Downing House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

From the record

“Downing House is a historic home located at Memphis, Scotland County, Missouri. It was built about 1858, and is a two-story brick dwelling with Greek Revival and Italian Villa style design elements.”
Wikipedia article Downing House (Memphis, Missouri), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 3 National Register listings published here for Scotland County · listed in 1979 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 311 S. Main St., Memphis, 63555
When was it listed? June 1979
Category. building
Township. Jefferson township
Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
National Register reference number. 79001396 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

1 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Downing House in 2002, burning about 40 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
4 April 2002	Debris and open burning	40 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named

Every fire recorded in Scotland County

Storms near this property

60 of 97 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Memphis, the town this property stands in, in 97 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 46 thunderstorm wind, 40 hail, 6 flash flood, 2 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	1 hurt	WGEM TV reported a tree blown down. A woman was injured.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$100,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph produced heavy tree damage throughout Scotland County. Several outbuildings were damaged and about 30 power poles were snapped. The tree damage was mainly located between Bible Grove and Memphis. The time of this report was estimated using radar data.
May 2003	Hail	Memphis	$100,000	no account filed
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$50,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down a 1 foot diameter tree onto a house near the center of Memphis, MO around 925 pm June 18. In addition, other large tree limbs were blown down throughout Memphis.
July 2003	Lightning	Memphis	$15,000	Tree struck & fell into power lines
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$10,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph uprooted a large tree near the courthouse. Several tree branches were also blown down throughout town. A power outage was also observed.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$10,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some power lines in Memphis, MO at 600 am CDT July 18.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$10,000	According to the Memphis Democrat newspaper, and NWS storm survey, a downburst hit the Lake Show-Me campgrounds about 1.5 miles southwest of Memphis. Winds were estimated at 70 mph, which hurled a camper several yards, which was destroyed. A sleeping occupant in the camper escaped unharmed. The storm also tore a bass boat off a trailer parked near the camper, and threw it into the wreckage. Another camper was rolled and came to rest on its roof against a nearby power pole. The parent thunderstorm then spawned a tornado nearby at the Scotland County Fairgrounds about a minute later.\|\|
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$10,000	Several homes with siding partially removed. An older gas station had its roof partially removed.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$10,000	Trees and limbs were reported down with the siding off a house and the metal skirting from a trailer removed. A storage shed was overturned and a new metal roof on another building was half removed. Time estimated based on radar.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$6,000	Numerous limbs of up to 5 inches in diameter down across city. Several limbs 3 feet in diameter down along with power lines. Time estimated based on radar.
March 2006	Hail	Memphis	$6,000	no account filed
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$5,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several trees throughout Memphis, MO around 315 am June 21. One tree was 1 foot in diameter and another one near the KMEM Radio Station was 3 to 4 feet in diameter. This report was from a former trained spotter and was confirmed by a COOP Observer.
June 2010	Flash Flood	Memphis	$5,000	Heavy rains resulted in widespread flash flooding of city streets in Memphis, MO during the morning of June 22.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$3,000	Large tree limbs down
April 2006	Hail	Memphis	$2,000	no account filed
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	$1,000	Co-op reported 3 to 4 inch diameter solid branches down.
April 2006	Hail	Memphis	$500	no account filed
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Report of damage to an awning and shingles blown off a roof was received.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Strong winds in Memphis led to power outages.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported several tree limbs down that were 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A tree was reported down in Memphis. The time of this event was estimated using radar.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A member of the public reported many tree limbs down. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2021	Flash Flood	Memphis	-	Scotland County Sheriffs Office reported a semi-truck driver that called in water washed over the road along Highway 15 S, south of Memphis. The water was deep enough that the driver was pushed around by the water and said a normal car would not be able to pass through. The sheriffs office mentioned that travel on the road was not advised and that they were putting road signs out to detour traffic.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	One tree was blown down.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Trained spotters reported trees blown down in Memphis due to outflow winds ahead of the storms.
June 2018	Funnel Cloud	Memphis	-	Numerous reports of a funnel cloud were received.
June 2018	Tornado (EF0)	Memphis	-	Law enforcement information completed the survey of a brief EF0 tornado, which lofted an empty grain bin 200 yards into a nearby pond.
July 2018	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of nickels.
July 2018	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of 1.25 inches in diameter.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Roof was damaged at the Hopkins Lumber Company in Memphis. Time estimated by radar.
June 2015	Hail	Memphis	-	Dime size hail was reported along with 25 to 30 mph winds.
May 2015	Hail	Memphis	-	A storm produced lots of pea to dime sized hail. Hail was accompanied by 45 mph wind gusts.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Estimated 50 to 60 mph winds and torrential rain with visibility under 100 feet were reported by law enforcement.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Numerous large trees were reported down in town.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Tree branches reported down throughout the town. The time of report estimated through radar information.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Large tree limbs and branches down greater than 2 inches in diameter.
February 2014	Flood	Memphis	-	Heavy rains of 1 to 3 inches resulted in flooding across parts of Scotland County. Several roads were closed due to water flowing over them. About 10 streets in Memphis were also flooded.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported numerous large tree limbs down all over town.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A trained spotter observed a 3 foot wide tree down across Highway 15 in town.
June 2014	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter observed nickel size hail in Memphis.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Winds were estimated at 55 to 60 mph.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Trees were bent nearly over due to winds of 65 mph.
June 2014	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported penny size hail.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts were estimated to be 80 mph.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts were estimated to be 60 to 70 mph.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported a 3 foot diameter tree was down.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	A trained spotter reported 2 inch diameter tree limbs down. They estimated winds to be 50 mph. The power went out at the time of the report.
March 2011	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter just south of Memphis measured penny size hail.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down some trees in Memphis, MO around 1240 am CDT June 27.
May 2010	Hail	Memphis	-	The hail partially covered the ground.
July 2010	Flash Flood	Memphis	-	Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of some rural roads about 5 miles north northwest of South Gorin, MO during the late afternoon and evening of July 7. The flood waters were up to a foot deep. The flooding started a few hours prior to 555 pm CDT.
July 2010	Flash Flood	Memphis	-	Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of some streets in Memphis, MO during the morning of July 18.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph were observed in Memphis, MO at 447 pm CDT August 20. The strong winds lasted for about 5 minutes. A power outage was also observed.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down several tree limbs in Memphis, MO at 5 pm CDT August 20.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree branches in Memphis, MO at 916 pm CDT August 13. Some trash cans were also being blown around the area.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew a 3 foot diameter tree down in Memphis, MO around 450 pm CDT August 20.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Memphis	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph uprooted a tree in Memphis, MO around 1045 pm June 21.
March 2009	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter measured dime to penny size hail near Memphis that covered the ground.
March 2009	Hail	Memphis	-	A trained spotter estimated hail the size of pennies near Memphis.

Every storm recorded in Scotland County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 79001396 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Scotland County	All 3 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.