Zell is an

unincorporated community 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 ...

located in Ste. Genevieve Township in Ste. Genevieve County,

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 ...

, United States. Zell is located approximately six miles west of Sainte Genevieve.

Name

Zell is named for the town of

Zell am Harmersbach Zell am Harmersbach is a small town and a historic “ Reichsstadt” in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies in the Ortenaukreis, between the Black Forest and the Rhine. History Zell was settled on territory owned by Gengenbach Abbey. The monas ...

in the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

region of the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, located about 10 miles southeast of

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital ...

, from where its settlers had originally come.

History

What is now Zell was first settled in 1798 when 1,000 arpents of land (1

arpent An arpent (, sometimes called arpen) is a unit of length and a unit of area. It is a pre- metric French unit based on the Roman ''actus''. It is used in Quebec, some areas of the United States that were part of French Louisiana, and in Maur ...

= ) were granted to Pierre Charles Dehault Delassus Deluziere, which he called the Prairie Gautier Tract. In 1819, following Delassus' death, this land was sold to his son Charles Dehault Delassus, and then shortly after to Charles’ nephew Felix de St. Vrain. In 1837 German Catholics arrived, at which time the location was known as Nouvelle Alsace (French: New

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

), and was subsequently renamed Zell in 1840. The Catholic church of St. Joseph was built between 1845-1847.

Geography

Zell is located in Ste. Genevieve Township. The site is just northeast of

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

, along

Missouri Route A A supplemental route is a state secondary road in the U.S. state of Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in additi ...

.''Weingarten, Missouri,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1980

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cld winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Zell has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri