The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign (BAAC) and Weston residents are committed to an important mission. They, along with other local residents have been tirelessly working to get the Halfway House Cellar nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.
Bill Nichols’ research project on the Halfway House Cellar began in mid-2023 after he met with BAAC founder, Angela Hagenbach.
“Along the way the research project was aided or supported by BAAC members and dozens of local residents who shared their stories and information about the Halfway House Cellar,” Nichols said. “Special thanks to Louis Smither, Kim Kirby with the Weston Historical Museum, Cindy Nelson Conyer with the Platte County Historical Society, and Marty Albertson with Stewart Title Co., Platte City.”
The Halfway House Cellar is the only surviving portion of the Halfway House that was strategically situated next to the main road midway running between Platte City and Weston (later a toll road). It was an inn, tavern, stagecoach stop, and farm. In 1843 the Johann Floersch family, German immigrants, bought an undeveloped one-quarter section for “800 pieces of money.” Soon after, they began building the Halfway House, a two-story building made of native walnut and local rock. The Floersch family operated the Halfway House as an inn, roadhouse, tavern and stage coach stop.
The foundation and basement were built using a dry stone masonry technique, tightly fitted rocks without using any mortar. The basement included the foundation walls, a tap room on the east side of the basement, a cavernous stone fireplace for heating and cooking, a storage room for food and liquid supplies, and the arched cellar with chains and rings.
In 1852 Floersch mortgaged the property to fund the attorney’s fees to defend his sons and himself against 2nd degree murder charges. After Floersch’s conviction in 1852, the Platte County Circuit Court appointed William M. Paxton as the executor of Johann Floersch’s estate.
In 1853 Paxton sold the Floersch’s quarter section with all of its improvements (including the Halfway House) for $3,000 to John E. “Bully” Pitt, who was a wealthy, white lawyer who had immigrated from Kentucky. He was also a secessionist, Confederate sympathizer, Platte County state representative, county prosecutor, land speculator, politician, litigious, and an avid gambler.
Pitt was also a slave owner. In 1850 he owned 30 slaves, the second most in Platte County. It is likely that it was during Pitt’s ownership of the Halfway House between 1853-1866 that the cellar was used to imprison slaves, to punish slaves, and to hold slave auctions.
Pitt leased out the Halfway House property to Frank G. Oxley in 1858, to E.J. Stockwell in 1860, and to Barton W. Estes in 1861. By 1864 Pitt was claiming the property as his residence. During his ownership, Pitt continued to operate the Halfway House as an inn, roadhouse, tavern, and stage coach stop, perhaps with the management of his tenants.
In July 2024, the group researching the Halfway House felt they had discovered and collected enough information, and had a good enough story to submit the request for eligibility assessment to the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). But in August, the SHPO found the Halfway House Cellar did not “clearly meet one or more of the four National Register criteria.”
“Specifically, SHPO cited that structural alterations made to the Halfway House Cellar could not convey the history of the Halfway House Cellar being used to imprison, punish or auction slaves,” Nichols said. “SHPO pointed out the modern stairs and the enclosure of the north and south ends, saying that ‘Remnants and resources that have been considerably altered are not able to convey the history or historic use of a property.’”
SHPO said that there was not “primary source” documentation to corroborate the history of the Halfway House Cellar being used to imprison and/or auction slaves. Primary source material is documentation that occurred at the time of the event and based on first-person knowledge from someone who 160-180 years ago personally saw or participated in slaves being imprisoned, punished, and/or sold at auction at the Halfway House.
“Regardless of whether it is NRHP eligible, or not, BAAC feels like the story of the Halfway House and Halfway House Cellar is historically significant for Northwest Missouri and locally and also for Black history,” Nichols said.
Nichols said that even for “typical” sites that could be nominated to the NRHP, the National Park Service and SHPO’s extensive and stringent criteria sets a very high bar. The bar gets even higher when dealing with documentation of Black history, slavery or the Underground Railroad.
“Obviously there will not be 1850-1860 era photographs or TikTok videos showing slaves chained to the walls of the Halfway House Cellar,” Nichols said. “Or detailed ledgers of the slaves sold on the Halfway House’s porch. Or notarized affidavits of enslavers attesting to their sales or purchases or punishment of their slaves at the Halfway House. Any records of slave sales at the Halfway House between 1853-1866 would be private transactions conducted on private property between a private buyer and a private seller.”
If the primary sources exist, they would be nearly impossible to find after almost two centuries.
“Unfortunately, because of the way slavery was practiced and slave trading was conducted, the primary sources required by the National Park Services and SHPO to ‘...corroborate the details in the history commonly told with the resource (Halfway House Cellar)...’ are likely to be never found,” Nichols said. “More importantly, the NPS and SHPO’s extensive and stringent criteria may be so onerous that no Missouri historic site with a primary historical attribution to Black slavery or slave trading could ever be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.”
Dr. Ann Raab, a Weston resident and a member of BAAC’s Halfway House Cellar team, said that uncovering Black history often presents significant challenges, primarily due to the historical lack of written records and documentation. For centuries, many Black individuals and communities were marginalized and excluded from mainstream narratives, leading to a scarcity of personal accounts, diaries, and official documents that typically serve as primary sources in historical research.
“The systematic oppression of enslaved people and their descendants meant that their stories were rarely recorded, leaving a gap in the historical record that makes it difficult for researchers to piece together a comprehensive understanding of their experiences and contributions,” Raab said. “Additionally, the destruction or neglect of sites associated with Black history has further complicated efforts to recover this vital narrative.”
SHPO said that they felt it important to state that their assessment does not preclude providing new information about the Halfway House Cellar for their future consideration. And BAAC is committed to trying again.
“SHPO seemed to indicate a willingness to examine more information but, any new information would still have to be sufficient to overcome SHPO’s dual prongs of denial: the ‘altered’ and ‘primary source’ issues,” Nichols said. “We are continuing to supplement our research about the site, hoping to find more evidence to prove the historical significance of the Halfway House Cellar.”
The significance of bringing recognition to historic sites such as the Halfway House Cellar is important for all generations.
“The preservation of a structure such as the Halfway House goes far beyond its physical form; it serves as a portal into a broader historical landscape that encapsulates the intricate tapestry of events and experiences that have shaped a community,” Raab said.
While Nichols encourages people to learn more about the Halfway House Cellar, he also emphasizes that the site is private property owned by Local 101 and visitors should not trespass. Access is permitted in the public viewing area off the road but visitors should not go beyond the fence or on top of the structure.
“Visitors should be urged to treat the 181 year old structure with respect,” Nichols said. “Due to its history, it truly is a sacred and solemn place, like a cemetery.”
Visitors are asked to not take any souvenirs (historical artifacts), climb or walk on the arched cellar, remove or dislodge any rocks or in any way cause any damage to the Halfway House Cellar.
Local residents could support the Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign with donations, volunteer time or skills (baacweston.org). And if anyone has any old family documents, photos, writings, etc. (“primary source” documents) that reference either slavery in Platte County, or, slavery or slave auctions at the Halfway House between 1853-1866, please contact BAAC.
If anyone has any souvenirs (for example, rings, chains, shackles, the stone slave hitch that used to be at 865 Ashley, etc. that were removed from the Halfway House or Halfway House Cellar, please donate those historical artifacts to the Weston Historical Museum.