Professional survey of mid-century Wildwood buildings finds no individual National Register eligibilities, flags clusters for further study

A consultant who completed a professional architectural survey for the city of Wildwood told the Historic Preservation Commission that the survey of 43 properties built around 1948'1950 did not identify any individually eligible properties for the National Register of Historic Places but did identify building clusters that merit further study.

Dr. Michael Allen, formerly head of the Preservation Research Office and currently teaching history, said the Wildwood Architectural Resources survey examined 43 properties drawn from the St. Louis County Assessor's records and used field visits from public rights-of-way and archival research including the St. Louis Daily Record.

"All historic preservation work occurs within the framework of respecting private property rights," Allen said, noting his team did not enter yards, use drone photos or other intrusive methods and that many properties lacked accessible historic permit records because Wildwood did not exist as a municipality at the time the houses were built.

Allen reported the largest architectural category was the minimal traditional dwelling (22 of 43), followed by 13 ranch houses; the survey also recorded one contemporary-style house and two buildings classified as indeterminate. He said the work found repeating construction traits but insufficient documentation to support individual National Register nominations.

Allen recommended future survey work focus more geographically on clusters of buildings rather than only applying a strict 75-year threshold across separated parcels. He cited Lindy Lane, where four dwellings built between 1948 and 1950 sit on the same street, as a promising candidate for a concentrated survey and possible historic-district assessment.

The consultant described research challenges: many properties were hard to document using county records and the Daily Record; less than half of the properties turned up in archival sources. As an example of a successful archival match, Allen cited a building permit recorded in the Daily Record dated 05/25/1950 with construction and owner information that helped confirm a property's origin.

Allen said the survey forms and photographs are being prepared for submission to the State Historic Preservation Office, and that the report aims to support the city's preservation planning without imposing any obligations on property owners.

The commission thanked Allen and discussed the potential for a multiple-property or district-level nomination approach for Route 66 resources and other geographically dispersed but thematically connected buildings.