Research Library

Access to the library and special collections is by appointment only, Tuesday through Saturday, 9AM to 5PM. Please contact Emery Cox for an appointment. We welcome both casual and research-focused visitors alike.

Above: The National Building Arts Center library (Michael Wentzel)

Our research library holds more than 100,000 items related to architecture, industry, and the allied arts in single titles, periodicals, primary documents, construction drawings, and trade catalogs.

Special collections include original source material from numerous manufacturers of building materials, various corporate archives, and an estimated 6,000 photographs and prints.

The library contains a substantial St. Louis component with many rare and unique books and manuscripts. Records of the United Railways Co. are the archives’ largest single holding of St. Louis material; records include correspondence, photographs, and an estimated 20,000 original linen drawings documenting the manufacturing of streetcars, construction of buildings and bridges, and the laying of some 450 miles of track.

NBAC is a contributor to the Association for Preservation Technology’s Building Technology Heritage Library, a free online repository of American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books, and technical building guides. Digitized content from NBAC and other contributors can be found via the Internet Archive.

 

Above: The National Building Arts Center patent library (Michael Wentzel)

Special Collections

Archives

General

  • Mesker Collection
  • Guth Lighting Co.
  • Bayley Sash Co. 
  • Weisert Tobacco Co.
  • Comet Theater (Thomas James, Spyros Skouras)
  • River Roads Shopping Center
  • National Lightning Protection Co. (formerly St. Louis Lightning Rod Co.)

Organizations

  • St Louis Junior Chamber of Commerce
  • St Louis Historic Sites Committee
  • Market Preservation
  • Multiple Boring Machine Co.
  • The Bayer Co. (power plant equipment)

Street Railways – Motor Buses

  • United Railways Company of St. Louis
  • People’s Motor Bus Co.

Foundries

  • Sterling Steel Casting Co.
  • St Louis Steel Casting Co.
  • Midwest Alloys Co.
  • Tulsa Fittings Co.
  • Commonwealth Steel Co.
  • General Steel Castings Co.
  • Tower Grove Iron Works
  • Victor Iron Works
  • La Grange Iron Co.

Terra Cotta

  • Boston Terra Cotta Co.
  • Chicago Terra Cotta Co.
  • Northwestern Terra Cotta Co.
  • Chicago Crucible Co.
  • Winkle Terra Cotta Co.
  • Lakeview Terra Cotta Co.

Brick

  • Missouri Press Brick Co.
  • Union Press Brick Co.
  • The Haydite Co.
  • Frederick Brick Works
  • Hydraulic Press Brick Co.

Architectural and Engineering Drawings

  • William C. E. Becker
  • Klipstein & Rathmann
  • River Roads Shopping Center
  • Sterling Steel Casting Co.

Photographs and Prints

  • Algonite Stone Mfg.
  • American Face Brick Association
  • Atlantic Terra Cotta Co.
  • Bank Building Corp.
  • Barnett Haynes & Barnett Architects
  • Fulton Iron Works
  • General Motors Plant, St. Louis
  • Guth Lighting Co.
  • The Haydite Co.
  • Hydraulic Press Brick Co.
  • Illinois & St Louis Bridge Co. (Eads Bridge)
  • Illinois Power & Light
  • O W Ketcham Terra Cotta Works
  • Koplar Bros. Builders
  • Laclede Gas Light Co.
  • Maritz & Young Architects
  • McQuay Norris Co.
  • Meramec Iron Works
  • Mesker Brothers Iron Co.
  • 900 North Michigan Building
  • Midland Terra Cotta Co.
  • Mississippi River Transmission (Gas Pipeline)
  • Omeara & Hills Architects
  • Louis F. (Rocky) Rhodes (1929-2009) Auto Racing Collection
  • St. Louis General Motors Plant
  • St. Louis Junior Chamber of Commerce
  • St. Louis Public Service Co.
  • St. Louis Steel Castings
  • Union Electric Co. (Cahokia Power Plant)

Postcards

Trade Unions

Building trade unions are represented in extensive library holdings as well as in special collections of historic artifacts and regalia.