In 1905 Robert McClure Snyder began construction on the mansion. A year later he was killed in an automobile accident and the castle remained unfinished for sixteen years.
In 1922 Snyder’s sons resumed work and the son Robert, Jr. lived in the castle. Robert Snyder, Jr. died in 1937.
On October 21, 1942 the castle was destroyed by a fire started by sparks from a fireplace. The mansion was abandoned until 1978 when the State of Missouri purchased the estate and opened it to the public as a State Park.
