St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. It is bounded by the
City of St. Louis and the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
to the east, the
Missouri River to the north, and 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 ...
to the south. At the
2020 census, the total population was 1,004,125,
making it the most populous county in Missouri. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
is
Clayton.
The county is included in the St. Louis, MO–IL
metropolitan statistical area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...
.
After Great Britain took over former French territory east of the Mississippi River, many ethnic French colonists moved west. They settled the area of St. Louis County and founded the city of St. Louis in the late 1700s. The US acquired this territory in 1803 with the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
.
In 1877 residents of the City of St. Louis voted to separate from the county and become an
independent city
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province).
Historical precursors
In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...
. In the 1960s, with growing suburban development of
Greater St. Louis
Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...
, the county's population overtook that of the city for the first time. Restructuring of industry resulted in job and population declines in the city, and the county has continued to expand.
Through the decades changing conditions have led many business and political leaders to propose merging the city and county as a single government. In 2019 there was an effort to put the issue to a state-wide vote, but it did not get on a ballot.
History
Colonial settlement and early government
During the 18th century, several European colonial settlements were established in the area that would become St. Louis County. French colonists moved from east of the Mississippi River after France ceded territory to Great Britain after losing the Seven Years' War. It also ceded much of its territory west of the River to Spain.
St. Louis was founded by
Pierre Laclède
Pierre Laclède Liguest or Pierre Laclède (22 November 1729 – 20 June 1778) was a French fur trader who, with his young assistant and stepson Auguste Chouteau, founded St. Louis in 1764, in what was then Spanish Upper Louisiana, in present-da ...
and
Auguste Chouteau
René-Auguste Chouteau, Jr. (September 7, 1749, or September 26, 1750 – February 24, 1829Beckwith, 8.), also known as Auguste Chouteau, was the founder of St. Louis, Missouri, a successful fur trader and a politician. He and his partner had a m ...
on February 14, 1764; they became major fur traders in the city.
[Cohn, 26.] Founded in about 1767 was
Carondelet, to the south. It was annexed by the city in 1871.
Florissant, then known as St. Ferdinand, was established in 1785 about twelve miles northwest of St. Louis on a tributary of the
Missouri River.
During the 1790s, the very small settlements known as
Creve Coeur and Point Labadie were built north and west of St. Louis.
Upon the sale and transfer of
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:
* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France during the 17th and 18th centuries; and,
* second, to modern French Louisi ...
to the United States on October 1, 1804, President
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
suggested the territory retain the districts drawn by Spanish officials during their decades-long rule of the territory after an arrangement with the French.
[Cohn, 25.] During this time, the first governing body of St. Louis County was established (following the earlier Spanish governors).
[Cohn, 27.]
This government, called the Court of Quarter Sessions, was composed of
Charles Gratiot
Charles Chouteau Gratiot (August 29, 1786 – May 18, 1855) was born in St. Louis, Spanish Upper Louisiana Territory, now the present-day State of Missouri. He was the son of Charles Gratiot, Sr., a fur trader in the Illinois country during t ...
, Auguste Chouteau,
Jacques Clamorgan, and
David DeLaunay David de Launay was a French-born resident of St. Louis who led a group of Osage people to France in 1827.
History
De Launay led a group of eleven Osage men and one Native American woman, Sacred Sun, to France in 1827. Whilst leaving St. Louis ...
, all ethnic French or French Canadians; the court held judicial, executive, and legislative power.
On October 1, 1812, the District of St. Louis was renamed St. Louis County (exactly eight years after its establishment) during a federal reorganization of the Louisiana Territory's status.
Antebellum growth and early education
After the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, the authority to grant incorporation to municipalities was delegated to the Territory and later was a state power.
[Cohn, 58.] The first to gain municipal status in St. Louis County was St. Louis, which incorporated on November 9, 1809, under the territorial legislature. It gained city status on December 9, 1822.
Only a handful of other municipal incorporations took place prior to the separation of the county and city: St. Ferdinand was granted incorporation in 1829 (and reincorporated as Florissant in 1843), while
Bridgeton, a settlement along the Missouri River near Florissant, gained incorporation in 1843.
The towns of
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
and
Kirkwood grew substantially and incorporated in the 1850s, with their growth stimulated by construction of the
Pacific Railroad
The Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with Union Pacific Railroad) was a railroad based in Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.
The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 1849 ...
(later the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
).
Pacific, a community along 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 ...
first known as Franklin, straddles St. Louis and Franklin counties; it incorporated as Pacific in 1859.
Kirkwood was settled in 1853 after Hiram Leffingwell and Richard Elliott platted and auctioned land along the railroad line; they named their settlement after
James P. Kirkwood, who had planned the route of the railroad through the area.
[Berger Erwin, 7.] Leffingwell organized the town as a planned suburb (the first west of the Mississippi). Kirkwood was granted incorporation by the state in 1865.
Other areas of the county began to be settled during this period but did not incorporate as towns.
[Cohn, 63.] Among these were
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
, and
Gumbo
Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole "h ...
