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Elijah Thomas Webb Residence

Historic building
In Webb City, Missouri
On Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

Webb City's Elijah Thomas Webb Residence, a three-story Queen Anne house, stands in Webb City, MO, less than a mile off the old road. Built around 1891, it keeps many of its original details, from a polygonal front tower to a slate roof and red brick walls on a tall limestone base. Few single-family houses of this style survive in Webb City, which is why it earned a National Register listing in 2020.

What is Elijah Thomas Webb Residence?

The house has an irregular outline under a slate-covered hip roof, with lower gables breaking out from the main mass and a many-sided tower on the front. Its builders mixed ideas freely: Queen Anne is the main theme, but Italianate, Romanesque and Eastlake touches appear too.

Look closely at the corners. Rounded bullnose bricks in a contrasting color are set to imitate stone quoins against the red brick walls. Below them, a sloping limestone foundation rises about five feet above the ground, giving the house a solid, raised look. Much of the original detail survives, so the house still reads as a true 1890s Queen Anne home.

History of Elijah Thomas Webb Residence

The residence dates from about 1891. Its largest change came around 1914, when a sleeping porch was added on the second floor. When the house was listed on the National Register in 2020, it was singled out as a high-style example of Queen Anne design and as a rare surviving single-family house of that style in Webb City.

Visiting Elijah Thomas Webb Residence: tips

This is a private home, so enjoy it from the street or public sidewalk and respect the owners' privacy. Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty to study the tower, roofline and brickwork. The Downtown Webb City Historic District is about 0.1 mile away and the Middle West Hotel about 0.2 mile, so you can park once and walk to all three. Casey's General Store, about 0.3 mile off, is the closest fuel.