In Memory of Bill Hart
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our former executive director, Bill Hart. Bill joined Missouri Preservation in 2008 as Field Representative, taking Missouri Preservation on the road and visiting all of Missouri’s 114 counties. He led Missouri Preservation as Executive from 2014 to 2020. In December 2020, Bill left Missouri Preservation to take on arguably his greatest calling, serving the community in which he was raised, as Director of the Perry County Historical Society.
His work in preservation advocacy began when he moved to St. Louis in the 1970s. He worked with his neighborhood association to establish a not-for-profit housing corporation to deal with vacant historic buildings and was actively involved in the opposition to the demolition of several historic buildings in downtown St. Louis. Bill was trained not just in preservation theory, but practice as well. He restored several historic buildings of his own and started his own company as a developer and general contractor, and received awards from the Dutchtown South Community Corporation, the Home Builders Association of St. Louis, and the Landmarks Association of St. Louis.
Using tales and photos from his travels as Field Representative, Bill authored Historic Missouri Roadsides, a history and travel book featuring multiple tours of Missouri’s small towns along old highways. It received a Missouri Preservation Osmund Overby Award in 2016.
He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Historic Preservation from Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design for his Master of Arts Degree in Architectural History. In 2015, SEMO’s Historic Preservation Association presented him with the Arthur H. Mattingly Award in Historic Preservation in recognition of his outstanding professional achievement as a graduate of the program.
Bill’s passion for Missouri’s history was boundless, and there was rarely an occasion when he did not have a story or fact to share about a community, no matter how small. Rarely was there a town he did not know of or know someone in.
And if he saw an old barn? He braked.
He will be greatly missed.
We will update this post when we receive any information about a service, etc.