, which were both settled in the 1820s in west St. Louis County. Gravois and
Affton
Affton is a census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States Census.
Geography
Affton is located at 38°33'4" North, 90°19'25" West (38.551052 ...
were settled in south St. Louis County in the 1850s and 1860s.
The first
St. Louis Public Schools were established in the major city in the 1830s. It was a decade and more before some of the settlements of St. Louis County began providing public education.
[Thomas, 67.] In 1854, the
School District of Maplewood was established. It included all of today's Maplewood district, part of what became
Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ...
, along the south and southwest, a large part of St. Louis in the east, and to the north up to Clayton Road.
The first school, originally called the Washington Institute and later renamed as Maplewood High School, opened as a one-room stone building at the crossing of Manchester Road over the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks.
Another
antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum ...
school district was Rock Hill, which provided a one-room school across from the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church until about 1870.
[Thomas, 122.]
The first school in Florissant opened in 1819 under the direction of the
Religious of the Sacred Heart
, image = RSCJnuevo.jpg,
, image_size = 150px
, caption =
, abbreviation = Post-nominal letters: RSCJ
, formation =
, founder = Saint Sr. Madeleine Sophie Barat, R.S.C.J.
...
, a Roman Catholic religious congregation.
[Davison, 61.] The instructor,
Rose Philippine Duchesne
Rose Philippine Duchesne, RCSJ (August 29, 1769 – November 18, 1852), was a French religious sister and educator whom Pope John Paul II canonized in 1988. She is the only fully canonized female Roman Catholic saint to share a feast day with t ...
, was a French immigrant who has been described as "one of the foremost educators in the state of Missouri."
A second school, initially an Indian school known as the St. Regis Academy, was operated for young boys from 1823 to 1829. The complex included the Jesuit
St. Stanislaus Seminary, which continued to operate until 1971.
[Davison, 63.] The earliest public school in Florissant was the St. Ferdinand School, which was authorized by the General Assembly in 1845 and operated until 1871 when the Florissant School District was formed.
[Davison, 67.]
Government changes and early courthouses
From 1813 to 1830, the county initiated several changes to its government. By an act of the territorial legislature, the Court of Quarter Sessions was succeeded by a panel of three judges of common pleas in 1813.
Two years later, this panel was succeeded by a newly created county court in 1815, composed of justices of the peace elected from the county to three-month terms.
The St. Louis County Circuit Court (established in 1815 as the judicial branch of the county) was given authority in 1816 over the executive and legislative affairs of the county, superseding the court of justices of the peace.
In 1821, a hybrid County and Probate Court was established and given executive and legislative control, and in 1830, its probate functions ceased.
This County Court operated as the government of St. Louis County until public scandals encouraged the state legislature to abolish it and replace it in 1859 with a
Board of Commissioners
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...
.
![The Old Courthouse, Saint Louis, Missouri](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/The_Old_Courthouse%2C_Saint_Louis%2C_Missouri.JPG)
Sessions of the County Court and other county governing bodies were held in a variety of locations during this early period.
[Cohn, 36.] The Court of Quarter Sessions held its first meeting in 1804 at a tavern in St. Louis, then regularly at a building at Third and Plum until 1817.
The county seat moved that year to a newly built one-story log cabin on Third Street between Elm and Spruce, followed by a move to the brick Baptist Church at Third and Market in 1820.
The County Court established a commission in 1822 to study a permanent courthouse (previous facilities were rented). In 1823, Auguste Chouteau and
John Baptiste Charles Lucas
John Baptiste Charles Lucas (August 14, 1758 – August 17, 1842) was a French-born member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. After meeting Benjamin Franklin, Lucas was so inspired—and so impatient with class injustices in ...
donated two tracts of land that formed a vacant square bounded by Broadway, Fourth, Chestnut, and Market.
Between the summer of 1826 and 1833, a low-roofed two-story brick structure was built fronting Fourth Street; this was the first permanent courthouse for St. Louis County.
Within a few years, however, the building's size was inadequate for the county government's needs; the original building was left in place during construction on the new building, which began in 1839.
This new courthouse, now known as the
Old Courthouse, included a finished rotunda, dome, and west wing by 1843; the 1833 courthouse was demolished in 1851, and by 1856, the east wing of the new courthouse was complete.
Separation of St. Louis and St. Louis County
During the antebellum period, some city leaders began to work to separate the city of St. Louis, the county's largest municipality, from the county.
In 1843, a group of St. Louis city residents petitioned the state legislature to separate the two entities. The General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a referendum on the subject among county voters outside the city.
This vote held on August 7, 1844, showed a majority of county voters opposed to separation.
Despite the vote, controversy continued and tension mounted between the county government and the city government during the 1840s and 1850s.
[William N. Cassella, Jr. "City-County Separation: The Great Divorce of 1876." ''Missouri Historical Society Bulletin.'' (January 1959).] Much of the dispute involved the double taxation of city residents and their proportionally lesser representation in county government.
