Discovering the Development of Capital Avenue and What It Once Looked Like.

It was German naturalist and explorer Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neu Wied in northeastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, who observed Missouri’s new capital city.

During his travels up the Missouri River, he wrote, “This place is still in its infancy, and most of the habitations are scattered while the ground between them is not yet leveled. It is covered with heaps of stones and high weeds, and cows and pigs were roaming about at liberty.”

When Missouri was admitted to the Union, Congress granted 4 miles of land to create the capital city. In 1822, after lengthy debates regarding where the capital would be located, the city was sited at its present location. In May 1823, a map of the city was drawn by Jane (Ramsey) Ewing, showing that 200 lots would be sold. The proceeds of the sales went toward building Jefferson City’s first Missouri State House.

The original limits of the City of Jefferson were Atchison Street on the south end, Linn Street on the east, the Missouri River on the north, and along a line on the township line from Fulkerson Street at the river to Atchison Street on the west. Early development was limited to an area along the river on the north, Harrison Street on the west, Van Buren Street (now McCarty Street) on the south, and Adams Street on the east. Although the second street from the river was named Main Street, it was only for a very brief time. High Street was then, as it is now, the principal street through town. East Main Street would later be renamed Capitol Avenue.

“This place is still in its infancy, and most of the habitations are scattered while the ground between them is not yet leveled.”
—Prince Maximilian of Wied-NeuWied

A local newspaper from 1834 stated that east of Adams Street on High Street, “There was not so much as a path leading down into ‘Poverty Hollow’ which was all a waste, a howling wilderness.”

Poverty Hollow was a rough area, mostly between Adams and Marshall Streets. Although many lots in the city were sold, houses and businesses frequently failed to appear. Often, lots were bought for speculative purposes and traded several times before being occupied by permanent structures. The most common sights during the early decades were empty lots, dirt roads, and log cabins. East Main Street had limited potential for development since the street between Monroe and Adams Streets was impassable due to a deep ravine and undergrowth in that area. James E. Ford’s book “History of Jefferson City” described East Main Street best: “The most daring horseman would have shrunk from the perils of a ride from Captain Hart’s to the Capitol grounds; the ascent and descent of those hills was almost hazardous to a man on foot.”

Samuel Hart’s residence was located in the block between Adams and Jackson Streets. To access East Main Street at Adams Street and eastward, it became necessary to go north to Water Street (later renamed State Street) near the river and bypass the impassable portion from the mid-300 block through the 400 block of East Main Street.

To reach the Missouri State Penitentiary, built in 1836 with the front gate facing Water Street, travelers would take Main Street east to Monroe Street, go north to Water Street, and then continue east. At one time, Water Street ran all the way from Bolivar to the Missouri State Penitentiary. The only thing left of Water Street today is near the Rotary Park on Bolivar Street at the pillars of the old bridge. The purchase of lots in the 100-400 blocks of East Main Street occurred principally between 1823 and 1827. The purchase of lots in the 500-600 blocks of East Main Street came significantly later in the growth of Jefferson City. Those lots were purchased between 1830 and 1845. Some of those notable purchasers included Robert W. Wells, William Dunnica, Hiram Mills, and James Minor.

Under the administration of Robert M. Stewart, governor from 1857-1861, an agreement was made for the state to maintain Main Street from east of the Capitol gate to the penitentiary. However, it wasn’t until the B. Gratz Brown administration, 1871-1873, that any Governor attempted to honor this contract. East Main Street was leveled and graded with convict labor and paved by the city. This change began the transformation of East Main Street into the Capitol Avenue of today. A nearly impossible dirt road with log cabins and empty lots choked with undergrowth and stacks of rocks was transformed into a street lined with grand mansions.