"MAPLEWOOD" THE OUTER EDGE OF "GRATIOT LEAGUE SQUARE")
JAMES SUTTON PURCHASED 314 ACRES IN 1826 FROM THE CHARLES GRATIOT ESTATE FOR $1.AND A BIT PER ACRE. (A BIT WAS 1/4 OF A DOLLAR COIN). I'VE READ SOMEWHERE THEY ACTUALLY CUT THE COIN INTO FOUR PIECES. SUTTON WAS A ST.LOUIS IRON-MONGER.(HARDWARE MERCHANT), AND BLACKSMITH. HE WANTED TO MOVE HIS FAMILY TO A QUIET, RURAL ENVIRONMENT.THEY FIRST LIVED IN A LOG CABIN NEAR THE PRESENT COMMONWEALTH AVE.,BUT IN 1835 MOVED TO A STONE HOUSE ON THE ROAD TO JEFFERSON CITY BY WAY OF MANCHESTER. LATER THE HOUSE WAS GIVEN THE ADDRESS OF 7453 MANCHESTER. HIS BLACKSMITH SHOP WAS AT THE CORNER OF MANCHESTER AND BIG BEND. SOME OF HIS NEIGHBORS WERE - CHARLES RANNELLS TO HIS WEST AS FAR AS HANLEY ROAD. RANNELLS' CALLED HIS SETTLEMENT "LACLEDE". THE PACIFIC RAILROAD PUT A STATION THERE IN 1853 AT THE RIVER DES PERES, A LITTLE BEYOND SUTTON'S. TO SUTTONS NORTH WAS A TRACT NAMED "EAST LACLEDE" OWNED BY THE GAY FAMILY. FURTHER NORTH WAS LAND OWNED BY JEAN BAPTISTE BRUNO,A FRENCH MARKET GARDENER.
IN 1840, HENRY BARTOLD, A GERMAN PUT UP A THREE-STORY STAGECOACH STOP AND TAVERN AT MANCHESTER AND DEER CREEK ROAD. IT WAS NAMED COOL VALLEY TAVERN, BUT LATER CHANGED TO BARTOLDS GROVE ROADHOUSE."VALLEY POST OFFICE",THE FIRST IN THE AREA WAS LOCATED THERE AS WAS THE TWO ROOM "VALLEY SCHOOL". IT HAD A PICNIC GROUND ON THE HILL BEHIND THE BUILDING.
JAMES SUTTON DIED IN 1877 AT AGE 80. BEFORE HIS DEATH, HIS SON, HENRY L. SUTTON WAS CHOSEN AS PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE COUNTY COURT IN 1876. THE FIRST THREE MEETINGS OF THE COURT WERE HELD AT THE SUTTON HOME. HIS LAND WAS DIVIDED AMONG HIS NINE CHILDREN. HIS DAUGHTER MARY MARSHALL SOLD SOME OF HER LAND IN 1890 TO A ST.LOUIS REAL ESTATE COMPANY WHO PLATTED A SUBDIVISION AND NAMED IT "MAPLEWOOD", BECAUSE OF THE MAPLE TREES ALONG THE STREETS. ANOTHER SUTTON DAUGHTER, SARAH HARRISON, OPENED UP MAPLE LAWN ADDITION WEST OF SUTTON AVE. HER SISTER KATE THOMAS, STARTED ELLENDALE. THE PROPERTY OF ONE SON, JOHN L.SUTTON, BECAME LOHMEYER HEIGHTS. CHARLES W.SUTTON SOLD HIS LAND SOUTH OF THE RAILROAD TO MOSES GREENWOOD.
DURING THE EARLY 1890'S, TRANSPORTATION TO THESE SUBURBAN AREAS WAS BY "ACCOMODATION" TRAINS ON THE MO/PAC R.R. STATIONS WERE ELLENDALE, MAPLEWOOD, SUTTON,AND LACLEDE. ELECTRIC STREETCARS ON MANCHESTER ARRIVED IN 1896. LOOPS WERE ESTABLISHED AT YALE AVE.(CITY LIMITS), AND ON SUTTON AT MAPLE. THIS ATTRACTED MANY NEW RESIDENTS TO MAPLEWOOD.
