William Poeschel House, Hermann, Gasconade County, Missouri.Photo byHistoric American Buildings Survey, Creator. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

In about 1869, a two-story red brick home known as the William Poeschel House was built. It's located on West 10th Street about two miles west of the Hermann city limits in Missouri (Gasconade County).

In front, the home has a two-story portico. The building is considered Vernacular Missouri-German. The house is L-shaped and it's located on a river bluff. The location of the house on 94.93 acres has a view of the Missouri River to the north and a valley to the south.

The house displays Missouri-German craftsmanship and construction. It has the common feature of a central passage I-house. It also has a vaulted wine cellar. In the 1950s, some alterations were performed. On June 21, 1990, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The wine cellar of the William Poeschel House.Photo byHistoric American Buildings Survey, Creator. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

On the west side of the central hallway on entry to the home is a parlor and to the east is a large bedroom that used to be two small bedrooms. Upstairs are two bedrooms and a large room that served as a wine-tasting room and dance hall.

When William and Mary Harrison acquired the property in 1952, parts of the home were deteriorating and there was no plumbing. It took two years for the Harrisons to rehabilitate the home. Plumbing and wiring were added and termite damage was taken care of.

The front portico and rear gallery were rebuilt. It wasn't as ornate as the original and a photograph depicting details of the original portico wasn't seen until after the rehabilitation.

The 94.93 acres includes around 25 acres of open land and the rest is wooded. There's a family cemetery on a wooded plot southeast of the home. The property is associated with the Poeschel grape-growing and wine-making business.

The house is linked to the German settlement of Hermann, Missouri, and how it was developed into a wine-making region. William Poeschel was an early German settler, farmer, and vintner. It is the only property associated with William Poeschel who was a pioneering grape-grower and wine-maker.

Poeschel's home was more than his residence. It also served as a place of business. His family business continued to be successful from when he died in 1870 and until prohibition.

The dining room of the William Poeschel Home.Photo byHistoric American Buildings Survey, Creator. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

William Poeschel

Some of Hermann's early settlers included wine-makers, Michael, Melchior, and William Poeschel. They arrived in Hermann between 1839 and 1854 and in time, they were prominent and successful residents with their wine-making business.

Michael Poescel achieved success with founding the Stone Hill Wine Company in 1861. Melchior and William were also involved in the wine industry.

Born in Saxony, Germany in 1829, William (Wilhelm) Poeschel was the youngest of the brothers. He came to Hermann in 1846. He bought land on the west of town along the river bluff. He served briefly in the Mexican War which terminated when his company disbanded. For two and a half years, he transported provisions by train to the army. He then returned to Hermann and planted his first Catawba vines in 1849. Catawba is a red American grape variety.

In 1850, William married Theodora Neidhardt, who was a native of Baden, Germany. They had a log home at that time, and in 1851, Poeschel made his first wine.

Not all winegrowers in Hermann were successful. In 1849, disaster struck when two-thirds of the crop was lost to rot and mildew. This affected wine production in the early 1850s. Later, instead of relying only on the Catawba grape, other varieties were introduced.

The master bedroom on the first floor.Photo byHistoric American Buildings Survey, creator; retrieved from the Library of Congress.

William Poeschel experimented with cultivating new grape varieties. His production of wine in 1865 included Catawba, Concord, Norton's Virginia, Delaware, and Herbemont. He made a lot of money that year. He was able to construct a new home that wasn't far from the log house. The new home was designed to serve as a commercial purpose as well as a residence for his family.

Interestingly, Poeschel had a wine-tasting room on the second floor of his home. Unfortunately, he didn't get to live to see his winery expansion. He died in 1870 at the young age of 42. His property and business were left to his wife and their seven children (two sons, five daughters).

Poeschel was credited with being the first to value pruning and thinning of grapes in early summer. He was a hard worker and thought to be one of the best growers near Hermann.

In the year of Poeshel's death, Missouri was being recognized nationally for its wine-making. During the 1870s and 1880s, Hermann was shipping roots and cuttings out locally and to California and France. With the decline of smaller wine-makers, they were also selling directly to the Old Stone Hill Wine Company. The company was doing so well in the late 1800s. By 1912, it was one of the largest wineries in the country.

William Poeschel's winery continued to be active into the 1900s. His wife continued the business in her name. Prohibition put an end to it, however, and in Hermann in 1919.

In 1919, August Hans bought the property and it was later sold to William and Mary Harrison in 1952 who had been living in Hermann since 1936. With Prohibition, the Old Stone Hill Wine Company was converted to a mushroom-growing business in 1923.

The Harrisons didn't just acquire the historic home, they purchased the winery also. They began coming up with plans to preserve the winery. The Harrisons are credited with their early effort to preserve history in Hermann with the William Poeschel House and the Stone Hill Winery as early as the 1950s.

Theodora Neidhardt Poeschel died on September 16, 1895, at age 63.

The Stone Hill Winery was restored and still exists today.

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