A description of Waverly Place by an enthusiastic real estate broker, on behalf of Charles Gibson. It appeared in the Daily Missouri Republican of June 23, 1859:
“We feel perfectly safe in presuming that few if any of our readers are of such cold and indifferent composition as to be insensible to the charms of magnificent scenery.
Who has visited Niagara except the tailor, whose exclamation was, “What a capital place to sponge a coat!”without being overpowered by its grandeur?
Who can look upon a glorious landscape without his soul being filled to its utmost capacity with the most exquisite and satisfying emotions?
Seldom, however, is the denizen of the city, cribbed, cabined and confined, as he is, amid its countless piles of brick and mortar, shutting out almost from his view the blue arch over head, permitted the gratification of this, the higher and better portion of his nature, unless he avail himself, as he may easily, in this vicinity of the opportunity of erecting his “hearth stone,” in some rural and favored locality, such, for instance, as Waverly Place, the merits of which are set forth in our advertising columns by Mr. J.H. Obear, the auctioneer.
Those who dwell continually amid scenes of natural beauty should give attention to the sale which is to occur at Waverly Place next Wednesday.”
Lafayette Square’s first developer
Waverly Place is a truncated street south of Lafayette Avenue, made shorter yet by the incursion of I-44, It was originally the entrance to the estate of Archibald Gamble. Gamble was a judge and ninth Postmaster of St. Louis. By 1850, he, along with Charles Gibson, David Nicholson, Edward Bredell, and Leicester Babcock had acquired practically all of Lafayette Avenue that fronted the park.
These men built impressive mansions with adjoining gardens and orchards. Gamble built a fine home on the south end of what was first McNair, then Cates, and later Easton Place.
Gamble’s son-in-law was Charles Gibson. A prominent lawyer, he held a federal position during the Civil War that today would be called Solicitor General. In 1851, Gibson married Virginia Gamble, and built an Italianate style villa at Lafayette and Easton Place. He and his family lived there for nearly fifty years. He also developed Preston Place, parallel to Waverly Place.
Gibson’s lasting impact
It’s hard to overstate Charles Gibson’s importance to Lafayette Square. John Albury Bryan wrote that Gibson did more than anyone to develop Lafayette Park, and to enable the legislation from Jefferson City that gave Lafayette Square legal protection from “encroachment of any nuisance within a distance of 600 feet from the Park.” Along with Stephen Barlow, he renamed the parade grounds of the St. Louis Common as Lafayette Park.
In 1868, Harriet Hosmer created the park’s first statue; a bronze rendition of Thomas Hart Benton. One year later, Gibson’s efforts led to a bronze copy of Houdon’s George Washington occupying a special place in the park. It stands directly opposite where the Gibson estate once stood.
So, Waverly? Well, Gibson’s favorite writer was Sir Walter Scott. Scott wrote a series of initially anonymous books, known as the Waverly novels. Gibson’s family took to calling the street Waverly Place, in honor of Scott.
References to specific novels appear on the 1920’s era multi-family properties on Waverly Place. They are the Mannering, Ivanhoe, Woodstock and Waverly buildings. Waverly was a popular theme in the US in general, and one can find cities in Tennessee, Ohio, Nova Scotia, New York, and Nebraska similarly named.
Resources
Mound City On The Mississippi (City of St Louis Planning And Urban Design)
What happened to the house in the photo above? It is no longer there…
Hi, Rebecca; In brief, Charles Gibson died in 1899. The family sold the property and vacated the house around 1908. It was razed in 1913 for creation of several apartment buildings.
Was another Gibson family living in a large home on Bellefontaine Rd?
Sorry, Pat; couldn’t tell you. A little outside my range.