[Cohn, 28.] The reform of 1859, in which the County Court was abolished by the state government and replaced by a Board of Commissioners, was in large part a reaction to city outcry over mismanagement of tax money.
More than a name change, the reform expanded the size of the county government council to seven members, with four seats reserved for city representation (but the city at that time had roughly ten times the population of the county, so was still underrepresented in county government).
The reform temporarily ameliorated the tensions. In 1863, the General Assembly restored the name of the county government to its former name of County Court.
Despite some reforms, controversy returned and grew during the 1860s. This was largely due to what city residents considered double taxation: by the county and the city for services effectively provided by the city alone.
Several plans began to circulate during the late 1860s that would relieve this burden, including home rule status for St. Louis, further reorganization of the County Court to ensure greater representation, city-county government consolidation, and separation of the two entities.
The General Assembly considered several plans during this period. In March 1871, it passed a further reorganization of the County Court; the new Court would have an presiding judge elected
at-large, four seats reserved to be elected by city residents, and two seats for county residents.
[Cohn, 29.] This reform, however, pleased virtually no one pushing for reform, and it made little practical difference in the operation of the county government.
![David H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/David_H._Armstrong_-_Brady-Handy.jpg)
A consolidation plan proceeded in the General Assembly in 1871, backed by city political leaders
Anthony Ittner
Anthony Friday Ittner (October 8, 1837 – February 22, 1931) was a nineteenth-century politician and brick manufacturer from Missouri.
Biography
Born in Lebanon, Ohio, Ittner moved to St. Louis, Missouri with his parents in 1844 where he ...
and
Roderick E. Rombauer
Rombauer is an unincorporated community in eastern Butler County, Missouri, United States. It is located approximately seven miles northeast of Poplar Bluff on the edge of the Mark Twain National Forest
Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) is a ...
.
The ''
Missouri Republican
The ''Missouri Republican'' was a newspaper founded in 1808 and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its predecessor was the ''Morning Gazette''. It later changed its name to ''St. Louis Republic''.
After supporting the Whig Party, the paper bec ...
'' newspaper strongly backed the approach, while the ''
Missouri Democrat'' argued it would lead city leaders into corruption.
The latter pressed for a separation plan, support for which was led by
David H. Armstrong.
The separation plan gained greater support when it became clear that the mistrust between city and county residents precluded consolidation.
A citizen group known as the Taxpayers League formed in 1872 to advance the separation cause. City leaders looked to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, which had separated from Baltimore County in 1853, as an example.
The mechanism by which separation took place began in 1875 at the state constitutional convention.
At the convention, a committee examined the issues of the St. Louis government, and it summarized the two options facing the region as consolidation and separation.
The full convention voted to include a provision in the constitution allowing for separation; the vote was 53 in favor, 4 opposed, 11 absent.
Only one member of the St. Louis delegation opposed separation:
In 1877, the
City of St. Louis separated from the county, creating an
independent city
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province).
Historical precursors
In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...
. The city in August 1876 narrowly approved the separation while county residents overwhelmingly opposed the separation. City residents had argued they wanted to be "rid of county taxes and state influence over county government." At the time the city had 350,000 residents while the rural county had 30,000. The rural county also had only 150 miles of gravel roads. Although the results were challenged in the courts, the two jurisdictions were formally separated in March 1877.
Post-separation political issues
The first meeting of the new County Court took place on January 22, 1877, at the home of James C. Sutton, in what is now
Maplewood. The three judges appointed a new county clerk, sheriff, and treasurer.
[Cohn, 33.] They also announced at that meeting that the new Court was functional (obviating the legal standing of the previous County Court, which continued to meet albeit without legal function until July 1877) and the transfer of all county buildings and property in the city of St. Louis to the city government.
Thus the county's courthouse in St. Louis became city property. The Court also requested that the city of St. Louis continue to provide police protection to some areas of the county until the county could provide these services.
On January 29, 1877, the Court considered a report that recommended Kirkwood as the new county seat, but did not decide the issue at that time.
[Cohn, 34.] The Court continued to meet at the Sutton House in Maplewood until February 1877, when it convened at the Des Peres Grange Hall. It agreed then to rent space at the Mount Olive Hotel, in what is now
University City, until deciding on a new location for the courthouse.
[Cohn, 35.] The Court continued to meet at the Mount Olive Hotel from March 1877 to 1879.
Throughout 1877, the Court debated the question of the county seat; rejecting several sites, including Kirkwood and Florissant.
In September 1877 the Court accepted the donation of 100 acres of land on Hanley Road by a farmer named Ralph Clayton.
In addition to the benefit of donated land, the site was chosen because it was on the route of the
Hodiamont streetcar line, which connected from St. Louis to Florissant. An additional four acres were given by M. F. Hanley,
and in May 1878, the cornerstone was laid for a new county courthouse.
[Cohn, 37.] In October 1878 the courthouse donation and streets were platted in what would become the town of
Clayton.
The new courthouse and jail opened in December 1878, at a cost of $38,000.
