The Wyeth-Tootle Mansion in St. Joseph, Missouri: hard to believe this was someone's home

Photo byFacebook/Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.

The stunning Wyeth-Tootle Mansion built in 1879 is located at 1100 Charles Street in St. Joseph, Missouri. It contains rentable parlors for wedding events, showers, or corporate events. Maybe because it appears so imposing, it has also hosted paranormal activity events.

This 43-room Gothic-style mansion was initially built by William and Eliza Wyeth. The Wyeths spared no expense. The mansion has parquet floors and walnut woodwork but that's only a small piece of its historic beauty. The Wyeths used to enterain on the first floor. The second floor contained their bedroom suites and the third floor contained rooms for the servants.

The turret adds to the mansion's castle-like appearance. The mansion was designed by Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845-1934) to mirror the castles by the Rhine River in Germany. The Wyeths were in this massive home for about eight years before it was sold to Kate Tootle. When she purchased the home, it was likely after her husband, Milton Tootle, Sr., died in January 1887.

Photo byFacebook/Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.

Kate Tootle (Katherine M. O'Neil Tootle) lived in this brick mansion until she died in 1917. Son, Milton Tootle, Jr. continued to live in the mansion until he died in 1946.

William Goetz, St. Joseph Museum board president, and the M.K. Goetz Brewing Company donated the money to purchase the building and the museum matched the amount to adapt the private home into a public museum. (Source.)

Lillian Duckworth Tootle, wife of Milton Tootle Jr., had three sons raised in the mansion.Photo byFacebook/Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.

The mansion is an example of grandeur in the late 1800s. Rooms also display old photos and painted ceilings. Museum exhibits are on the upper floors.

This Eckel-designed mansion is also part of the Museum Hill Historic District. This district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1991, with a boundary increase on August 5, 2009. This historic district contains over 200 buildings that are in a chiefly residential area.

Developed between 1860 and 1942, the architectural styles of the buildings include Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, American Foursquare, and Bungalow / American Craftsman.

The Wyeth-Tootle Mansion in St. Joseph Missouri is part of the Museum Hill Historic District (2018).Photo by25or6to4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Naturally, as with most large structures, there's generally a visit by a paranormal team or two. It's believed this mansion houses friendly spirits. According to Apex Paranormal, for example, "A male spirit is said to reside on the 3rd floor and numerous voices and apparitions are seen throughout the location, including those of servants." When Apex Paranormal conducted its investigation in 2018, no evidence was recovered.

According to Haunted Rooms America, paranormal investigations conducted in 2015 and 2017 revealed "spooky activity," and "recorded unknown voices at the base of the tower, in the basement, in the entrance hallway, and in one of the rooms." (Source.) Another team, Ghosts A-Go-Go has also held paranormal events at the mansion.

The Wyeth-Tootle Mansion operates between April and October on Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For groups of 10 or more, hours are available for those appointments.

Visit here for reasonable admission costs as well as information for the St. Joseph Museum Complex, which admission price includes visits to the four museums on Frederick Avenue:

• Glore Psychiatric Museum
• Black Archives Museum
• Doll Museum
• Native American and History Galleries

Thank you for reading.