MAPLEWOOD WAS INCORPORATED IN 1908. IN THE 1910 CENSUS MAPLEWOOD SHOWED A POPULATION OF 4,976. BY 1950 POPULATION PEAKED AT 13,416. BY THE END OF THE 1920'S MAPLEWOOD HAD 250 STORES MOSTLY ALONG MANCHESTER FROM THE CITY LIMITS TO BIG BEND. SATELLITE SHOPPING STRIPS WERE ALONG SUTTON AND GREENWOOD. THE CITY'S INDUSTRIES INCLUDED SUNNEN PRODUCTS, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STEEL, AND CUPPLES PRODUCTS. MAPLEWOOD WAS MORE MY PLAYGROUND THAN THE CITY. AS A CHILD,I REMEMBER THE MAPLEWOOD SHOW, THE POOL HALL NEARBY, THE POWHATTAN SHOW WITH THE OUTDOOR SCREEN,THE KATZ DRUG STORE, AND BETTENDORFS STORE WITH IT'S BASEMENT SHOPPING AND THE REMOVABLE BASKETS YOU WOULD PUT ON THE BELT,THEN PICK UP THE BASKET UPSTAIRS AND FINISH SHOPPING. AS A YOUTH IT WAS THE SARATOGA BOWLING ALLEY, AND TED'S CORNER, AND WORKING IN THE NEXT AREA OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS AT JIM REMLEYS MARKET ON BIG BEND (3 NIGHTS A WEEK AND SATURDAY FOR THREE YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL).
"RICHMOND HEIGHTS"
INCORPORATED IN 1913,IT ADJOINS THE "INNER SUBURB" OF MAPLEWOOD ON THE NORTH, WHICH ALSO SHARES A HIGH SCHOOL NAMED FOR BOTH COMMUNITIES. THIS WAS PART OF A LAND GRANT OF THE SPANISH TO CHARLES GRATIOT "GRATIOT LEAGUE SQUARE" (FROM KINGSHIGHWAY TO BIG BEND,AND FROM A LINE THROUGH 3/4 OF FOREST PARK TO PERNOD). AFTER THE DEATH OF CHARLES IN 1819, TWO STRIPS OF THIS LAND WERE INHERITED BY VICTOIRE LABBADIE (FROM OAKLAND TO WISE),AND PAUL GRATIOT (WISE TO DALE). BY THE 1850'S PETER LINDELL OWNED THE WESTERN HALF OF VICTORIES' LAND, WHICH WAS BEING SUBDIVIDED. THE OWNERS IN 1878 WERE M.D.& L.W.PATCHIN-17AC. AT THE CITY LIMITS,ALBERT LINDELL-8AC.,THOMAS WRIGHT-8AC., CLARA BALCER-34AC., AND JOHN BAKER-16AC.TO BIG BEND (PENNSYLVANIA). PAULS' LAND WAS ALSO BEING SUBDIVIDED. HIS LAND WAS DIVIDED INTO APROX. FOUR 20 ACRE LOTS FROM THE CITY LIMITS TO BIG BEND. THE OWNERS IN 1878 BEING HENRY STAATS, FRANCIS CABANNE, ALFRED BRANCOURT,AND JACOB MACQUAT (NOTE THAT FRANCIS CABANNE MAY BE THE KEY TO THE NEXT STORY).
FREDERICK E.NIESEN,A WEALTHY ST.LOUIS REAL ESTATE MAN STRAYED WHILE QUAIL HUNTING IN 1887. HE LOVED THE AREA SO MUCH, HE PURCHASED THE PROPERTY FROM ARMAND FRANCOIS ROBERT THE COUNT de GIVERVILLE (AN HEIR BY MARRIAGE OF THE CABANNE FAMILY), AND BUILT A FRAME MANSION IN 1892. THE ADDRESS BECAME 1234 BELLEVUE AVENUE MUCH LATER. THIS WAS ON THE N/W CORNER OF DALE AND BELLEVUE. I BELIEVE THIS WAS THE OLD STAATS AND CABANNE PLATS OF THE 1870'S TOTALING 40 ACRES. THE BOUNDARIES BEING CITY LIMITS TO SUNSET AND DALE TO WISE. OVER THE YEARS, THE NIESENS ADDED TWO OTHER HOMES TO THE FIVE ACRES THEY RESERVED FOR THEIR FAMILY COMPOUND. THE TWO YOUNGER DAUGHTERS (WHO BECAME A KRAMER AND A FORSHAW) LIVED IN THESE HOMES. THE HOUSES WERE ARRANGED IN A SEMI-CIRCLE. THE REST OF THE NIESEN TRACT WAS DIVIDED INTO RESIDENTIAL LOTS AND DEVELOPED BY NIESEN AS "BELLEVUE SQUARE". THE NIESENS RETAINED OWNERSHIP OF THIS LAND UNTIL HIGHWAY 40 TOOK MOST OF IT. THE FAMILY THEN SOLD THE REMAINING PROPERTY AND THE HOUSE TO ST.LUKE'S PARISH. THE PROPERTY FROM DALE TO THE HIGHWAY IS NOW THE CHURCH'S ATHELETIC FIELD.
