St. Louis County, Missouri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Saint Louis County
County
Babler State Park, the largest of three state parks in St. Louis County
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Founded	October 1, 1812
Seat	Clayton
Largest city	Florissant
Area
• Total	523 sq mi (1,350 km2)
• Land	508 sq mi (1,320 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (40 km2)  2.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,004,125
• Estimate  (2023)	987,059
• Density	1,919.9/sq mi (741.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd

St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River 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 is Clayton. The county is included in the St. Louis, MO–IL metropolitan statistical area.

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.

In 1877 residents of the City of St. Louis voted to separate from the county and become an independent city. In the 1960s, with growing suburban development of Greater St. Louis, 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, efforts to put the issue to a statewide vote failed to get on a ballot.

History

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. 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 and Kirkwood grew substantially and incorporated in the 1850s, with their growth stimulated by construction of the Pacific Railroad (later the Missouri Pacific Railroad). Pacific, a community along the Meramec River 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. 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. Among these were Chesterfield, and Gumbo, which were both settled in the 1820s in west St. Louis County. Gravois and Affton 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. In 1854, the School District of Maplewood was established. It included all of today's Maplewood district, part of what became Webster Groves, Missouri, 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 school district was Rock Hill, which provided a one-room school across from the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church until about 1870.

The first school in Florissant opened in 1819 under the direction of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. The instructor, Rose Philippine Duchesne, 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. 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.

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. Much of the dispute involved the double taxation of city residents and their proportionally lesser representation in county government. 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. This reform, however, pleased virtually no one pushing for reform, and it made little practical difference in the operation of the county government.

Local politician David H. Armstrong was a strong supporter of the separation of the city of St. Louis from St. Louis County.

A consolidation plan proceeded in the General Assembly in 1871, backed by city political leaders Anthony Ittner and Roderick E. Rombauer. The Missouri Republican 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, Maryland, 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:

I am in favor of total consolidation of St. Louis County, but I am not in favor of dividing it, splitting and hacking it in this manner...I vote no.

In 1877, the City of St. Louis separated from the county, creating an independent city. 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.

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. Webster Groves incorporated in 1896, prompted by residents' demands for a police department after the murder of Bertram Atwater, a commercial artist from Chicago. Webster had earlier been settled in 1853 as a stop on the Missouri Pacific line.

Other incorporations before World War I included University City in 1906 near Washington University in St. Louis; Maplewood in 1908, also along the Missouri Pacific railroad line; Wellston in 1908 in the inner north county; Shrewsbury in 1913 east 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, 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. 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. 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 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.

Postwar

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. 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, 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, 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 county has a total area of 523 square miles (1,350 km²), of which 508 square miles (1,320 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (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, West County lies west of Interstate 270, South County lies south of Interstate 44 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, exclusive of a few areas where the river has changed its course. The Meramec River forms most of its southern border with Jefferson County. To the east is the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River. 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, 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, 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 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 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; Deer Creek and Gravois Creek, flowing into the River des Peres; and Maline Creek, flowing into the Mississippi River. The highest elevation is 904 feet (276 meters).

Geology

The bedrock is mainly limestone and dolomite, and much of the county near the rivers is karst terrain, with numerous caves, sinkholes, and springs. No igneous or metamorphic rock 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. 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, maple, and hickory, similar to the forests of the Ozarks; common understory trees include eastern redbud, serviceberry, and flowering dogwood. Riparian areas are heavily forested with mainly American sycamore. 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. 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, are common in some homesteads converted to parks; these are actively removed.

Large mammals include growing populations of whitetail deer and coyotes, which are becoming increasingly urbanized. Eastern gray squirrel, cottontail rabbit, and other rodents are abundant, as well as opossum, beaver, muskrat, raccoon, and skunk. Large bird species include wild turkey, Canada goose, mallard duck, various raptors like the turkey vulture and red-tailed hawk, as well as shorebirds, including the great egret and great blue heron. Winter populations of bald eagles are found by the Mississippi River around the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The county is on the Mississippi Flyway, used by migrating birds, and has a large variety of small bird species, common to the eastern U.S. The Eurasian tree sparrow, 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 and species of chorus frogs, commonly called "spring peepers", that are found in nearly every pond. Some years have outbreaks of cicadas or ladybugs. Mosquitos and houseflies are common insect nuisances; because of this, windows are nearly universally fitted with screens, and "screened-in" porches 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 county has four distinct seasons. Spring is the wettest season and produces erratic severe weather ranging from tornadoes to winter storms. Summers are hot, and the humidity can cause the heat index to rise to temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C). Fall is mild, with lower humidity and can produce intermittent bouts of heavy rainfall with the first snow flurries usually forming in late November. Winters are cool to cold with periodic snow and temperatures often below freezing. Winter storm systems, such as Alberta clippers, can bring days of heavy freezing rain, ice pellets, and snowfall.

The average annual temperature for the years 1971–2000, recorded at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport, is 56.3 °F (13.5 °C), and average precipitation is 36 inches (910 mm). The average high temperature in July is 88.4 °F (31.3 °C), and the average low temperature in January is 22.6 °F (−5.2 °C), although these values are often exceeded. Temperatures of 0 °F (−18 °C) or below occur three days per year on average. The highest temperature ever recorded in St. Louis was 115 °F (46 °C), on July 14, 1954, while the lowest temperature on record is −23 °F (−31 °C), 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.

Thunderstorms 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 is common—roses will still be in bloom as late as November or early December in some years.

Other geography

The largest natural lake in the county 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 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 sinkholes.

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 1,004,125 people. There were 404,765 households with 263,423 family households. The population density was 1,966 inhabitants per square mile (759/km²). There were 423,749 housing units at an average density of 834 per square mile (322/km²). The racial makeup 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 for the county was $27,595. About 5.00% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the poverty line, 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 Ph.D.'s. The St. Louis County Economic Council is the economic development 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 (16,000 employees), Washington University in St. Louis (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, 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 and the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. Several municipalities in the county also own and maintain their own park systems.

Education

Education in St. Louis County is provided by 23 public school districts, 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 schools in the city of St. Louis.

Public Schools

School districts include:

Special School District of St. Louis County (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

Communities

One-third of the county population lives in unincorporated areas, 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 2020 population of 10, Country Life Acres (population 74), and Mackenzie (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 (12.8 acres (5.2 ha)) while 14 other towns are 0.1 square miles (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 66 square miles (170 km²).

St. Louis County municipalities include:

Cities

Villages

Census-designated places

Townships

Unincorporated communities

See also

In Spanish: Condado de San Luis para niños