Little did I know growing up in West County and passing by this old stone house on Weidman Road just north of Manchester Road (itself an old Native American trail) that I was driving by one of the oldest European American dwellings in Missouri. Constructed around 1818 by Thomas Mason, it was on 400 acres purchased from another early settler from Chevy Chase, Maryland named Kinkead Caldwell for $800, described as being on the banks of the Grand Glaize Creek, a branch of the Meramec River. As a sign of just how desolate the locale was, the deed, recorded in Book A, pages 202-3, the boundaries were described as bordering nothing!

The house has been added onto tastefully twice, but the original in the center block, which is three bays wide with three windows up and a door and two windows down. You can read about the house and see its interior in this excellent Post-Dispatch article. It is the oldest house in the region, older than the De Hodiamont House in the City, and one of the oldest houses in the state.

These two photos from around 1916 are a fascinating window into the condition of the house just over one hundred years ago, and also shows how one of the historic buildings in what was then an isolated and rural corner of St. Louis County was in dilapidated condition.

This wonderful survey from 1829 by Joseph Brown shows Thomas Mason’s acreage in the lower left corner. The square, rotated plats of land are Spanish land grants, positioned to take advantage of the best land, while the checkerboard lots are evidence of the arrival of American surveyors. Mason Road ironically would pop up on the east side of the pioneer’s property, away from his house.