JAMES McCAUSLAND OWNED 162 ACRES WHERE ST.LUKES IS NOW, BUT HE IS NEVER MENTIONED IN THE HISTORY OF THE AREA. I HAVE A MAP SHOWING HIM AS OWNER IN 1856 AND 1878, BUT NO INDICATION WHEN HE SOLD IT. THE PROPERTY WENT FROM McCAUSLAND TO BIG BEND AND FROM DALE TO GLADES. THE ONLY MENTION OF THE PROPERTY IS THAT JOHN RANKIN DYER OWNED 120 ACRES SOUTH OF NIESEN. THAT IS A LITTLE SHORT OF McCAUSLAND'S 133 ACRES BUT CLOSE ENOUGH. IN 1900 HE TEAMED UP WITH NIESEN TO PROMOTE THE AREA. THE ALMAND NIESAN REALITY CO. WAS FORMED AND AS LAND OWNERS DIED OR LEFT THE COMMUNITY, THEIR LAND REVERTED TO THIS COMPANY WHICH IN TURN SUBDIVIDED THE FARMS TO CONTRACTORS. THE CONTRACTORS WERE UNDER STRICT SUPERVISION AND RESTRICTIONS, MOSTLY TO BE KEPT AS A RESIDENTIAL AREA. THIS WAS THEIR BATTLE ON MANY OCCATIONS UNTIL REALITY SET IN. THEY NEEDED A TAX BASE. THE AREA WAS DIFFICULT TO KEEP EXCLUSIVE.
RICHMOND HEIGHTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, COMMONLY KNOWN AS SILVERTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WAS THE FIRST CHURCH TO BE CHARTERED IN RICHMOND HEIGHTS. IT BEGAN IN 1907 WHEN A GROUP OF PEOPLE STARTED A SUNDAY SCHOOL IN THE EAST RICHMOND HEIGHTS SCHOOL BUILDING. WITHIN A MONTH THERE WERE SIXTY PUPILS. BECAUSE OF OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR A CHURCH RELATED PURPOSE, THE SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS MOVED TO 7228 ARLINGTON DRIVE. FOR NEARLY A YEAR, WORSHIP WAS CONDUCTED AS A UNION CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL, WITH THE PULPIT BEING SUPPLIED BY MINISTERS OF SEVERAL DENOMINATIONS.
THE PRESENT PROPERTY AT SILVERTON AND LINDBERGH WAS AQUIRED IN 1910. THEY STARTED OFF WITH A BASEMENT UNIT, WHICH WAS COMPLETED IN THREE MONTHS. REV. ORA L.PRIDE BECAME THE FIRST PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. THE CHURCH WAS INCORPORATED ON JULY 19,1911. THE SUPERSTRUCTURE WAS COMPLETED IN 1915. THEY BOUGHT PROPERTY AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF LINDBERGH AND BIG BEND, BUT DECIDED AGAINST IT AND SOLD THE PROPERTY AND STAYED WITH THEIR ORIGINAL SITE. GROUND WAS BROKEN FOR THE BASEMENT OF THE NEW BUILDING DURING THE SUMMER OF 1925. THE DEPRESSION AND WW11 DELAYED THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH UNTIL 1949. THE EDUCATION BUILDING WAS COMPLETED THAT SAME YEAR. MY UNCLE ERICK TAENZER WAS MARRIED HERE AFTER THE WAR. HE IS STILL LIVING IN 1999 WITH HIS DAUGHTER JANICE.
ST.LUKE'S WAS THE SECOND CHURCH IN RICHMOND HEIGHTS AND WAS FOUNDED ON OCT.11,1914. FR.JOSEPH COLLINS SERVED AS THE ORIGINAL PASTOR. THE FIRST MASS WAS SAID IN THE BENOIST-CHRISTY HOME WHICH IS NOW RAZED, BUT AT THE TIME WAS LOCATED AT 2001 BELLEVUE. HOWEVER, SHORTLY AFTER THE CREATION OF THE PARISH, A HOME AT 1229 SUNSET(NOW 1329) WAS RENTED TO SERVE AS BOTH CHURCH AND RECTORY UNTIL APR.23,1915, WHEN A TWO STORY HOME AT 7237 DELTA WAS PURCHASED AS A CHURCH. THE HOME AT 1229 SUNSET WAS ORIGINALLY THE HOME OF THE HODGES FAMILY(OF CHILI FAME).
