Zell is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

, 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 ...

in the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

region of the

German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

, located about 10 miles southeast of

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

, 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 Mauritius ...

= ) 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 Carlos de Hault de Lassus, 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 (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

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

, 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 addi ...

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

Climate

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

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Zell has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

References

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