Two additions were made to the courthouse in 1912 and in 1926.
Growth of education and municipalities
In the years from the Civil War to World War I, relatively few new towns incorporated in St. Louis County; the first to incorporate after the war,
Fenton, was incorporated in 1874 in southwest St. Louis County.
[Cohn, 110-112.] Webster Groves
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ( ...
incorporated in 1896, prompted by residents' demands for a police department after the murder of Bertram Atwater, a commercial artist from Chicago.
[Hemphill, 10.] Webster had earlier been settled in 1853 as a stop on the Missouri Pacific line.
[Hemphill, 8.]
Other incorporations before World War I included University City in 1906 near
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
; Maplewood in 1908, also along the Missouri Pacific railroad line;
Wellston in 1908 in the inner north county;
Shrewsbury in 1913 north of Webster Groves; Clayton in 1913 south of University City; and
Richmond Heights in 1913 south of Clayton.
State law required only that 50% of residents agree to incorporation via a petition for a legal incorporation to take place; the county government had no ability to restrict the incorporation if the 50% threshold were met.
Significant suburban growth in the early 20th century stimulated a rapid increase in the number of incorporations after 1935.
After the Civil War, dozens of school districts opened in St. Louis County to provide basic primary education. In
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
, along the Missouri Pacific line to Pacific, a one-room log school opened in the town in 1870, which expanded to two stories and four rooms in about 1900.
[Beck, 41.] In the towns of Old Orchard and Webster Groves along the Missouri Pacific line, schools opened in 1867 and 1868, respectively.
In Kirkwood, private schools began operating within a few years of the first settlers purchasing lots in 1853; in the early 1860s, these included the Kirkwood Seminary (which closed in 1889), the Kirkwood Military Academy, St. Peter Catholic School, and Concordia Lutheran School.
[Berger Erwin, 8.] The first public schools in Kirkwood opened in 1866 as part of the newly formed
Kirkwood School District; the district provided two years of high school from 1873 and opened a four-year
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood High School is a public secondary school in Kirkwood, Missouri, United States. The school is part of the Kirkwood R-7 School District. Dr. Mike Havener started as principal in July 2011.
History
Kirkwood High School as an academic ...
in 1896.
In some areas, formerly private schools became part of new public districts. In Florissant, the St. Ferdinand School (opened in 1845) became part of the
Florissant School District in 1871, although it continued to be staffed by nuns. The first public school in the newly formed district opened in 1876 near St. Ferdinand and Washington Streets.
In
Ballwin, a school opened in 1855 by German Methodists was bought by a newly formed Ballwin School District in 1869. The one-room schoolhouse operated until 1900 when a two-room building opened as a replacement.
[Fiedler, 91.]
Post-World War II era
A new courthouse was built in Clayton in 1945 (it serves as the 21st-century County Police headquarters). The original 1878 courthouse was torn down in 1971 to be replaced by county government plaza and modern six-story courthouse.
Several changes took place in St. Louis County education after World War II. The Florissant School District and the Ferguson School District merged in October 1951 to form the Ferguson-Florissant School District.
[Davison, 68.] As part of a court-ordered desegregation plan, in 1975 the Ferguson-Florissant district annexed the Kinloch and the Berkeley school districts to combine the schools.
In 1955, St. Louis County established the
St. Louis County Police Department
The St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD) is the primary and largest law enforcement agency serving St. Louis County in the U.S. state of Missouri. The current Chief of Police is Colonel Kenneth Gregory. According to the Charter of St. L ...
, with jurisdiction throughout the county. In 1977, St. Louis County was terrorized by
three car bombings, which killed two people. The bomber was never caught.
In 1988 the Board of Freeholders proposed consolidating the county's 89 municipalities into 37 cities, eliminating all unincorporated areas. The vote in June 1989 was challenged by numerous groups on grounds questioning the board's constitutional authority. On June 25, days after the scheduled vote would have occurred, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned the
Missouri Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...
, arguing the board's land ownership requirement violated the U.S. Constitution's
Equal Protection Clause.
The county passed the city in population in the
1970 census when it had 951,353 compared to the city's 622,236. Industrial restructuring cost the city many jobs and residents. By the
2010 census, the city had fewer people than in the 19th century.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water.
Colloquially, St. Louis County is often divided into Mid, North, West, and South sections. North County lies north of
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...
, West County lies west of
Interstate 270, South County lies south of
Interstate 44
Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fal ...
and Mid County lies in the middle of the three main bordering highways (I-70, I-270 & I-44) and the St. Louis county-city line.
Natural boundaries
The
Missouri River forms the northern border with
St. Charles County
St. Charles County is in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organized Oct ...
, exclusive of a few areas where the river has changed its course. 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 ...
forms most of its southern border with
Jefferson County. To the east is the City of
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 ...
and the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
. The western boundary with
Franklin County is the north–south line where the distance between the Meramec and Missouri rivers is the shortest, bisecting the city of
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, roughly two blocks east of Hwy OO/F (First street).
