The Niedermeyer apartments sit at the corner of Tenth and Cherry in downtown Columbia. Ten years ago, however, the building was set to be demolished. In it's place was a plan to build a high-rise student apartment complex.

Enter MU mathematics professor Dr. Nakhle Asmar, who also owns rental property in the city. He purchased the building from Collegiate Housing Partners. Since then, the Niedermeyer has continued to house students and working people, alike.

One of the oldest buildings in Columbia, 186 years old to be exact, the Niedermeyer was built to house a female school, which was the first school for women west of the Mississippi. Some of its members would go on to found Stephens College.

Throughout the years, the building was a hotel. Famously, Samuel Clemens, or the author known as Mark Twain, dined here on the evening before he received an honorary doctorate from the University.

The building also housed extra classrooms for MU for a moment in the mid-twentieth century before becoming an apartment building.

Today, the building still brims with life. Each person inside carrying just as much character as the building itself.

Video by Kelsey Rightnowar