It might come as a surprise to many people, but West St. Louis County still has loads of historic structures left; you just have to look carefully. Above is a log cabin along Dietrich Road. Below is the so-called Bacon Log Cabin, named after its inhabitant, presumably. It recently received a new shingle roof, so they say.

Below is a log cabin preserved in Ballwin’s main city park. Considering how much of its historic fabric Ballwin has eradicated in my own lifetime, I found it ironic they put this one in such august surroundings.

These log cabins remind me that once West County was a wild and rural place, only reachable along long, burdensome, windy and muddy roads.