SCHOOL OPENED OCT.8,1916 IN A BUILDING ERECTED TO SERVE AS BOTH CHURCH AND SCHOOL. THE SISTERS OF ST.JOSEPH OF CARONDELET TAUGHT GRADES 1 THROUGH 4 IN TWO ROOMS OF THE BUILDING. BY 1925, THE OLD CHURCH BUILDING ON DELTA BECAME THE CONVENT, THUS SAVING THE SISTERS FROM COMMUTING TO WORK EACH DAY. AND AT THE SAME TIME, A HOUSE ON DALE WAS BOUGHT TO SERVE AS A RECTORY. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN THE McCAUSLAND HOME.
THE PLAT SOUTH OF McCAUSLAND'S WAS OWNED BY JOHN PIERRE GRATIOT THEN SOLD TO JEAN BAPTISTE BRUNO IN THE LATE 1850'S OR EARLY 1860'S. HE WAS A FRENCH MARKET GARDNER. AN 1872 MAP SHOWS THE OWNER TO BE JOHN B.BRUNO. THIS WAS 52 ACRES FROM BELLEVUE TO BIG BEND AND GLADES TO BRUNO. JOHN BRUNO AND DYER WERE THE MAIN DEVELOPERS. ON THE EAST SIDE OF BRUNO WAS A.S.CURTIS WITH 17 ACRES, AND GEORGE ROGERS WITH 15 ACRES.
DURING THE NEXT DECADE THE NIESENS WERE JOINED BY ONLY 18 FAMILIES, TO NAME A COUPLE - THE HENRY BUEHNING HOME ON THE N/W CORNER OF GLADES AND BELLEVUE (1701), WAS BUILT IN OCT.19,1899. ALSO THE HOME OF DR. CHARLES H.HIGHES ON HIAWATHA.(NO OTHER INFORMATION). ANOTHER BOOK,"DOWN MEMORY LANE" STATED THE BROWN HOME AT 1601 BELLEVUE WAS THE SECOND HOUSE TO BE BUILT IN 1904. THERE WERE WIDELY SCATTERED HOMES ON PRIVATE HOLDINGS AND TENANT FARMS. ANOTHER WAS THE CAMPBELL'S FOREST HOME. GEORGE CAMPBELL OWNED THE PROPERTY AND RAN A REPUTABLE PARK. AT THE ENTRANCE THERE WAS AN IMMENSE STEEL TOWER WITH ELECTRIC LIGHTS ACROSS THE TOP. THE HOME DID EXIST IN 1919 AT THE S/W CORNER OF CLAYTON AND THE CITY LIMITS. JUST OUTSIDE RICHMOND HEIGHTS. THE FARM ACTUALLY WENT FROM OAKLAND TO WISE AND BELLEVUE TO CITY LIMITS. THERE WAS A THREE STORY WHITE FRAME HOUSE WHICH STOOD ON A SPOT DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE NORTH END OF THE PRESENT HOSPITAL LAUNDRY, IN LINE WITH THE EAST WALK. A FISH POND OCCUPIED THE SPACE WHERE THE INTERNS RESIDENCE IS BUILT.
THIS PROPERTY HAD A FORESTED PICNIC AREA THAT WAS POPULAR, BRINGING PEOPLE TO THE AREA. IT COULD HAVE BEEN TIED IN WITH THE WEST END HEIGHTS AMUSEMENT PARK AT HIGH POINT WHICH OPENED AROUND 1895, THEN BURNED IN 1914. AND ALSO THE FARM ROAD CLAYTON MADE IT EASIER TO GET TO. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THE NAME OF THE POST OFFICE ON OAKLAND (7130), WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE "PARK AVE. POST OFFICE". THIS FITS.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR THIS LAND WAS THE SITE OF AN ARSENAL FOR THE UNION TROOPS. HISTORIANS OF THE WAR INDICATE THAT CONFEDERATE GENERAL STERLING PRICE HOPED TO CAPTURE THIS ARSENAL SO HE COULD BARRAGE THE CITY OF ST.LOUIS, BUT THIS FAILED. THE GENERAL THEN PUSHED ON AS FAR AS PACIFIC,MO. WHERE A HASTILY ORGANIZED BAND EXPELLED THEM FROM THE VICINITY. THE CHILDREN OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS PLAYED IN THE OLD UNION ARMY POWDERHOUSES. THE OPEN FIELD TO THE SOUTH OF CAMPBELLS WAS USED AS A DRILL FIELD. SO THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A RATHER LARGE CONTINGENT TO FIGHT OFF GENERAL PRICE. THIS MAKES ME THINK OF THE STORY ABOUT SOUTHERN TROOPS RAIDING THE MUEGGE STORE AT DALE AND MANCHESTER. SEE STORY IN THE CHAPTER OF "WEST CHELTENHAM". SEE ALSO AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER MY RESEARCH ON GEN. STERLING PRICE.
