555 Washington Avenue (Crawford's)
The history
Begun in 1875 as the Bradford-Martin Building, an Italianate commercial block by Francis D. Lee with Thomas B. Annan. At the turn of the century the D. Crawford Dry Goods Company bought it and had Weber & Groves turn it into a department store — they cut the dramatic central bay into the Washington Avenue front, with the entry recessed deep beneath a coffered half-dome, and CRAWFORD'S carved in the frieze under it. The May Company, another St. Louis dry-goods house, took the building in 1904. The exterior was restored in 1987 and the missing cornice put back. The name is still cut in the stone.
In brief
Built in 1875 as the Bradford-Martin Building, an Italianate commercial block designed by Francis D. Lee with Thomas B. Annan. At the turn of the century the D. Crawford Dry Goods Company bought it and commissioned Weber & Groves to convert it into a department store; they added the dramatic central bay on Washington Avenue, its entry recessed under a richly ornamented half-dome, and the Renaissance Revival detailing that reads today. The May Company acquired the building in 1904. The exterior was restored to its early appearance in 1987, including the reinstatement of the lost cornice.
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