Eureka Historical Society

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Eureka Historical Society

Page Link: https://www.facebook.com/eurekahistoricalsociety/

Mail: Eureka Historical Society, P.O. Box 4, Eureka, Missouri, 63025

-Since 2003, the Eureka Historical Society is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of Eureka, Missouri, a city founded in 1858.

-Membership: $15 a year (single), $25 (family)

04/01/2024

Farmhands at the farm of Jesse & Mary Joplin in Downtown Eureka, 1900’s

The farm, where they lived from 1885 to 1910, was located off of Bald Hill Road. The farm is best known for being the original home of the Famous-Barr Outing Farm from 1906 to 1907.

In the mid-1980’s, the farm was demolished for The Legends Subdivision. Eagle Pointe Landing Drive now occupies the site of the farm.

Courtesy of Jim Pearson, Jessie & Mary’s great-grandson

03/30/2024

The 1931 alignment of Route 66 at Bussen Quarry’s Antire Plant near Times Beach, March 24, 1936 by Isaac Sievers

This is looking West towards Times Beach. The quarry, which wasn’t around yet, would be on the left.

Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum

03/27/2024

Pictures of the original Famous-Barr Outing Farm in Downtown Eureka, 1900’s

After a little bit of searching, in the Spring of 1906, the May Company rented a massive 500 acre farm owned by Jesse & Mary Joplin on Bald Hill Road in Downtown Eureka as the location for the resort. The resort was the brainchild of Laura M. Kinkead, a legal stenographer for the May Department Store Company and the first female police officer for the St. Louis City Police Department.

In the weeks leading up to the grand opening, the farm was hurriedly prepared for the 20 expected guests and a partition was removed in the farmhouse between the two largest rooms on the first floor and an oak floor was laid over the original stone floor for dancing to “a q***r little piano with several keys missing”. This large area became the male sleeping area at night with the five upstairs bedrooms being set aside for the ladies.

On June 30, 1906, the resort formally opened and quickly became a popular attraction in the company employees. After a year, the company outgrew the land and moved to an unknown location in nearby Crescent in 1908. In 1910, it moved again to what is now Vernon S. Beck Memorial Park. There, it operated from June 5, 1910 to 1942.

After the resort moved in 1908, the farm changed ownership several times before being cleared for The Legends Subdivision in the mid-1980’s. The street Eagle Pointe Landing Drive now occupies the site of the farm.

It is worth noting that while the May Company owned the resort, it became known as Famous-Barr in 1911 when the company’s founder, David May, merged the Famous Clothing Store & the William Barr Dry Goods Company.

Pictures from Jim Pearson, Jesse & Mary’s great-grandson.

03/23/2024

North Central Avenue at what would later be Interstate 44 in Downtown Eureka, November 1956 by Dorrill Studio

When this was taken in 1956, the intersection was brand new. Since then, it has been modified several times and is now unrecognizable.

Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum

03/20/2024

Pictures of the construction of St. Louis Assembly in Fenton, January 20, 1958

Best known as the Chrysler Plant, the "South" portion opened in 1959 while the "North" portion opened in 1966. The factory was built on farmland, the Meramec Airport, and a stretch of Larkin Williams Road. When the plant was built, subdivisions popped up across the area to house workers. One of these subdivisions was Shaw’s Garden, Eureka’s first subdivision.

On June 30, 2008, the South portion was shut down. The North portion was shut down when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy on April 30, 2009. Though production resumed briefly the last week of June 2009, the plant closed for good in early July 2009. The entire plant was demolished in 2011.

In October 2016, groundbreaking began for the $222 million Fenton Logistics Park by KP Development. The new industrial park occupies most of the space that Chrysler used and includes 2 million square feet of offices and warehouses. In January 2023, the Fenton Fire Protection District Station #2 moved to a new building there at 1001 Assembly Parkway from 1385 Horan Drive where they had been since 1963. There is also a Wally’s at 950 Assembly Parkway, which opened in March 2022.

Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Pictures taken by Francis Scheidegger.

03/16/2024

What Manchester Road in Manchester once looked like over 100 years ago

This was most likely taken before it became the original alignment of Route 66 in 1926.

Unlike what it was in this postcard, the road is now 5 lanes wide.

http://www.66postcards.com/postcards/mo/MOE73000.html

03/13/2024

Resort goers at the Famous-Barr Outing Farm in Eureka, August 1939

Located across from Times Beach at 84 Lewis Road, the resort opened on June 5, 1910. At its peak, it featured tennis courts, a sprawling main building, a beach, a riverfront, cabins, dance hall, pool hall, and a softball field. The resort remained open until 1942 when it closed due to complications with World War II.