THE CAMPBELL FOREST HOME BECAME THE "MONTE CARLO OF ST.LOUIS" OPERATED BY TWO OF ST.LOUIS' MOST COLORFUL GAMBLERS, "KID BECKER"(KING OF ST.LOUIS GAMBLING), AND "TONY FOLEY"(MEMBER OF NOTORIOUS BOTTOMS GANG). IT WAS A THORN IN THE SIDE OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS AND JUST OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS FROM 1917 T0 1920. OF ALL THE BARRELL HOUSES, LID CLUBS, AND FLOATING SALOONS IN THAT WAR ERA, THE FOREST HOME WITH IT'S DICE TABLES, ROULETTE, HIGH-STAKE POKER GAMES, AND HORSE RACE BETTING - WAS PERHAPS UNDER THE MOST VIGOROUS OF CIVIC AND CHURCH ATTACKS,ALSO FROM ST.LOUIS NEWSPAPERS. TO ADD TO THE TROUBLE, DURING THE WINTER MONTHS THEY ALLOWED GYPSIES TO CAMP IN THE PARK CAUSING THE NEIGHBORS TO REFER TO THE CAMPSITE AS "VAN CAMP'S".
IN 1919 THAT SMALL STRIP OF LAND FROM OAKLAND TO CLAYTON WAS ANNEXED BY RICHMOND HEIGHTS. IT WAS HARD TO REMOVE THEM, BUT A MYSTERIOUS FIRE DESTROYING THE MAIN BUILDING HURT THE GAMBLERS, BUT THEY HELD ON FOR ANOTHER YEAR IN A RE-CONSTRUCTED PAVILION NEARBY. BUT THEY FINALLY GAVE UP AND IN 1920 THE SISTERS OF MARY PURCHASED THE SITE FOR THEIR HOSPITAL WHICH OPENED IN 1923. THE FOREST HOME EXPERIENCE LEFT IT'S MARK ON THE LAWS OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS. THEY RAN A TIGHT SHIP - EARLY ORDINANCES - NO POOL ROOMS, LIMITED TAVERNS, $300.00 FEE A DAY FOR BETTING, A DRY LAW FROM 1912 TO 1937.
THE FARMERS OF THE AREA CLAIM TO FAME WAS IN GROWING THE FINEST VARITY OF ASPARAGUS FOUND IN THIS SECTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS CLAYTON RD. WAS THE FARM ROAD TO ST.LOUIS WHICH LATER CAUSED A PROBLEM IN FOREST PARK. THE ROADS WERE DUSTY, AND PEOPLE USING THE PARK COMPLAINED ABOUT THE TRAFFIC. EVENTUALLY CLAYTON STOPPED AT OAKLAND NEAR HAMPTON.
THE OLD "DINKY" STREETCAR BUILT AND RUN BY THE OLD "UNITED RAILWAY CO." FOR THE RICHMOND HEIGHTS AREA RAN FROM THE WEST END HEIGHTS AMUSEMENT CENTER AT HI-POINT, DOWN McCAUSLAND TO WISE, WEST ON WISE TO HIGHLAND, SOUTH ACROSS DALE FINALLY LOOPING AT WHAT IS NOW THE CORNER OF LINDBERGH AND SILVERTON DRIVES. THIS AREA BECAME MORE ACCESSIBLE TO ST.LOUIS WITH THE COMPLETION OF AN ELECTRIC STREETCAR LINE ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF FOREST PARK IN 1895. IT LOOPED AT THE AMUSEMENT PARK CALLED "WEST END HEIGHTS" AT CLAYTON AND McCAUSLAND. IN 1910 THE LINE CONTINUED ON OAKLAND, LEFT ON BELLEVUE TO WISE, DOWN HIGHLAND AND LINDBERGH ON OUT TO BRENTWOOD. ABOUT THE SAME TIME, THE ST. LOUIS CROSS-COUNTY RAILROAD OPENED A LINE FROM HI-POINT TO A JUNCTION WITH THE CLAYTON LINE AT WYDOWN BLVD. AND DeMUN. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE CITY LIMITS CAR LINE, WHICH WAS EXTENDED SOUTHWARD TO MAPLEWOOD IN 1918.
