Industrial Home for Girls
This section was written by Rodney Mouton, Chillicothe, MO, for the Missouri Bicentennial Encyclopedia committee.
In the late 1880s Missouri created reform schools with educational and vocational training for “wayword” children. Chillicothe was chosen as the site for the girls’ facility. It opened in 1889 and closed in 1981, transferring to the Department of Corrections until 2008. The facility sat vacant and was torn down in 2016.
The Missouri Industrial Home for Girls in Chillicothe was established by act of Missouri’s 34th Gen Assembly March 30, 1887 with the approval of Governor John Sappington Marmaduke, who died later that year[1]. The governor’s approval was with the stipulation that local matched funding would be available. Subsequently, on July 28, 1887 the City of Chillicothe provided a donation of $5,000 to initiate construction[2]. The institution first opened the doors of Marmaduke Cottage, so-named in appreciation for the deceased governor, on January 22, 1889[3]. The cost of the land and the construction was reported to be $50,000[4].
With a staff of five, the Missouri industrial Home for Girls received its first resident girl on February 6, 1889[5]. The facility was built with a capacity of 40 girls, aged 7-22[6]. The “Home” only averaged 3.3 girls daily that first year of operation, while average daily attendance rose to 8.8 girls during the Home’s second year of operation[7]. Contributing to the low residency was the resistance by a St. Louis police judge and the W.T.C.U. (consisting of representatives from 8 separate unions, chaired by Mrs. M. R. Coleman) in Kansas City, Missouri, to commit girls to the Missouri Industrial Home for Girls in protest of the State not granting construction of the facility within the boundaries of their own counties[8]. The W.C.T.U. still pursued plans for construction of a detention facility for girls and sought philanthropists to donate funding for land and improvements[9].
Mr. W. McIlwrath served as chairman of the inaugural 5-person board of directors, with Julia S. Vincent as the first superintendent[10]. After six months she was replaced by Miss Emma Gilbert[11]. Also serving on the initial board was Mrs. Isabella R. Slack, widow of General William Y. Slack[12]. General Slack served during the Civil War, but died in March 1862, two weeks after being wounded in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas[13].
A second residence was funded by the state in 1895 and “Missouri Cottage” was opened in January 1896, expanding the capacity of the Home by an additional 38 girls. A separate classroom and a chapel were simultaneously constructed alongside Missouri Cottage[14].
There was a riot that took place at the Industrial Home on Wednesday, April 5, 1899. According to a local newspaper article, about 25 residents were involved, but the malaise was instigated by outside persons. There were no fences at the Missouri Industrial Home for Girls, and the residents dispersed themselves within the immediate neighborhoods. There were no reported damages and all of the resident girls were recaptured and confined within a few hours[15].
Missouri provided additional funding for a third cottage in 1901 which led to the opening of the I.R. Slack Cottage in August 1902, named in honor of Mrs. Isabella Slack’s leadership and service on the board of directors since its inception[16]. A boiler house was also constructed at the same time, which led to modern heating systems for the school[17].
On August 1, 1902 Mrs. Anna Waters of Nevada, Missouri was elected by the Missouri Industrial Home’s Board of Control to the position of Manager at the Marmaduke Cottage. She replaced Mrs. Nannie Price who resigned a month earlier after the death of her husband[18].
The Home was further expanded construction in 1905 to give the school a separate administration building and additional practical life-skills education with a new poultry house, and a greenhouse[19]. In addition to raising chickens and horticultural products, the residents also raised beef livestock and kept teams of horses. Classes included standard classwork, but the girls also participated in physical education instruction, including tennis and baseball[20]. Practical life classes included cooking, sewing and needlepoint, arts and crafts[21].
Residents of each of the cottages were encouraged to edify their fellow housemates by supporting each other and considering themselves “family”[22]. The Home also sported an ornate theater where the girls participated in a choir, theatrical productions, and a fully-instrumented orchestra. The musical and theatrical productions were well attended by the public and were highly acclaimed[23].
The Industrial Home ceased being governed by a local board on June 28, 1917. Control passed to the Missouri Department of Penal Institutions as of that date[24].
Industrial Home expansion continued for several decades following. A new T-shaped building was built in 1923 and bids called for a new cottage[25] and a dormitory[26], clinic[27], and commissary[28] in late 1935. In 1941 the State of Missouri approved $125,000 for the construction of a new cottage, $3,000 for a root cellar, $2,500 for a new greenhouse, and $4,000 for a new poultry brooder house[29]. Mrs. Stella Hall Thompson was superintendent at the time[30].
The original Marmaduke Cottage, built in 1888, was replaced in October 1949 by a new building completed by the J.E. Dunn Construction Company in October 1949 at a cost of $233,640, which could house 36 girls in separate rooms[31]. Mrs. Smithson determined that it was better to have one girl to a room in contradiction to the previous idea where up to three girls was more beneficial[32].
Plans were announced to close training schools[33], and on June 30, 1981, by action of the State Legislature, the Missouri Industrial Home for Girls was relinquished to the Missouri Department of Corrections[34]. The Corrections Department operated the facility on Third Street in Chillicothe, Missouri from July 1, 1981 until December 5, 2008 when all 481 inmates were transferred to a new facility at the north end of Chillicothe[35] throughout the night of December 4-5, 2008 under the supervision of warden Jenn Miller[36].
The old Industrial Home facility was offered to the City of Chillicothe upon vacancy by the state corrections department[37]. The 80-acre site remained vacant and fenced for several years when all except the prison administration building was demolished in 2016.[38]
This property was on the National Register of Historic Places.
There had been a lovely auditorium on the property. This is a video taken in 2013 by Adam Mast, when the property was a women's prison, just before the buildings were demolished.
[1] Seiberling 1981. Livingston County History Celebrating 150 Years. Published by Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Chillicothe Morning Constitution Dec. 20, 1889.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[11] Chillicothe Morning Constitution, December 28, 1889.
[12] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[13] St. Louis National Historical Company 1886. History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri.
[14] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[15] Kansas City Journal, April 6, 1899 and Weekly Intelligencer April 8, 1899.
[16] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Chillicothe Constitution August 2, 1902.
[19] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[20] As seen in old photographs.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[23] Pictures of the facility, Chillicothe Weekly Constitution, March 16, 1915 and December 28, 1916 and January 5, 1923.
[24] Ripley 2007. Dateline – Livingston County Volume II Another Look at Local History. Published by the Constitution-Tribune.
[25] Chillicothe Constitution, May 12, 1923
[26] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune October 30, 1935
[27] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune November 5, 1935
[28] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune December 6, 1935
[29] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, December 6, 1941
[30] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, October 31, 1941
[31] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune November 4, 1948
[32] Chillicothe Constitution October 26, 1949
[33] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune July 17, 1973
[34] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune June 30, 1981
[35] http://chillicothecity.com/prison.html
[36] http://chillicothecity.com/prison.html
[37] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune June 10, 2009
[38] Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune October 14, 2016, www.chillicothecity.org/press_oldprisonplans.html