The Henry F. Beinke House is historic because it was built around 145 years ago. It’s located at 610 Jefferson Street in Washington, Missouri (Franklin County). This house is an important example of the Missouri-German style of architecture. It also has some Victorian elements and is also referred to as the William Wollbrink House.
This one-and-a-half-story house was built around 1878. The foundation is stone and the walls are brick and weatherboard. The entrance is to one side. In 1900, a rear addition was built. On September 14, 2000, this building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The architect was Henry H. Beinke and the builder was H.H. Beinke & Bro. The house is included in the Multiple Property Listing of Historic Resources of Washington, Missouri. It was either built for or by Henry F. Beinke who did own the house until 1890.
The house was probably built by Herman H. Beinke who was Henry’s brother. Herman was a known businessman and builder in the area. A lot of the houses in Washington, Missouri early on displayed the characteristics of vernacular Missouri-German architecture.
The red brick walls and arched window tops were standard characteristics of the vernacular Missouri-German architecture. The entry to the side was a typical characteristic.
Historic indicates that the block the house is on was owned by Herman before the construction of the house. Henry owned the property from 1878 to 1890. Herman and Henry were prominent residents of the community. Henry was a founding member of the Washington Fire Brigade and a city councilman in 1873 as well as other terms.
In 1871, Herman helped establish the Washington Building and Savings Association. He also owned a lumber company and was involved with construction for many years. He was credited with having built 150 houses in Washington and the surrounding area.
The Beinke brothers worked together for about a year and a half in the building field under Beinke Bros.
An ad for ‘H. H. Beinke and Bro.’ which ran in the paper in 1876 described the firm as ‘Carpenters and Builders and Dealers in All Kinds of Lumber.’ (Source.)
In 1879, there wasn’t a listing for Beinke Bros. but Herman Beinke was listed as a lumber dealer.
From 1864 to 1866, Herman and John M. Degen were in the construction business. Degen formed a construction company named Degen-Breckencamp Co.
In 1885, Henry moved to St. Louis. A local paper indicated he sold his house to Wollbrink in 1899, but he could have been living there earlier.
According to Find-a-Grave, Henry passed away on August 2, 1926, at age 55 in Centaur, Missouri (St. Louis County). Hermann passed away in Washington, Missouri on August 9, 1888, at age 47. The grave marker indicates his first name is spelled with “nn” at the end whereas the nomination form for the NRHP only has one “n,” which is how his name is spelled throughout the text above.
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