A Happy 120TH Anniversary

The Picher name has long been associated with Joplin’s mining history.  In 1875, Judge Oliver Hazard “O.H.” Picher and his brother William organized the Picher Lead and Zinc Co.  The successful company expanded in 1887 when it acquired the Lone Elm Mining and Smelting Co.  Judge Picher’s son, Oliver Shepard Picher (1875-1920) succeeded his father as president of the company in 1909.  Oliver graduated from Stanford University and Columbia University Law School in 1901.  After working for a prominent New York City attorney, Oliver returned to Joplin in 1904 and opened his own law firm, but he eventually went to work for his father’s company.  After Oliver succeeded his father, the company merged with Eagle Lead in 1916. 

Upon Mr. Picher’s death, the Painters Magazine printed, “He was an accountant, metallurgist, a mining engineer, a lawyer, a chemist, a manufacturer, a financier and withal gifted with such rare charm of personality as brought to him literally thousands of friends in the business and technical world.”  He died at his home in Winnetka, Illinois of double pneumonia.

Oliver was married to Emily Stanton Picher (1877-1941) and the couple had four children.  At one point, after her husband’s death, she lived in Hubbard Woods, Illinois.  According to the Joplin Sunday Globe society page, several “informal social courtesies” were extended to Mrs. Picher when she returned to Joplin for a visit in 1937.  Her friends and former neighbors hosted several dinner and luncheon parties at the Sagmount Inn (Resort) in Saginaw, Missouri and in private homes.   She was also honored with a fish fry party at a friend’s lodge near Riverton, Kansas.

The interior of the house is the very picture of elegance with high wainscoting, stained glass windows, crystal chandeliers, eleven-foot vaulted ceilings, six fireplaces, servant’s dumbwaiter, and a grand staircase.  The home retains much of its original character and charm.

Architecture – A colonnaded porch with a screened-in second story projects from the south elevation. A gabled dormer and flanking arched dormers rise from the east slope of the roof. Modillions ornament the roofline. A porch with Doric columns projects from the center of the primary (east) elevation. The second story balcony has square wood piers and a turned wood balustrade. On the second story, look for the small oval leaded glass windows.  The first story has historic tripartite windows with a fanlight above.  The hitching post in the parkway is standing at the ready.