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John E. Cheatham House

Built in 1868 (Italianate architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

From the record

“Cheatham House is a historic home located at Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri. It was built about 1868, and is a two-story, Italianate style brick dwelling.”

Wikipedia article John E. Cheatham House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 32 National Register listings published here for Lafayette County · listed in 1993 · category: Building · built in 1868, Italianate architecture.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
  • Listed as. Cheatham, John E., House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. 739 MO 13, Lexington, 64067
  • When was it listed? July 1993
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Lexington MRA
  • Township. Lexington township
  • When was it built? 1868
  • Architectural style. Italianate architecture
  • National Register reference number. 93000550 - 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.

The ground it stands on

37,082 words

The chapter on Lexington Township in History of Lafayette County, Mo. , Carefully Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources, Including a History of Its Townships, Cities, Towns, and Villages, Together with a Condensed History of Missouri; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri; a Military Record of Volunteers in Either Army of the Great Civil War .., published 1881 names Lexington. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The first time that the name " Lexington " occurs in the early court records of Lillard county is under date of August 6, 1822. The record says: " It is ordered that David Ward, Absalom Coleman, Robert W. Rankin, and Joseph. Hobson, or any three of them, being first sworn, be appointed to view the nearest and best route for a road to run from Lexington by way of the upper ford of the Big Sniabar to Stokely's Ferry, on -the Missouri river." Then again, August 19th, it is ordered that John Nelson, Markham Fristoe, Ira Bidwell and Jacob Catron, shall lay out a road from Lexington to intersect the road leading from the salt works to Jack's Ferry. This ferry had been established by Wm. Jack, in 1819, its landing place being a little below the mouth of Graham's Branch, or near the foot of Commerce street, which was graded down the bluff and well paved, as the grand thoroughfare from the city on the bluff down to her steamboat landing. But from the very spot where Jack's Ferry, and afterward steamboats used to land, it is now, 18S1, a half mile or more over solid land to the water's edge in the Missouri river; and the Lexington and Kansas City Railroad (narrow gauge), runs here for half a mile over ground where the river used to flow from ten to twenty-five feet deep.

Passage source: History of Lafayette County, Mo. , Carefully Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources, Including a History of Its Townships, Cities, Towns, and Villages, Together with a Condensed History of Missouri; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri; a Military Record of Volunteers in Either Army of the Great Civil War .., published 1881.

Tne first plat in the book of town plats of the county is that of Lexington - the original village, or old town, which was about a mile and a half from the river at Jack's ferry. (The Missouri Pacific railroad depot is now, 1881, in Old Lexington. The following certificate accompanies the plat: State of Missouri,

Passage source: History of Lafayette County, Mo. , Carefully Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources, Including a History of Its Townships, Cities, Towns, and Villages, Together with a Condensed History of Missouri; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri; a Military Record of Volunteers in Either Army of the Great Civil War .., published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Lexington Township - 37,082 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

2 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of John E. Cheatham House between 2011 and 2014, burning about 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
2 April 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
1 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Every fire recorded in Lafayette County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of John E. Cheatham House: 15 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Coal, Stone, Dimension, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Drivers DredgeSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Walter Boles QuarryStone, DimensionPast Producer
Craddy MineStone, Crushed/Broken, CoalPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/Broken, CoalPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/Broken, CoalPast Producer
Hulver QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lexington QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Macedonia SquarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lafayette County

Storms near this property

34 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lexington, the town this property stands in, in 34 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 15 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2000Tornado (F1)Lexington$75,000A tornado, witnessed by two citizens, destroyed several outbuildings and damaged the roof of an earth-contact home 7 miles southeast of Lexington, MO.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindLexington$25,000Trees and power lines were downed along Highway 224 just west of Lexington. An empty boxcar was knocked off a nearby railroad track.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindLexington$12,000Severe thunderstorm winds blew a tree into a house in Lexington.
June 2000Tornado (F0)Lexington$10,000A law enforcement officer reported that the tornado touched down just southeast of Lexington and moved east for 1 mile. Trees and power lines were downed.
May 2011Tornado (EF0)Lexington$500At 1338CST a brief EF0 tornado touched down 1 mile east of Lexington, and moved east about a third of a mile, before lifting at 1340CST. Law enforcement reported that one outbuilding was destroyed.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindLexington-Downed tree limbs in the Lexington area.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindLexington-Multiple reports of downed wires and power outages in the Lexington area.
June 2023HailLexington-Quarter sized hail was reported on the north side of Lexington.
June 2023HailLexington-Social media photo of a hail stone larger than 4 inches in diameter on the southeast side of Lexington.
June 2023HailLexington-Tennis ball sized hail was reported at Lexington Middle School.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindLexington-Large tree limbs of unknown size or condition, along with some power lines were down.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindLexington-Approximately two foot branch snapped off and pushed up against the exterior wall of the Lafayette Regional health Center. No damage was reported to the hospital.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindLexington-A car port was blown into the roadway near Lexington.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindLexington-Several trees of unknown size or condition were down across Lexington.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindLexington-Numerous tree limbs were down with a large tree uprooted on the north side of Lexington. Power was also reported out across town.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLexington-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 65 mph.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindLexington-Trees reported down.
May 2002Flash FloodLexington-Highway 224 closed due to high water.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLexington-Large tree blown down.
April 2000HailLexington-Nickel to quarter size hail and 60 mph thunderstorm winds were reported by law enforcement officials in Lexington.
June 1998HailLexington-Lexington Police Deptment reported dime-size hail during a severe thunderstorm over Lexington County.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindLexington-Thunderstorm wind gusts downed 3 inch tree limbs in Lexington.
June 1998HailLexington-The Lexington Police reported dime-size hail in Lexington.
July 1995HailLexington-A severe thunderstorm produced hail up to an inch in diameter one mile east of Lexington.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindLexington-Large trees were knocked down along Highway 13.
May 2017HailLexington-no account filed
May 2011HailLexington-no account filed
April 2008HailLexington-no account filed
April 2005HailLexington-no account filed
May 2004HailLexington-no account filed
May 2003HailLexington-no account filed
May 2003HailLexington-no account filed
October 1998HailLexington-no account filed
October 1998Flash FloodLexington-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lafayette 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.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
D. W. B. and Julia Waddell Tevis House0.4 miles1993
Machpelah Cemetery0.5 miles2022
Spratt-Allen-Aull House0.7 miles1993
Alexander and Elizabeth Aull Graves House0.8 miles1993
Waddell House0.8 miles1979
Cumberland Presbyterian Church0.9 miles1978

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 93000550 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Lafayette CountyAll 32 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.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • 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.