Topography
The foothills of the Ozark Mountains begin in southwestern St. Louis County, with most of the rest of the county being a fairly level plateau. This western part of the county is the least developed, due to rugged topography. Bluffs along the Mississippi in the south of the county rise about 200–300 feet above the river. A major floodplain area is the
Chesterfield Valley
Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,999, . The broader valley of Chesterfield was originally referred to as "Gumbo Flats", derive ...
, in the western part of the county, along the Missouri River. It was formerly called "Gumbo Flats" after its rich, dark soil; it was submerged by at least ten feet of water during the
Great Flood of 1993
The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...
. The Corps of Engineers constructed a higher levee, and the county has permitted construction in the floodplain.
The Columbia Bottom is a floodplain in the northeast of the county at the
confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; this is preserved as a conservation area open to the public. The Missouri Bottom area between the two other floodplains had been developed for agriculture, but it is being increasingly developed for residential, business, and industry. The
River des Peres
The River des Peres (French: ''rivière des Pères'') () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backb ...
drains the interior of the county before flowing into constructed underground channels into the City of St. Louis. It was allowed to resurface, where it forms the boundary between southern portions of St. Louis City and St. Louis County. Other streams include Coldwater Creek, Bonhomme Creek, and Creve Coeur Creek, flowing into the
Missouri River; Keifer Creek, Fishpot Creek, and Grand Glaize Creek, flowing into 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 ...
; Deer Creek and Gravois Creek, flowing into the
River des Peres
The River des Peres (French: ''rivière des Pères'') () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backb ...
; and Maline Creek, flowing into the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
. The highest elevation is 904 feet/275 meters.
Geology
The bedrock is mainly
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
, and much of the county near the rivers is
karst terrain, with numerous caves, sinkholes, and springs. No
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
or
metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...
is exposed on the surface. A major outcropping of the
St. Peter Sandstone formation, a fine white sandstone used for making clear glass, is mined in the southwest corner of the county in
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
. Brick clay mining was once a major industry in the county. The Charbonier Bluff along the Missouri River is an outcropping of coal and was used a fueling station for
steamboats. The "St. Louis Anticline", an underground formation, has small petroleum deposits in the north part of the county.
Flora and fauna
Before European settlement, the area was prairie and open parklike forest, maintained by
Native Americans via burning. Trees are mainly
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
, and
hickory, similar to the forests of the
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
; common understory trees include
eastern redbud
''Cercis canadensis'', the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, east to New Jersey. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as ...
,
serviceberry, and
flowering dogwood
''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida ...
.
Riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
areas are heavily forested with mainly
American sycamore
''Platanus occidentalis'', also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of ''Platanus'' native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeas ...
. By the 1920s most of the timber in the county was harvested. Since that time, large parks and undeveloped areas in the western and southern parts of the county have grown dense forest cover. Old pastures are usually colonized with
eastern red cedar
''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a ...
. Most of the residential area of the county is planted with large native shade trees. In autumn, the changing color of the trees is notable. St. Louis County has the most recorded native species of plants in the state, but this is probably due to the intensive botanical research done in the area. Most species here are typical of the Eastern Woodland, but some southern species are found in swampland, and typical northern species survive in sheltered
hollows. Invasive species, most notably
Japanese honeysuckle
''Lonicera japonica'', known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to eastern Asia. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species in a number of countries. Jap ...
, are common in some homesteads converted to parks; these are actively removed.
Large
mammals include growing populations of
whitetail deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
and
coyotes, which are becoming increasingly urbanized.
Eastern gray squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
,
cottontail rabbit
Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...
, and other rodents are abundant, as well as
opossum,
beaver,
muskrat,
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
, and
skunk. Large bird species include
wild turkey
The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...
,
Canada goose,
mallard duck
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced species, introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Bra ...
, various
raptors like the
turkey vulture
The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sout ...
and
red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members wit ...
, as well as
shorebirds, including the
great egret
The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...
and
great blue heron. Winter populations of
bald eagles are found by the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
around the
Chain of Rocks Bridge
The old Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. The eastern end of the bridge is on Chouteau Island (part of Madison, Illinois), while the western end is on the Missouri shoreline. Its most ...
. The county is on the
Mississippi Flyway
The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of ...
, used by migrating birds, and has a large variety of small bird species, common to the eastern U.S. The
Eurasian tree sparrow
The Eurasian tree sparrow (''Passer montanus'') is a passerine bird in the Old World sparrow, sparrow family with a rich chestnut Crown (anatomy), crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, an ...
, an introduced species, is limited in North America to the counties surrounding St. Louis.
Frogs are commonly found in the springtime, especially after extensive wet periods. Common species include
American toad
The American toad (''Anaxyrus americanus'') is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (''A. a. americanus''), the dwarf American toad (''A. a ...
and species of chorus frogs, commonly called "
spring peeper
The spring peeper (''Pseudacris crucifer'') is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and Canada. They prefer permanent ponds due to their advantage in avoiding predation; however, they are very adaptable with respect ...
s", that are found in nearly every pond. Some years have outbreaks of
cicada
The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into tw ...
s or
ladybugs
Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...
