1940 Census: Willliam Kaut, age 56, superintendent - shoe factory
Grayce J. Kaut, age 46
Arch Turpin, age 29, caretaker
Clara Turpin, age 39, caretaker
The Kauts moved here after 1935.
Location: 693547 4283952
Acreage: 73.86
Contract price: $42,288.86
Property sold on January 6, 1941
Today: stone grill still stands and top two feet of rock wall behind gas pump are still visible
This home was nearly new in 1940. It was owned by William and Grayce Kaut. Kaut was the general manager of the Brown Shoe Company in St. Louis and the inventor of two shoe production machines. Their home indicated a level of wealth uncommon in the area. There was even a caretaker's home on the property. The Kauts had their own gas pump with an underground storage tank.
In testimony in United States Circuit Court in 1942, William Kaut described this property as follows: "[It was] a park, not a farm. We worked that [acreage] for seven years to put it in shape. The residence was a ranch type house of logs, ten rooms, air-conditioned, had three baths, very fine baths; lavatory and toilet off the game room; slab floor all . . . a ten-room house. Also a barn one hundred feet long and twenty-seven feet wide. It was all rock. The water-works there was also a rock building, with built-in laundry and shower, and also an underground room 14 by 16 for storage, with a two thousand gallon oil tank and filling station and water pipe."
For many years after World War II, the former Kaut home was used as a Boy Scout lodge. The buildings were finally destroyed in the early 1980's. This painting was done in 1980 by a former scout, J. T. Foster, who had attended many scout gatherings there. To see photographs of these buildings in 1967, click here.
Location: 693547 4283952
Acreage: 73.86
Contract price: $42,288.86
Property sold on January 6, 1941
Today: stone grill still stands and top two feet of rock wall behind gas pump are still visible
This home was nearly new in 1940. It was owned by William and Grayce Kaut. Kaut was the general manager of the Brown Shoe Company in St. Louis and the inventor of two shoe production machines. Their home indicated a level of wealth uncommon in the area. There was even a caretaker's home on the property. The Kauts had their own gas pump with an underground storage tank.
 |
| Caretaker's cottage |
For many years after World War II, the former Kaut home was used as a Boy Scout lodge. The buildings were finally destroyed in the early 1980's. This painting was done in 1980 by a former scout, J. T. Foster, who had attended many scout gatherings there. To see photographs of these buildings in 1967, click here.
 |
| The grill in the middle of this photo is still standing |
