bank of the Mississippi River approximately 60 miles south of modern St. Louis, Missouri in about 1750. After a major flood in 1785, the village was gradually relocated to its present site on higher ground. The Park mission is to “preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit of present and future generations the themes of French settlement, vernacular architecture, and community form and farming on the frontier associated with Ste. Genevieve”. The Bauvais-Amoureux House is located at 327 St. Marys Road, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. The property is a part of the Ste. Genevieve Historic District. This District is defined as an area roughly bounded by Main Street and St. Marys Road, Roberts Street, Ninth Street and Seraphin Street in Ste. Genevieve. The Jean Baptiste St. Gemme Bauvais (Amoureux) House (known throughout the report as the Bauvais-Amoureux House) was built c. 1792 and is one of only three known surviving poteaux-en-terre style houses in Ste. Genevieve and one of only five known in the United States. Important architectural features include the vertical log walls and the heavy timber trusses supporting the steeply pitched roof. The walnut ceiling beams are original. The House underwent multiple alterations during the mid-nineteenth century, including the construction of the galeries, reduction in the House length, and interior alterations. Though the House has been altered, it retains integrity and is a critical contributing structure to the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. The House is not only architecturally significant but also plays a significant role in the interpretation of the African American experience before and after the Civil War as the home of a free black woman, Pelagie Vital Amoureux. The House is a part of the Ste. Genevieve Historic District, which was listed on the National Register in 2002. The goal of the Bauvais-Amoureux House HSR project, as defined by the NPS, is to develop critical planning and predesign in preparation for eventual design development and construction documents that will lead to rehabilitation of the struture to support its continued use.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Raths, Raths & Johnson, Inc.
- Date of Issue
- 2021-10-18
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office
- Units
- MWR , STGE
- Keywords
- Bauvais-Amoureux House, Caveau, dendrochronology, Mississippi Valley French Colonial, Pelagie Vital Amoureux, Poteaux-en-terre, St. Marys Road