Affton, Missouri - History - The 19th Century - Gravois Road

Gravois Road

The turn of the 20th century found the little community "out by the Gravois" developing all the signs of a little town. The further development can be traced to the prominence of Gravois Road. The earliest recorded data on Gravois Road is dated 1804, according to Mr. B. Cordell Stevens, a resident of Clayton and president of the St. Louis Historical Society. On an old map this principal thoroughfare of Affton is described as the "Road that led to the Salt Spring of Clamorgan in a wagon." James Clamorgan was the name of an early Irish settler who came to Jefferson County and built a home south and east of what is now Fenton. The words "Salt Spring" refer to the saline spring, common in that region, located near this early homesite.

That early trail bore little resemblance to our Gravois of today. In fact very few, if any, of the original roads in St. Louis County can be recognized as the early trails and turnpikes laid out and traveled by the pioneers who settled this region and picked from the solid wilderness a few traffic routes which later developed into highways and boulevards. In most cases our modern highways, built to meet the needs of fast motor transportation, do not follow exactly the earlier routes which were determined largely by accommodation to the natural terrain. Modern road building machinery and materials have solved many of the problems with which the early settlers were unable to cope.

However, this early "big road" (it could accommodate a wagon) rapidly became a much used thoroughfare. This is attested to by the fact that on December 20, 1804, a John Boli was granted a license to operate a ferry across the Meramec River two miles (3 km) below what is now the present site of Fenton.

Plans for rerouting began with a petition, dated May 23, 1818, addressed to the Circuit Court asking for a road from Reaszin Sappington’s mill to the mill belonging to Wilson P. Hunt whose property was located on River des Peres. From this point the road was to proceed to the town of St. Louis. Of special interest is the names of some of the signatories of this petition: Wilson Hunt, Theodore Hunt, Joseph Wells, John Sappington, Wm. L. Long, August Chouteau, Antoine Soulard, Bernard Pratte, Sylvester Labadie and many other pioneers around whom the history of St. Louis and St. Louis County is written.

Fourteen years later (1832) this "Road to Fenton" was established and declared a public road. (Note: It was a common practice at that time for individuals to be granted the right to charge a "toll" on vehicles using a road if these individuals would maintain and keep in repair the roadway near their homes. This practice was common in Western Europe, and the idea was brought over by our early settlers.) According to the records, this new road began at the "Three-Mile Post," where Gravois Ave. now intersects Arsenal St.

By an act of the Missouri State Legislature, passed February 11, 1839, Gravois Road became a state road. All the roads of those days were of dirt corduroy (logs laid side by side), or of planks, which made for the smoothest riding. Remember, in those days this area was covered with dense forest and trees were regarded of little value.

In 1845, the Missouri Assembly appropriated a sum not to exceed $7,000 to be apportioned to each township along the route for the macadamizing (a mixture of gravel and tar, a new type of road surface developed by John Loudon McAdam in Scotland) of Gravois Road within the limits of each township.

The use of the name of Gravois Road came into being about this time. The name "Gravois" came from the combination of French words meaning "gravely creek" referring to the small gravely creek that runs through the area.

In 1847, the General Assembly authorized the County Court to borrow $50,000 to macadamize all of Gravois Road. However, the general practice in road building, until the Civil War period continued to be the "plank" type of roadway. In some ways this type of road was superior to the newly developed macadam surface, which was of rather soft construction (the "steam roller" had not yet been invented), the hope being that travel would tramp the gravel and tar to a hard surface. However, the carriage wheels would cut deep ruts into the roadway and there soon appeared to one side of the right-of-way what in those days was referred to as a "summer road," a dirt road which was passable only in the summer months. To Gravois Road belongs the distinction of being the first road in the county to be treated with a concrete surface. The experiment was made over a 6,000-foot (1,800 m) length, extending from the St. Louis city limits at Gardenville, to Grant’s Farm, then owned by the late August A. Busch who paid half the cost of construction. The concrete roadway, 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, was laid in 1914. All work was done with horse-drawn equipment.

Except for the state regulated Gravois Road, all the local county roads used the "toll-gate" system. We have already seen that earlier roads were maintained by the farm residents along the route for the privilege of collecting money from those traveling along the road. To enforce payment, a log, on a pivot, was swung across the road to prevent passage until the toll was collected. However, such a practice was so distasteful to travelers that as the roads became used more and more, pressure was exerted on the county governments to maintain these roads as county (tax) expense. In 1868, a county order was announced that the "toll gates on the St. Charles Road, and all those roads designated as county roads, be removed as far as the county line, as their location constituted an injustice to countians."

Other roads began to take on the names we know them by today. Tesson Ferry got its name from a settler named Tesson who operated a ferry on the Meramec River. Rock Hill Road received its name from a quarry in a "rock-hill." MacKenzie of course was taken from the first subdivider when he had his land divided and sold in 40 acre (162,000 m²) tracts. Weber Road was the road going between the Weber Nursery Office and nursery grounds. After MacKenzie Road was paved in 1939 other subdivisions came into being and the streets often took the names of the farmers who had sold the tract of land. Thus the names of early settlers have become permanent landmarkers: Darlow, Shepperd, Neier, Vasel, Stafford, Ashwell, to mention only a few. As Gravois Road became more traveled, more settlers came into the area of rich truck farms and the need for more local businesses was evident. About 1915 Affton had several small businesses, according to Kenneth Keller who has done quite a bit of research on Early Affton. Tony Bauer operated a blacksmith shop on the northeast corner of Gravois Road and the Frisco Railroad tracks. August Mehl operated another smithy near Consul Ave. Affton also had 3 groceries belonging to the Hummelsheims, the Schneebergers, and Wohlschlaegers. In the Wohlschlaeger’s Store was located the second U.S. Post Office in Affton. Meyer’s meat market was also a favorite source of food.

Affton also claimed a feed store at the corner of New Hampshire and Gravois (in fact, if you remember, the old building was just torn down a few years ago). A telegraph exchange was operated by Louis J. Keller on Gravois Road between Brenda and MacKenzie. Affton also had a lumberyard, a dry goods and a hardware store, a coalyard and even an ice cream parlor. By 1915 Affton also claimed more churches: Eden Evangelical, Salem Lutheran, and St. George’s Roman Catholic Church. An interesting note about the church services at Eden was that they were conducted regularly in German and only occasionally in English.