Thomas B. Annan (1839-1904) was born in St. Louis. After graduation from the city’s only
public high school, Annan secured an apprenticeship with architect Thomas Waryng Walsh
(see Sept./Oct. 1989 newsletter) where he remained until the outbreak of the Civil War. After
the war, Annan entered the office of George I. Barnett, the “dean” of Missouri architects (see
May/June 1988 newsletter), before forming a partnership in 1870 with
Major Francis D. Lee—a direct descendent of the South Carolina Lees of Revolutionary fame.
The young firm quickly established itself in St. Louis by winning the 1871 design competition
for the new Merchants’ Exchange Building. (Losers included
Annan’s former employer, George I. Barnett.) Lee & Annan went on to design many important
commercial blocks, churches and houses. Nonetheless, in 1879 Annan decided to open his own office.
Walsh, Burnett and Lee had played invaluable roles as mentors in developing Annan’s professional
skills. Now, Samuel Cupples would be the important figure in Annan’s middle years. Cupples, a
transplant from his native Harrisburg, Pennsylvania via Cincinnati, was sent here in 1851 to open
a branch woodenware house. That small expansion enterprise became the largest of its kind in the
country with an annual volume equal to that of all the competitors combined. Related businesses
(paper bag, envelope and the massive Cupples Station distribution
center) added enormously to Cupples’ wealth and his contribution to the growth and prosperity of
St. Louis.
Cupples also devoted considerable time to civic and philanthropic interests; the development
and improvement of the public school system was a consuming interest. Cupples served for many
years on the School Board and is credited with the establishment of St. Louis’ esteemed Manual
Training School affiliated with Washington University. Cupples might have met Annan there. One
of Annan’s brief biographies states that he taught architecture for two years at Washington
University, but it is more likely that Annan and Cupples met at church.
Both were leading laymen in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Cook Avenue (now
Scruggs Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal) at the corner of Cook and Spring Avenues was one
of their first collaborations. Cupples, a non-member, Cupples much of the money; Annan provided
a precedent-setting design.
Built of St. Louis limestone with Indiana limestone trim, Cook Methodist features an exceptional
example of the so-called Akron plan distinguished by an open, semi-circular Sunday school assembly
space ringed by individual classrooms. Cook Methodist got underway in 1884. That same year Annan
and a handful of other practitioners founded the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects.
Annan married in 1863; in 1887, Joseph Paul Annan joined his father’s firm. (Sons Alfred and
Sylvester also enjoyed employment for a few years, but only Joseph Paul made a career for himself
in the profession—first in St. Louis, then in Shreveport, Louisiana.) Important work in the T. B.
Annan & Sons portfolio included a robust Romanesque Revival building designed for Boatmen’s Bank
in 1888. A.F. Shapleigh Hardware Company occupied several of the seven stories; members of the
Shapleigh family held all the officers’ positions at the bank. Upper floors with a corner view
from Washington Avenue at Fourth out over Eads Bridge and the river were home to the Missouri
Athletic Club. (A fire in their quarters in 1914 spread to become one of downtown’s most deadly
conflagrations.)
Cook Avenue Methodist cost $68,000. The impressive new building for Boatmen’s cost about
$325,000, but the house Annan designed for Cupples would cost the amazing sum of $500,000 before
it was completed in 1890.
Another extravagant commission came from Cincinnati with the Brunett Hotel and Office Building
soaring to $1,200,000. Back at home an old St. Louis family called on Annan to design less
elaborate quarters: the J.C.C. Lucas house on West Pine came in at $42,000; the house in Normandy
for Joseph D. Lucas was built for $30,000. Built in 1891, the
Lambert Building located at 2007-2010 Locust in downtown St. Louis was placed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1982.
In 1895, Annan (now listed in City Directories on his own) was again selected by Cupples to
prepare plans for a church project—the Methodist Orphan’s Home
at 4385 Maryland Avenue in the developing West End. St. Louis: Its History and Ideals, written
by Philip Skrainka, M.D., was published in 1910 by the American Medical Association for its 61st
annual meeting. Included in a chapter entitled “Medical Schools, Hospitals and Charitable
Institutions” is a photo of the Orphans’ Home (complete with an expansive, now removed front
porch) along with this description: “The Methodist Orphans’ Home, on Maryland Avenue near
Newstead Avenue, has the double advantage of being situated in a part of the city that has
spacious streets and residences above the ordinary, and a building specifically erected for the
purpose. After passing through the usual history of makeshift abodes, which seems to be the
history of most charitable institutions, the present quarters were made possible through the
gift of Mr. Samuel Cupples. The building from an architectural point of view betrays appreciation
of proportion, unostentation, and comfort.” ( … )
from Landmarks Association of Saint Louis, Inc.
Landmarks Letter (31/6) November/December 1996
Related Links:
Missouri Contributions to American Architecture
Mound City on the Mississippi
Search the list for Annan, Thomas B. for information on the architect
of the Samuel Cupples House.
American Memory -- Library of Congress
Search Thomas Annan to learn more about the house that
Annan built.