.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
s and
houseflies
The housefly (''Musca domestica'') is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic Era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world as a commensal of humans. It is the most common f ...
are common
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
nuisances; because of this, windows are nearly universally fitted with
screens
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which m ...
, and "screened-in"
porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
es are common in homes of the area. Populations of
honeybees have sharply declined in recent years, and numerous species of
pollinator insects have filled their ecological niche.
Climate
St. Louis County has a mix of a humid subtropical climate and a humid continental climate, with neither large mountains nor large bodies of water to moderate its temperature. The area is affected by both cold Canadian Arctic air, and also hot, humid air from the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
. The county has four distinct seasons. Spring is the wettest season and produces erratic severe weather ranging from
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es to
winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessa ...
s. Summers are hot, and the humidity can cause the
heat index
The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...
to rise to temperatures above . Fall is mild, with lower humidity and can produce intermittent bouts of heavy rainfall with the first
snow flurries
A snow flurry is a light snowfall that results in little or no snow accumulation. The US National Weather Service defines snow flurries as intermittent light snow that produces no measurable precipitation (trace amounts). In contrast, bursts of s ...
usually forming in late November. Winters are cool to cold with periodic snow and temperatures often below freezing. Winter storm systems, such as
Alberta clipper
An Alberta clipper, also known as an Alberta low, Alberta cyclone, Alberta lee cyclone, Canadian clipper, or simply clipper, is a fast-moving low-pressure system that originates in or near the Canadian province of Alberta just east of the Rock ...
s, can bring days of heavy
freezing rain
Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The rain ...
,
ice pellets, and
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall.
The average annual temperature for the years 1971–2000, recorded at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport, is , and average precipitation is . The average high temperature in July is , and the average low temperature in January is , although these values are often exceeded. Temperatures of or below occur three days per year on average. The highest temperature ever recorded in St. Louis was , on July 14, 1954, while the lowest temperature on record is , on January 29, 1873.
Winter is the driest season, averaging about 6 inches of total precipitation. Springtime (March through May), is typically the wettest season, with under 10.5 inches. Dry spells of one or two weeks' duration are common during the growing seasons.
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...
s can be expected on 40 to 50 days per year. A few of them will be severe with locally destructive winds and large
hail, and occasionally accompanied by tornadoes. A period of unseasonably warm weather late in Autumn known as
Indian summer
An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...
is common—
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
s will still be in bloom as late as November or early December in some years.
Other geography
The largest natural lake in the state is
Creve Coeur Lake. It was originally an oxbow of the nearby Missouri River and is now the centerpiece of a popular county park.
Manchester Road (
Route 100) follows an ancient path westward out of St. Louis, following the boundary between the
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
and
Meramec watersheds. It is one of only two routes to leave the county without crossing any rivers (the other being State Highway T).
The Sinks is a
karst area in the far northern part of the county, with numerous
sinkhole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 998,954 people. There were 404,765 households with 263,423 family households. The population density was . There were 423,749 housing units at an average density of . The
racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the county was 68.3% White (66.9% Non-Hispanic White), 35.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.5% Asian (1.1% Asian Indian, 1.0% Chinese, 0.3% Filipino, 0.3% Korean, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.1% Japanese, 0.4% Other), 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races and 2.5% Hispanic or Latino (1.5% Mexican, 0.2% Puerto Rican, 0.1% Cuban, 0.8% Other).
There were 404,765 households, out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were married couples living together, 12.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 25.20% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $58,532, and the median income for a family was $72,680. Males had a median income of $45,714 versus $30,278 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the county was $27,595. About 5.00% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 9.30% of those under age 18 and 5.30% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
As of 2009, the largest employment sectors in St. Louis County are education and health (25.2%), trade and transportation (19.6%), and professional business services (12.7%).
The county also has the highest per capita income in Missouri ($49,727), and nearly one-fourth of the state workforce is employed in St. Louis County,
but it accounts for 27% of the state's wages. It is home to the eighth-strongest market for technology hiring, and the world's largest concentration of
plant science
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
Ph.D.'s.
The St. Louis County Economic Council is the
economic development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...
agency of St. Louis County, and it is operated under the authority of the St. Louis County government.
Among the largest employers in the county are
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
(16,000 employees),
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
(13,200 employees), and SSM Healthcare (12,400 employees).
As of 2013,
Express Scripts has approximately 4,500 employees, with a planned expansion of 1,500 jobs to be added over the five years from 2013 to 2018.
Unemployment in St. Louis County is well below the national rate of 7.7% (November 2012) at 6.5% (October); for monthly unemployment numbers since June 2012, see below:
Arts and culture
Parks and recreation
St. Louis County owns and maintains more than 40 parks as part of its county park system, including playgrounds and nature preserves. It also operates several recreation centers, the
National Museum of Transportation
The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...
