Ballwin has history that stretches all the way back to the Spanish, when John Ball received a land grant. You can tell that without even knowing that because all the property lines are crooked; the Spanish gave out property in squares and they always rotated them to give people the best land within those lines. You can still see that in the modern day property lines, though the original town plat of Ballwin has been destroyed for a “lifestyle center,” which I glanced at while covering the historic church, Salem Methodist, on the north side of Manchester Road. I looked at some of the early suburban stores built after World War II back in October of 2012.

Heading further out west towards Ellisville, spreads out before us one of the most suburban stretches of road in America.

Perhaps what is most notable is the few roads off which you can “escape” for many miles. Between Clarkson Road and Highway 141, there are only a handful of roads, and they mainly go to the northwest or south towards residential areas, with the Meramec River blocking off connections further to the south such as Interstate 44.

Most of these strip malls are still there, but they’ve been stripped of their cool mid-century Modern signs and other accoutrements.