The Gorlock Realty company was funded in 1910 with $70,000 paid in by shareholders, A.C. Einstein, J.C. Haner and S.H. Wallace for the purpose of constructing a beautiful building at Lockwood and Gore avenues in Webster Groves.

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The Luecke Bopp Construction Company of Kirkwood built the one-story section on Lockwood for a post office in 1910. In 1911 they built the large, two-story that are retail shops on the first floor and offices on the second floor. There was a dedication ceremony in April of 1911 with speeches by United States congressman Richard Barthold, Postmaster Thomas Akins and Mayor Edward Hart.

The Webster Groves City Hall occupied the second story of the west wing and the jail was in the basement until 1918. In the late 1920's the post office moved and the Gorlock Building had its one-story facade altered and a rear entrance built on Gore Avenue to become a Woolworth's. Except for the post office, the Gorlock Building is little changed. Its historic integrity contributes to the nostalgic atmosphere of Old Webster.

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The Gorlock Building occupies the site of S.A. Moody's old, frame, real estate office in which the meetings were held that led to the incorporation of Webster Groves in 1896. The first city hall was in Moody's real estate office until 1907 when the municipal offices were moved to the Empire Building on North Gore next to the post office in 27 North Gore.

In 1909, merchants and residents of Webster Groves learned of a plan to build a new post office on the corner of Lockwood and Gray and to build a new station for the Missouri Pacific Railroad at Rock Hill Road. This made the merchants on North Gore furious because it would move the center of the commercial district farther west and depress North Gore. Led by M.J. Day, owner of the Empire Building, the merchants were able to persuade their congressmen and the United States Post Office to accept a compromise, tear down Moody's real estate office, build the new post office on Lockwood near Gore and move the municipal offices into the new building.

Thus the new Gorlock Building influenced the development pattern of the commercial district, stabilizing it, by keeping the heart of the business district, the government offices, close to the original center of town.

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Source: National Register of Historic Places Application - Gorlock Building.

https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Gorlock%20Bldg.pdf

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Kate Moody Collection - Webster Groves Historical Society