, and the Affton Community Center. In addition to parks owned by St. Louis County, the county is home to three
Missouri state parks:
Babler,
Castlewood, and
Route 66 State Park, and part of the
Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge
The Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge was established in 1994, and has grown to over . Like pearls on a string, these acres are spread out as individual units along the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis. These pearls of h ...
and the
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. Several municipalities in the county also own and maintain their own park systems.
Government
St. Louis County government is divided between
executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dir ...
power vested in the
County Executive
A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county.
The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...
and
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
power vested in the
County Council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
. The current county executive is Sam Page, who was appointed on April 29, 2019. The county executive's term is four years without term limits, and the position is elected by the population of the entire county. The council consists of seven members elected from separate districts within the county, with four-year terms beginning on January 1 following elections. In 1950, St. Louis County became the first Missouri county to adopt a home-rule
charter under the
Missouri Constitution
The Missouri Constitution is the state constitution of the U.S. State of Missouri. It is the supreme law formulating the law and government of Missouri, subject only to the federal Constitution, and the people. The fourth and current Missouri ...
, and the current charter was adopted by voters on November 6, 1979.
Crime and public safety
The
St. Louis County Police Department
The St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD) is the primary and largest law enforcement agency serving St. Louis County in the U.S. state of Missouri. The current Chief of Police is Colonel Kenneth Gregory. According to the Charter of St. L ...
operates under the authority of the
St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners and is the largest law enforcement agency in St. Louis County. Although it is directly responsible for law enforcement in unincorporated areas of the county, several municipalities contract with the county police for public safety services.
[http://www.stlouisco.com/Portals/8/docs/Document%20Library/police/Contracts.pdf ] Municipalities that maintain service agreements with the county police are Black Jack, Fenton,
Ferguson, Grantwood Village, Green Park, Hanley Hills, Jennings, Marlborough, Norwood Court, Pasadena Hills, Twin Oaks, Valley Park, Vinita Terrace, Wilbur Park, and Wildwood.
A total of 58 of the 90 municipalities in the county maintain their own police departments. Eighty-one of the local towns run their own courts.
St. Louis County fire services are provided by 20 municipal fire departments and 23 fire protection districts.
The fire protection districts exist as independent, taxing governments that are unrelated to the St. Louis County government, while the municipal fire departments are funded through municipal taxes and are administered by their respective cities.
Politics
As of March 2016, there were 648,073 registered voters in St. Louis County, down from 708,283 registered voters in April 2013. At the federal level, the county is represented by
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Cori Bush of the
1st district, and
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Ann Wagner
Ann Louise Wagner (née Trousdale, September 13, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, she was the United States ambassador t ...
of the
2nd district. Since 1992, the county has favored Democratic candidates in the presidential elections. Democrats are generally strongest in the northern portion of the county, which has a high
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
population, while Republicans have historically dominated the western and southern parts of the county. In recent years however, Republicans have seen the western and southern portion of the county, made up of suburbs, become much more competitive. St. Louis County is a diverse, college-educated, suburban, and affluent county, with a large Black population, as well as a new influx of Asian Americans. These factors in recent years have pushed the county to become safer for Democrats. Historically, the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
voters in this area were more moderate voters, fiscally conservative yet socially liberal. St Louis County overall is a Democratic stronghold, having voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in each election since
1992, and with increasing margins since
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
. In 2004, 2012, 2016, and 2020, it was only one of four counties in the state to vote Democratic. In
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
,
Joe Biden won the county with over 60% of the vote, the best ever showing for a Democrat in the county.
As of the 2014 elections, of the five senators (who have residences in St. Louis County) elected to the
Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two ye ...
, four are Democrats and one is a Republican. Of the 28 representatives elected to the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
, 19 are Democrats and 9 are Republicans. All of North County elects Democrats to the
Missouri General Assembly
The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...
, most of Mid County also elect Democrats, while most of West County and South County elects Republicans.
Education
Education in St. Louis County is provided by 23 public
school districts
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, whic ...
, 20 private high schools, both a unified
public library system and several municipal libraries, and several colleges and universities. Several of the school districts in the county also maintain a voluntary student transfer agreement with the
St. Louis Public Schools that allows county residents to attend
magnet school
In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...
s in the city of St. Louis.
Public Schools
School districts include:
Special School District of St. Louis County
Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) is a county-wide school district for differently-abled children and for vocational studies in St. Louis County, Missouri. Its headquarters are in Town and Country, Missouri, Town and Country.
Histo ...
(SSD) operates schools for differently abled students.
Private Schools
Higher Education
Library
St. Louis County libraries include the unified
St. Louis County Library and several municipal library systems.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Major freeways and highways
Health care
In 1927, a $1 million bond was issued allocating funds for the construction of the first St. Louis County Hospital. Construction of the 200-bed, the non-segregated hospital began in 1929 in the city of Clayton. The hospital opened in July 1931 and ran until June 1986.
[History of St. Louis County Hospital]
" Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Retrieved on August 24, 2009.
