Queeny Park is a park located in unincorporated
St. Louis County,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
.
It is one of the largest parks in the St. Louis County Parks system.
Description
The park contains 564-acres of forest, prairie, and riparian environment in suburban St. Louis. The 4.4-mile, mixed gravel and paved Hawk Ridge Trail navigates the perimeter of the park, with multiple shorter trails on the park's interior. Visitors can sometimes see horses in the prairie on the north and west sides of the park, as the park is frequently used for
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
events. A creek in the
Meramec River
The Meramec River (), sometimes spelled Maramec River, is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in the U.S. state of Missouri, draining Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Location" while wandering Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Executive Summary" fr ...
watershed runs north to south through the park, feeding a fishing pond at the park's southern end.
The park also includes picnic shelters, public restrooms, a playground, the Tails and Trails Dog Park, and outdoor tennis courts. The Greensfelder Recreation Complex accessible via the Weidman Road entrance houses a seasonal ice rink, indoor roller rink, and event space.
History
In 1854, Hyacinth Renard built Jarville, a
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
style home added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, on the land that would later become Queeny Park. Queeny Park was a part of
Edgar M Queeny's estate, the former chairman of
Monsanto
The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...
, before being sold to a realty investment company in 1964. The money earned was donated to
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of ...
in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. In 1970, the County bought the estate from the investment company and started the process of converting it into a park. Donations from Ethel Queeny and Edward Greensfelder went toward landscaping, a family recreational area, and recreation complex. In 1974, the Greensfelder Recreation Complex opened to the public.
From 1987 to 2018, the
American Kennel Club
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kenn ...
Museum of the Dog occupied the Jarville House before returning to New York.
In December 2019, the
St. Louis County Council voted to allow deer hunts at all St. Louis County Parks, including Queeny.
See also
*
Parks in Greater St. Louis
References
{{Parks of Greater St. Louis
1974 establishments in Missouri
Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri
Tourist attractions in St. Louis
Parks in Missouri