Moving east on Highway YY, we reach the unincorporated community of Krakow, which was historically Polish American. St. Gertrude’s was founded in 1846. The church building is quite old; the original building was constructed in 1856 with the tower being built and altered in the following decades. As you can see below, the nave was…
Category: Surrounding Region
Posts about the Surrounding Region in Missouri
Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Port Hudson, Franklin County
Our next stop was Ebenezer Lutheran Church, which is located in the unincorporated community of Port Hudson or Leslie. It was organized on September 1, 1846. The church’s original name was Deutsche Evangelische Lutheran Ebenezer Kirche, and the current structure was built in 1896 at a cost of just over $3,000. It is also a…
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Franklin County
Originally known as the Evangelisch Lutheran Bethlehem Kirche, this congregation was organized in 1852. It is now part of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. As can be seen on the front facade, the current church is from 1919, which makes sense stylistically. If you were wondering what U.A.C. stands for, it is Unaltered…
Selma Hall
Selma Hall, or Kennett’s Castle, was built according to designs by George I. Barnett in 1854 along the bluffs south of St. Louis in Jefferson County. I rarely only show historic photographs, but the house is so far back in a huge estate and is never open to the public that it is impossible to…
Anheuser Estate, Kimmswick
The Anheuser family had a country estate on the banks of the Mississippi just south of Kimmswick that is now a park. The house was originally built in 1867 but the Anheusers bought it in 1916. I suspect the family could have easily taken the train directly to their estate on the tracks, which may…
Windsor Harbor Bridge, Kimmswick
On the south side of Kimmswick is the Windsor Harbor Bridge, which is now completely closed to all traffic, after once being open to pedestrians. Originally placed in Carondelet up in St. Louis from 1874 to 1928, it was moved here in 1930. There is a modern road bridge to the west, made of reinforced…
Kimmswick, Revisited
Founded in 1859 by German Theodore Kimm, we thought that Kimmswick was worth a second look recently since we were in the area after having looked at it back in August of 2020. I had forgotten how many log cabins there were in the town. And judging from the National Register nomination, which does not…
Byrne’s Mill, Jefferson County
Well, we discovered there’s not much left of Byrne’s Mill (not to be confused with Byrnesville, which wan named after a totally unrelated man) except a stone pier, but there is a nice write up at the city’s website about the historic site.
Old Walker Burying Ground
Heading west in St. Charles County, we arrive in Wentzville, where a small but critically important cemetery lies surrounded by the current campus of Holt High School. As can be read here, it holds some of the oldest European burials in the county, including some names that we have seen at other cemeteries, such as…
Sage Chapel Cemetery
Thanks to a tip from Found St. Louis, we learned about the historic Sage Chapel Cemetery, a historic African American burial ground located in O’Fallon in St. Charles County. Read about the history of the cemetery here. Located on land once owned by slaveowners, the church known as Sage Chapel is long gone, like much…