Wainwright Building
Building in St. Louis, Missouri. Added to the National Register in 1968, and a National Historic Landmark.
What it is
The Wainwright Building is a 10-story, 41 m (135 ft) terra cotta office building at 709 Chestnut Street in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is considered to be one of the first aesthetically fully expressed early skyscrapers. It was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan and built between 1890 and 1891. It was named for local brewer, building contractor, and financier Ellis Wainwright.
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The record
| Property type | Building |
| Address | 709 Chestnut St., St. Louis (Independent City), MO |
| Independent city | City of St. Louis |
| Listed | May 23, 1968 |
| Listed for | Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Reference number | 68000054 |
| Architect | Adler & Sullivan |
| Type of place | office building |
| Style | Chicago School |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark, Landmarks of St. Louis |
| Contributing resources | 1 building |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | 709 Chestnut St., St. Louis (Independent City), MO |
| Coordinates | 38.6269° N, 90.1921° W · Directions ↗ |
| Also in St. Louis (Independent City) | 384 listed places in St. Louis (Independent City) → · walking tours → |
| Nearest national park unit | Gateway Arch National Park · under a mile · on Park Atlas |
Explore
Drawings & photographs
Measured drawings and photographs from the Library of Congress. Public domain. All 1 record ↗
Map
Nearby in City of St. Louis
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Local history books for City of St. Louis
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Gay and Lesbian St. LouisSteven Louis Brawley and St. Louis Lgbt History Project, 2016Find at Bookshop.org
Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Missouri
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
When was Wainwright Building listed on the National Register?
May 23, 1968. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
Who designed Wainwright Building?
Adler & Sullivan, working in the Chicago School style.
Source: Wikidata
Where is Wainwright Building?
709 Chestnut St., St. Louis (Independent City), City of St. Louis, Missouri. The nearest national park unit is Gateway Arch National Park, under a mile away.
Source: Gateway Arch National Park
Are there historic photographs or drawings of Wainwright Building?
Yes. The Historic American Buildings Survey at the Library of Congress has drawings or photographs of it.
Source: Library of Congress
Where is the nomination form for Wainwright Building?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Is there cell service at Wainwright Building?
FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
Sources
Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 68000054. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA. Drawings and photographs are Historic American Buildings Survey records at the Library of Congress, public domain.