The Meramec Highlands Hotel must have been a sight to behold. Sitting high up on the bluffs, just to the east of the eponymous train tunnel, it was a short ride out from the city on the St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad. Guests could stay at the hotel, as well as the cottages that still line the narrow lanes nearby. It opened in 1894.

Above, you can just see a train emerging from the tunnel, with a large building up on the hill above that I suspect may have been a chautauqua.

The site of the hotel sat vacant after burning down in a fire, and just now there are new houses being built on the site. Some of the land is still covered in grass. Below, you can see the area. The exact location of the hotel can move around depending which map you look at.

Much like Edwin Lemp’s Cragwold estate, there was a tall bellevue that dominated the hotel, which no doubt afforded sweeping views of the Meramec Valley.

While the railroad was the primary means of transportation out to the resort, no doubt as the automobile became popular, and county thoroughfares such as Quinette Road began to be improved, more motorists drove out to the hotel.

Below is a pamphlet published by the resort.

The hotel and cottages were served by a quaint train station.

As I covered back when I first looked at the Meramec Highlands, it has been expanded and turned into a residence.

Below the bluffs were resort activities along the river, a tradition that continues to this day with various athletic fields. This spring house may have been located down below the hotel.

Ultimately, the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1926, and summer revelers moved further out to Castlewood.