Current list of hospitals in St. Louis County:
Communities
One-third of the county population lives in
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
s, for which the county government provides services such as zoning, code enforcement, refuse disposal, and police protection. In addition to the county-level government, there are 90
municipal governments in St. Louis County that also provide services.
These vary widely in population and area. The smallest towns in population are
Champ with a 2010 population of 13,
Country Life Acres (population 74),
[ and ]Mackenzie
Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to:
People
* Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Clan Mackenzie, a S ...
(population 134);[ 14 county municipalities have a 2010 population under 500, and fewer than a third exceed 10,000. In area, the smallest town is Mackenzie () while 14 other towns are 0.1 square mile (0.26 km2) or less. At the other end of the scale, Florissant has a population over 50,000, and Wildwood at the far west of the county is .
St. Louis County municipalities include:
]
Cities
* Ballwin
* Bella Villa
* Bellefontaine Neighbors
*Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
*Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
* Black Jack
* Breckenridge Hills
* Brentwood
* Bridgeton
* Calverton Park
* Charlack
*Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
* Clarkson Valley
* Clayton (county seat)
* Cool Valley
* Country Club Hills
* Crestwood
* Creve Coeur
* Crystal Lake Park
* Dellwood
* Des Peres
* Edmundson
* Ellisville
*Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
* Fenton
* Ferguson
* Flordell Hills
* Florissant
* Frontenac
* Glendale
*Green Park
Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Marylebo ...
* Greendale
* Hazelwood
* Huntleigh
*Jennings
Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include:
*Jennings (Swedish noble family)
A–G
*Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...
* Kinloch
* Kirkwood
* Ladue
* Lakeshire
*Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
* Maplewood
* Maryland Heights
* Moline Acres
*Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
* Northwoods
* Oakland
* Olivette
* Overland
*Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
(mostly in Franklin County)
* Pagedale
* Pasadena Hills
* Pine Lawn
* Richmond Heights
* Rock Hill
* Shrewsbury
* St. Ann
* St. John
* Sunset Hills
* Town and Country
* Twin Oaks
* University City
* Valley Park
* Velda City
* Velda Village Hills
* Vinita Park
* Warson Woods
*Webster Groves
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ( ...
* Wellston
* Wildwood
* Winchester
* Woodson Terrace
Villages
* Bellerive
* Bel-Nor
* Bel-Ridge
* Champ
* Country Life Acres
* Glen Echo Park
* Grantwood Village
* Hanley Hills
* Hillsdale
*Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
* Norwood Court
* Pasadena Park
* Riverview
* Sycamore Hills
* Uplands Park
* Westwood
* Wilbur Park
Census-designated places
*Affton
Affton is a census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States Census.
Geography
Affton is located at 38°33'4" North, 90°19'25" West (38.551052 ...
*Castle Point
Castle Point is a local government district with borough status in south Essex, east of central London. The borough comprises the towns and villages of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley. The borough council is situated ...
*Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
* Glasgow Village
* Lemay
* Mehlville
* Oakville
*Old Jamestown
Old Jamestown is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 19,184 at the 2010 census. Old Jamestown is northwest of the city of St. Louis and borders the Missouri River.
Geography
According ...
*Sappington
Sappington is an unincorporated census-designated place in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,995 at the 2020 census.
History
Sappington was named for a family of pioneer settlers. After Daniel Boone settled in moder ...
* Spanish Lake
Townships
* Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
* Bonhomme
* Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
* Clayton
* Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
* Creve Coeur
* Ferguson
* Florissant
* Gravois
* Hadley
* Jefferson
* Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
* Lemay
* Lewis and Clark
* Maryland Heights
* Meramec
* Midland
* Missouri River
* Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
* Northwest
* Norwood
* Oakville
* Queeny
* Spanish Lake
* St. Ferdinand
* Tesson Ferry
*University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
* Wildhorse
Unincorporated communities
* Ascalon
* Carsonville
* Earth City
* Fort Belle Fontaine
Fort Belle Fontaine (formerly known as Cantonment Belle Fontaine) is a former U.S. military base located in St. Louis County, Missouri, across the Mississippi and Missouri rivers from Alton, Illinois. The fort was the first U.S. military install ...
* Glencoe
* Grover
Grover is a blue Muppet character on the popular PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originall ...
* Mackenzie
Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to:
People
* Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Clan Mackenzie, a S ...
* Peerless Park
* Pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...
* St. George
* Sherman
* Times Beach
Times Beach is a ghost town in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, southwest of St. Louis and east of Eureka. Once home to more than two thousand people, the town was completely evacuated early in 1983 due to TCDD—also known as diox ...
See also
* List of counties in Missouri
* National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis County, Missouri
References
External links
St. Louis County profile
St. Louis County Government
St. Louis County Municipalities page
St. Louis climate, from the National Weather Service
St. Louis County Economic Council
from University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Louis County, Missouri
1812 establishments in Missouri Territory
Populated places established in 1812
Missouri counties on the Mississippi River
Missouri counties on the Missouri River
Regions of Greater St. Louis