Nov. 15, 2008 - Real Estate Statistics for St. Charles County

Feb. 10, 2008 - Chesterfield_MO

The City of Chesterfield the largest city in West County, has been around for a while now. Some of the people in the local area can remember "String Town", a section along Clayton Road that was strung out abit, and giving the name to it. Some of the little towns that were formerly know as: Bellefontaine,Lake, Gumbo, Monarch, Bonhomme, and Justis Post are now Chesterfield!

You'll still see streets with these names and one of the fire protection districts is named "Monarch".

The city has blossomed into a nice sized, community of encompasing approximately 33 square miles. The area in the former "Gumbo Flats" now sports a more elegant name as the Chesterfield Commons area or Chesterfield Valley. That area is filled with shopping and dining for your pleasure. You'll need to move your car in order to get from one end of the area to the other or else be in terrific walking shape! It's also pretty close to the river. In Spring of '93, there was a flood that filled the valley but since then, a dam has been in place and business flourish there. Be sure to check out the Kemp Auto Museum in this area.

The Spirit of St. Louis Airport is just past the shopping area. Westfield Shopping Center is located at Clarkson/I-64.

The city has 7 parks within it's boundarys. The main park is Central Park and it features the Chesterfield Family Aquatic Park. Be sure to check all of the parks out, as they each offer their own flavor and fun!

I love Faust Park and the fall festival they have there. You'll also find MO Botanical Gardens The Butterfly House there (look for my daughters (Terri (Sepac)Yarbrough) memorial paver in the entrance area). Stop by for a ride on the carousel too!

Come visit! You'll have fun and may not want to leave!

Nov. 6, 2006 - Lone Elk Park and The Wild Bird Sanctuary

Valley Park is located near Highway 141 and Interstate Highway 44. It's an old river town with a history of being one of the places that had clubhouses built up on stilts. Almost every spring, you could expect some flooding there. Sometimes a little water, sometimes alot. The river played an important part in the success of the river town. A railroad (AMTRAC) still goes through the town, but does not stop here. You can catch the train in  nearby Kirkwood though and ride to Chicago or head for Kansas City! 

Both Missouri Pacific and the Frisco rail lines came through this town. Stop in and visit the Frisco Hotel located at 28 Front Street which is one of the original old buildings preserved and a big part of the towns history. The Whittle Shortline store now occupies the building, but you're welcome to stop in and look around.

Recently  (April, 2006) they had the Meramec Valley River Basin Levee built that will keep that from happening, much to the delight of the residents!  With the completion of the levee they plan on having trails along the Meramec River for hiking and biking as part of the Ozark Greenway Trails.

They have several parks now: Vance Trails Park, Leonard Park, Brignole Park, and Meramec Landing for anglers and boaters. Simpson St. Louis County Park and Lake are also within their City limits. Be sure to check out the Museum Of Transportion which is just wonderful and full of trains, and also some old, but prime cars. Just outside of the city limits is Lone Elk Park and The Wild Bird Sanctuary, which we visited recently. The Sanctuary has more than birds too. They have snakes, bison, deer and other wildlife there and a "hand's on" area. It's located in a park that is hilly and offers wonderful views. Some areas are restricted and you need to stay in the car to view the animals, but other spots offer picnic benches and places for you to follow trails. Check out the photo's I took!

Oct. 13, 2006 - Ballwin

This growing city was founded by John Ball in 1837.

He moved to this area, of what is now considered to be a part of West St. Louis County, around 1797-1798. Supposedly around the same time as the Daniel Boone and his party moved to and settled in the St. Charles, Warren County areas. Records in Jefferson City show the transfer of title of about 400 acres of land along Grande Glaize Creek to John Ball in February, 1800. This is the first official record of John Ball in the West County area.

Since John Ball's property claim was derived originally from a Spanish land grant, and was land that was at the time under Spanish rule, the Louisiana Purchase raised doubts about property ownership. It took several hearings and appeals and ten years for John Ball to clear his claim to the land that would eventually become the town of Ballwin.

Missouri moved its capital to Jefferson City in 1826. Soon there was a need for an overland mail route between St. Louis and the new capital. The new road was established along a route that passed right by John Ball's property. After the road (known at times as Jefferson Road and Market Road, and presently called Manchester Road) became established, John Ball capitalized on the accessibility it provided for his property, and laid out a town.

Originally the town was recorded as Ballshow, but on February 9, 1837, Ball amended the recorded plat to be named Ballwin. No one knows for sure why the name was changed, but one of John Ball's great grandsons says it was the result of a rivalry with neighboring Manchester. According to hearsay, John Ball saw great things ahead for his new town and was confident that it would "win out" in reputation and growth over its older and more prominent neighbor, two miles to the east. Hence the "win" was incorporated into the name.

Ballwin has grown from being a town with only a few homes and businesses, to a small village of 750 people when it was incorporated on December 29, 1950, to a thriving City of  31,283 as of 2000. It covers 7.5 square miles.  Ballwin offers a mix of older and new homes. New homes are being built on lots that have older homes there and are being torn down for new development.

The town of Ballwin recently raised the ire of many folks by passing an ordinance to have all restaurants located in the area be "Smoke Free". Many heated debates were fired by this issue!

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