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Patee House Museum
12th and Penn
St. Joseph, MO
64501
(816) 232-8206
Pictures from Patee House
Museum
Lake Contrary
Joseph Robidoux
Previous Mayors
Twin Spires
Jesse James
Jesse James Home
Pony Express
Patee House
Medical Rates in 1845
Mayor's Annual Message in 1897
The Earthquake of 1867
Brief City History
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When John Patee opened his luxurious four-story
brick hotel in 1858, he knew it was an innovation for its time, but little
did he suspect that 134 years later it would still be attracting visitors
from across the U.S.
Patee built it as a hotel, a role that was not to be because of its location
more than a mile from downtown St. Joseph. Yet it was a hotel three times, a
girl's college twice, and finally a shirt factory for more that 80 years.
Patee House is St. Joseph's only National Historical Landmark for having
served as headquarters for the Pony Express in 1860. It was here that Pony
Express operators Russell, Majors and Waddell had their main office, and it
was at Patee House where Pony Express riders stayed.
During the Civil War the Union Army took over the hotel, and Patee, who was
backing the Confederacy, decided to sell the building in a nation-wide
lottery. When 100 tickets came back unsold on April 28, 1865, Patee bought
them himself - and won back his own hotel!
It was called World's Hotel in 1882 when outlaw Jesse James was shot and
killed a block up the street. The next day the family stayed at the hotel
while it served as the center of the investigation of Jesse's death.
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Chronological History of
the Museum |
| Patee Hotel |
1858 - 1865 |
| Patee Female
College |
1865 - 1868 |
| Patee Hotel
(again) |
1869 - 1872 |
| St. Joseph
Female College |
1875 - 1880 |
| World's Hotel
and Epileptic Sanitarium |
1881 - 1883 |
| R.L. McDonald
Factory |
1885 - 1933 |
| Sun Garment
Factory |
1933 - 1953 |
| H.D. Lee Co. |
1953 - 1957 |
| Vacant |
1957 - 1963 |
| Patee House
Museum |
1965 to present |
So the two things St. Joseph is known for, the start of the Pony Express and
the end of Jesse James, were both directly associated with Patee House.
Today Patee House is a museum of communications and transportation. Visitors
can stroll down the "Streets of Old St. Jo," view the dentist office of Dr.
Walter Cronkite, father of the television news commentator, or operate the
toy carousel and ferris wheel in the antique toy shop.
They can climb on board the 1860 Hannibal & St. Joseph locomotive and
railway mail car invented to speed the mail on the Pony Express. Or walk
past the 1870 Union Star depot to the Buffalo Saloon where they can sip
sarsaparilla and munch popcorn while listening to stirring marches on the
saloons' Nickelodeon.
On the second floor ladies are fascinated by more than 2,000 antique perfume
bottles. There's also antique telephones and radios, a wagon-maker's
blacksmith shop; antique furniture, sleighs and buggies, and the gallows
from the Buchanan County jail.
For the men, there's a 1920s style service station complete with a Model T
Ford, plus antique cars, trucks, fire trucks and a 1921 race car.
In the museum Blue Room the George Warfel "Westerners on Wood" art
collection features more than 40 life-sized portraits of famous westerners
including Jesse and Frank James.
No visit to Patee House Museum is complete without a stop at the Japanese
Tea House Ice cream Parlor, just across the street. The only oriental tea
house built in St. Joseph in 1917 was moved from the Wyeth Estate. It now
features a dozen flavors of delicious ice cream, served in its own oriental
gardens.
Patee House is open daily April through October, and weekends except in
December. Hours are 10-5 pm in June, July, and August, 10-4 pm in April,
May, September, and October. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.50 for
Seniors, and $1.50 for students under 18. Allow at least an hour for your
step back in time.
Each June Patee House works with the National Pony Express Association to
Stage the annual Pony Express rerun between St. Joseph and Sacramento,
Calif., using more than 500 horses and riders to carry the mail in 10 days
just like in 1860 - and carrying commemorative letters for $5 each, as in
the Pony Express days. |