The ruins of the resort are now a public park called Vernon S. Beck Memorial Park.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 6, 1939

03/06/2024

Pictures of Gerwe’s Log House Café on the 1931 alignment of Route 66 in Eureka

Located along the 1931 alignment of Route 66 at what is now 21 East 5th Street, this cafe was leased by the Gerwe Family & Hanephin Family from Bob Klinger. The cafe no longer stands today. M Kars Auto Sales, LLC now stands in its place.

Klinger, a local from Allenton, was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1938 to 1947 who was on the mound for the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series when Enos Slaughter of the St. Louis Cardinals made his famous mad dash from first to score the winning run on a hit by Harry Walker. Tragically, Klinger died in an accident on Missouri Route 100 in nearby Villa Ridge in 1977. He was 69.

Courtesy of 66Postcards.

Newspapers from the June 19, 1959 edition of the Meramec Valley Transcript, March 13, 1942 edition of the Meramec Valley Transcript, and June 27, 1941 edition of the Meramec Valley Transcript

03/01/2024

The Rockwood Administration Annex as Eureka Junior High School, 1992

These were taken the year before LaSalle Springs Middle School opened at 3300 MO-109 in Wildwood in 1993. The school closed right after and was converted into the annex.

The annex is at 500 North Central Avenue in Downtown Eureka and is now the oldest building in the Rockwood School District.

Courtesy of LaSalle

02/28/2024

Who remembers the Meramec Hills School for Girls at Carman Road & Dougherty Ferry Road near Valley Park?

Located on the boarder of Valley Park & Keyes Summit behind Barretts Elementary School, it was originally 140 acres big when it opened in 1918. It featured cabins like the one pictured and had entrances on both Dougherty Ferry & Carman. The entrance on Dougherty was the main entrance and had a stone wall gracing the tree-lined path to the facility.

From 1937 to 1939, the WPA built a beautiful limestone building for Barretts Elementary School in front of the facility. As the school expanded, it bought land from the facility, shrinking its size. In 1971, the facility was closed down to save money. St. Louis City wanted to reopen one of the facility’s cottages to house 50 women prisoners that were being held at the Workhouse at 7600 Hall Street in the city’s North Riverfront Neighborhood. The plan was scrapped after being rejected by the St. Louis County Planning Commission in March 1976 after protests by local residents.

After the plan was rejected, the land was sold to developer Charles F. Vatterott & Co., one of 4 firms that submitted bids. By the time Vatterott bought the property, the facility’s acreage was down to 98 acres. A couple years after the sale, Vatterott began construction on the Seven Oaks Subdivision. The new subdivision resulted in the demolition of all of the facility’s structures. The entrances for the facility were repurposed for the subdivision and were connected by a new road called Stone Canyon Drive.

Pictures were taken between 1945 & 1966 by an unknown photographer and are from the State Historical Society of Missouri. The aerial picture was taken from Carman Road and is from the February 10, 1976 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Information came from the newspaper clippings featured.

02/25/2024

February 25, 1976 - Reporters and some of the workers who built it took the first rides on the brand new roller coaster at Six Flags over Mid America. The "Screaming Eagle" reached speeds of 62 miles per hour on a 3,872-foot course. It officially opened on April 10, 1976.

02/24/2024

The very first crews of River King Mine Train & Log Flume at Six Flags St. Louis, 1971

These two rides are located on opposite sides of the park from each other and, along with the train, are the only surviving original rides from the park’s 1971 opening.

Picture 1, L-R: Kim Smith, John Phillips, Sue Miller, Durley Felder, Jody Seigel, Cindy Cherry, John Alexanders, Doug Loshbough, Donna Mosby, and Fred Stolz.

Picture 2, L-R: Diana Birner, Jerry Capstick, Randy Doerman, Mark Jackson, Linda Lewis, Kieth Gates, John Hunter, Mike Holland, Bill Keyes, Larry Wine, and Glenna Keathley.

Picture 3:
Front, L-R: Sally Yocum, Rhonda Matthews, Gail Bettis, Mickey Baker, Josie Smith, Nancy Dickerson, Anne Hughes, Nancy Homsher, and Cathy Schoendienst.
Middle, L-R: Jackie Scott, Sue Ebert, George Kovacich, Sue Campbell, Buck Gibbs, Rob Firman, Randy Smith, Mike Duffy, and Dan Mullen.
Back, L-R: Ron Williams, John McLaughlin, Robbie Landers, Rich Work, Franklin Foster, Joe Klitzing, Jim Buehring, and Ivan Thomas.

Picture 4, L-R: Pete Brandt, Cathy Kochran, Sherry Tinnon, Denise Becker, Bob Fauser, Mary Moder, and Mark Matthews.

Pictures from the park’s 1971 yearbook

Address

15 Hilltop Village Drive
Eureka, MO
63025

Telephone

+16369384428

Website

https://sites.google.com/site/eurekahistoricalsociety/home

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