Murder at 2912 Washington

Buildings are just piles of boards and bricks without the stories that are attached to them. Thaum lub kaum ib hlis 1912, St. Louis Police Officer Arthur Huddleston was killed by paroled murderer Albert Whitefield. Whitefield had surprised his common-law wife, uas yog entertaining lwm chav txivneej hem. Whitefield sim tua nws ua ntej me nyuam ob. Louis tub ceev xwm Officers teb nws quaj tau kev pab. Eventually Whitefield would shoot Officer Huddleston with another St. Louis Police Officer’s gun.

Tua neeg tshwm sim nyob 2912 Washington Avenue, lub qub tsev cov Dr. Leete, ib tug me nyuam mas. Louis haiv neeg. Los rau 1900s thaum ntxov, the once fashionable mansions were converted to rooming houses. Cov me nyuam. Louis neighborhoods such as the Lucas Place neighborhood in Downtown have suffered similar fates as the tip of the “Golden Triangle” has continued to move westward. Ob tug vaj tse yuav nyob tus kawm ntawv ua ntej lub tsev thib ob raug muab rhuav lub 1980s los yog kwvyees li xyoo 1990. Lub xeem lub tsev ntawm lub nplov yog condemned li wrecked hauv 1995. Sab sab qab zog ntawm cov 2900 thaiv ntawm Washington Avenue yog ntau heev tsis ntev muaj ib hnub no.

2912 Washington Avenue muaj neeg coob thiab xauj lub sij hawm nws keeb kwm. I write about that history in 2912 Washington Avenue thiab tuag ntawm Arthur Huddleston. Here is an excerpt from the book.

I can state two facts about 2912 Washington Avenue with absolute certainty. Ua ntej, nyob rau hauv 1875, 2912 Washington Avenue was a three-story Victorian mansion owned by Dr. James M. Leete. Nyob rau hauv 1930, 2912 Washington Avenue had become part of 2910-2916 Washington Avenue, a commercial property owned by Frank and Annie Dubinsky. Grant Storage Battery Company operated out of 2910-2912 Washington Avenue, while Lindeman Hoffer Inc. Radios operated out of 2914-2916 Washington Avenue. Clues to the structural history of the property can be gained by studying the Assessor’s records, but questions about the structure remain.

The first record of the property being sold is an 1887 transaction, in which the Harrison Wire Company sold the property to George F. Crane on October 26, 1887. However Dr. Leete owned the property in 1875, and according to the data on Dr. Leete’s 1880 Census card file, he resided at 2912 Washington Avenue with his wife and two children. Dr. Leete was a 47-year-old former New Yorker, while his wife, Cordelia H. Leete, was a forty-year old native of Arkansas. Both their children, Louisa (6), and Clara (4), were born in Missouri. One domestic servant also lived with them. In checking the same information on the 1900 [VAN1] census card, Mrs. Leete was the Head of Household, living with Louisa, 26, and Clara, 24, tom 3555 Chestnut.

Since Dr. Leete presumably passed away between 1880 thiab 1900, it is possible that he passed away around the time the property was sold in 1887, and it’s also possible that the Harrison Wire Company could have been a company that he owned. He also could have sold it and moved the family to 3555 Chestnut prior to his passing. Txawm vim li, Dr. Leete is not listed in the Assessor’s records.

Nyob rau lub hlis ntuj nqeg 8, 1887, George Crane sold the property to Oliver A. Hart for $1.00 after Crane had purchased the property for $500.00 dollars six weeks earlier. Why Crane sold the property to Mr. Hart for that price is unknown. It could have been to settle a debt, because Mr. Hart was presumably a wealthy man.

Nyob rau hauv 1880, Mr. Hart was living with his son August, daughter-in-law Clara, and their three children at 1408 Lucas Place in the exclusive Lucas Place subdivision. Thaum lub sij hawm, Mr. Hart was the Head of Household. Tej tsam nrab 1880 thiab 1900, Hart passed away, but his estate, located at 319 N. 4^th Txoj kev, was still listed in the Gold’s 1902 Directory of Saint Louis. Since Mr. Hart did not live at 2912 Washington Avenue, he likely bought it as a real estate investment. During his ownership, the original Leete home may have been torn down and rebuilt in 1902. According to the Assessor’s Office house by house assessment in 1930, a new structure was built at 2910-2916 Washington Avenue that year. The building initially served as residential space, but the Dubinskys rezoned the lot to commercial after their purchase of the property in 1927.

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