TAMM AVENUE

It was named for Jacob Tamm, farmer and landowner in the area. In the earlier days it was called Tamm Road.

There are two watercolores which picture Tamm Road as it was in the 1860s. These were drawn by Albert Muegge in the 1870s, reflecting back on what things looked like in the 1860s. Even that project of Muegge's suggests the tremendous growth of the area in a short time.

This view of Tamm pictures the lower part, below Lloyd. Brockschmidt is not yet there. However, the O'Gorman house which still stands at 1527 Tamm is there. It is in the foreground, about 1/4 in from the left. It is a two-story white house with no windows facing Tamm. Now the front door faces Tamm.

The very large home near the lower left is Albert Muegge's home and was also the post office, site of the 1864 Confederate Raid.

If one looks straight past the O'Gorman house and down past Manchester Road, there is one small home in the flat of the River Des Peres valley which was reputed to be especially beautiful at this time.

The cluster of large homes in about the center background must be about Mitchell Ave. and that wouldn't be surprising since the Mitchell family ran a brick factory and a couple of the officers of the company who were themselves Mitchells lived on Mitchell Ave.

A second one of Muegge's watercolors looks UP Tamm Ave. from the other side of the river. Thus he was drawing from the south and looking down to the valley and then, north up Tamm Ave.

In writing about the O'Gorman home at 1527 Tamm I made the remarks below about this particular watercolor.

Bob Corbett comments -- Feb. 15, 2003

This is a black and white reproduction of a colored watercolor which Anton Muegge did in the 1870s, but he was drawing his memories of Cheltenham in the 1860s. This perspective would be from about Hwy I-44 looking north toward Muegge's house (the very large 2-story in the foregroupnd right). It was the Muegge home and the local post office. It was also the scene of the 1864 Confederate raid on the post office.

To the right of Muegge's house and looking up Tamm, first one notes the large 2-story white house on the left side of Tamm. That is the O'Gorman house at 1527 Tamm and it looks identical as it does today in 2003.

Up higher on Tamm, on the right hand side of the street is St. James Church. John O'Gorman's brother-in-law built the church in 1860 and it burned in 1891.

Also fascinating to me large house to the LEFT of the Muegge house and back at bit. I wonder if that can be one of the homes on Villa and still be standing? The one that is highest on the hill in the 6500 block.

These two photo appear in the article: "Some New Views of Old Cheltenham" by George R. Brooks. The Bulletin, October 1965. Missouri Historical Society. Pp. 32-34. Note that the article has a couple of other reproductions of Muegge's watercolors. The originals are not on display, but held by the Missouri Historical Society.