AN EARLY INDUSTRIAL OPERATION IN RICHMOND HEIGHTS WAS A BRICK WORKS ON HANLEY ROAD,(BAUSCH CLAY MINES) AT HANLEY AND EAGER ROADS USING RICH CLAY DEPOSITS IN THE HILLS NEARBY. ABOUT 1906 THE BRICK COMPANY BUILT HOUSES FOR BLACK WORKERS ALONG PARK AVE.(LATER NAMED DALE AVE.). THIS FORMED THE NUCLEUS OF THE CITY'S PRESENT BLACK COMMUNITY.
THE CITY WAS INCORPORATED IN 1913 WITH A POPULATION OF 500 PERSONS. IT WAS BOUNDED BY WISE, PENNSYLVANIA (NOW BIG BEND) AND GLADES WITH THE CITY LIMITS ON THE EAST SIDE.
OTHER ANNEXATIONS HAVE TAKEN RICHMOND HEIGHTS WEST TO HANLEY ROAD IN 1918, FROM NORTH OF DALE TO CLAYTON AND FROM CITY LIMITS TO BELLEVUE IN 1919, THEN FROM BELLEVUE TO BIG BEND AND FROM OAKLAND TO DALE IN 1920, THEN SOUTH FROM GLADES TO BRUNO AND CITY LIMITS TO BIG BEND IN 1922, BRENTWOOD BLVD.(THEN NORTH AND SOUTH RD.)IN 1925. LAY RD.IT'S EXISTING LIMIT IN 1928. THE CITY'S AREA IS NOW TWO SQUARE MILES AND IS PREDOMINANTLY RESIDENTIAL.
HOW RICHMOND HEIGHTS GOT IT'S NAME IS STILL A MYSTERY. IT IS BELIEVED THAT SOME EARLY RESIDENTS WITH AN AFFINITY FOR THE SOUTH THOUGHT THE COUNTRY RESEMBLED LAND IN VIRGINIA AROUND RICHMOND. ANOTHER LEGEND CLAIMS THAT WHEN LT.ROBERT E.LEE WAS IN ST.LOUIS WORKING ON THE RIVER, HE MADE SURVEYS IN THE VICINITY AND NAMED IT FOR THE CAPITAL OF HIS HOME STATE. THE HEIGHTS PART OF THE NAME SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
MY FAVORITE PLACES IN RICHMOND HEIGHTS WERE- THE ESQUIRE SHOW WITH IT'S RECLINING SEATS, THE BOWLING ALLEY (WITH PIN-BALL MACHINES),THE PARKMOOR ACROSS THE STREET, AND THE OLD JIM REMLEY STORE ON BIG BEND WHERE I WORKED FOR THREE YEARS. AND OF COURSE THE OLD FASHIONED RESTAURANT UP THE STREET, AND THE FANCIER ONE DOWN THE HILL FOR SATURDAYS (NAMES I DO NOT REMEMBER). NONE OF MY BIG BEND HAUNTS EXIST, EXCEPT THE STORE IS NOW AN ANTIQUE MALL. THE FANCY RESTAURANT IS NOW A LAWYERS OFFICE, AND THE OLD RESTAURANT SOUTH OF THE STORE IS AN APARTMENT. AS OF THIS DATE (2/17/98), A NEW MALL IS BEING BUILT AT BRENTWOOD BLVD., SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 40. SOMETHING LONG DEBATED AND NOW HAPPENS. THE TROUBLE IS, NOTHING HAPPENED UNTIL THE POSSIBILITY OF THE INNER-BELT GOING THROUGH. THE MALL SITS RIGHT IN THE PATH. THE NEXT CHANGE WILL BE THE METROLINK. ST.MARYS HAS EXPANDED TO THE WEST SIDE OF BELLEVUE, AND JUST WEST OF THAT IS A SCHNUKS SUPER STORE, THEN AN ENLARGED ESQUIRE THEATER.
"RICHMOND HEIGHTS CLAY MINES"
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