Reflections From a Creve Coeur 'Citizen of the Year'

In early December I had an enormous honor bestowed upon me. I, along with David Caldwell, Shocked, astounded and dumbstruck are the first few words that came to my mind when I received the award from Mayor Dielmann. This award was even more special to me since I was born in Creve Coeur and saw the City grow from a small, somewhat rural community, to the place it has become today. The bustling, energetic of today barely resembles the city of my childhood.

I was born in 1955. My parents purchased a lot and built a home in Beacon Hill Lane. My Dad told me that the lot was only $1,500 in 1955. Some years ago my childhood home was torn down to make way for a new one. The lot still sits vacant, undoubtedly due to the downturn in the economy. As fate would have it, I was killing time one day, driving into Beacon Hill. I was shocked to see a demolition crew tearing down the house. I had them stop the bulldozer so I could see it one last time. Luckily, they hadn’t torn the large fireplace down. I asked if it was possible to have one of the stones. They said “Of course!” and let me pick the stone I wanted. I got the best one- my dad loved to build fires and black soot colored the top of the stone. In another odd twist of fate, this particular day was also my Father’s birthday. He was shocked beyond belief when he opened the gift!

I went to elementary school at Weber School on Ballas Road. Weber School is now the Creve Coeur Government Center. Mr. Kearns was the school principal and “Miss Lois” the secretary. The offices were on the Public Works side of the lobby. The current multi purpose room was our cafeteria. When it was time for each grade level to leave and another to enter the lunchroom, Mr. Kearns would play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony- there was a spinet piano in the lunchroom. Whenever I use the staircase at City Hall, I am reminded of being back in third grade. A classmate, Bradley Nicely, pushed me down the stairs on the way to lunch and chipped my tooth. 

Some items at City Hall still remain from my Weber School days. Next time you’re downstairs, near the gym, look for the coat hooks and little cubbies in the hall. We hung our coats there and put our lunches in the cubby. Nothing ever was stolen.

Before the construction of Interstate 270 began, the entrance to Beacon Hill Lane was approximately at the 270 south exit ramp. We lost many homes to construction of the highway, including my good friend Kay Kay Klinkenhagen. Kay Kay’s Dad piloted a helicopter to work and parked it in their back yard. On nice days, he would take us to school in it and he’d land on the back playground. If people thought it was odd, no one said much about it. 

In addition to losing a portion of my neighborhood, the Sisters at the former St. Johns Hospital lost a large section of their apple orchard. My siblings and I would take the old baby buggy and push it due south to the abundant orchards. The nuns would be working in the orchards, pruning and caring for the numerous varieties of apples. That was in 1960 when nuns still wore the ankle-length habits. We couldn’t imagine how they could tolerate the humid St. Louis summers in those clothes!

Driving the bus to school was the best way to see Creve Coeur back then. There used to be a bridge on Emerson Road, just north of Rocky Drive. If you were lucky enough to be in the back of the bus, you got bumped out of your seat. Simple, uncomplicated, fun times.

You’d never know it today, but train tracks used to cut through Creve Coeur.  Tracks were visible on Ballas Road by City Hall, Emerson Road, and they continued west and south of Olive Street. As kids, my siblings and I went to “Miss Ruthie’s” camp. It was located where the neighborhood “Questover” eventually was built.  We would place coins on the train tracks and try and find them the next day. How we loved those mangled coins!

Emerson Road of today bears no resemblance to Emerson Road in the 1960’s.  There were many farms, most a few acres or more. The houses were on the small size, and I clearly remember one home that had the greenest gazing ball I have ever seen. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! Nearly everyone hung their laundry outside to dry on nice, clear days.

During the summer, our fresh vegetables came from Mrs. Faron’s garden. She lived on Ballas Road, just south of City Hall. She had acres of fruit and vegetables and my mother rarely missed a week stopping by her house to get fresh produce.

The southwest corner of Ballas and Ladue, where the Woodbridge condos are, used to be home to the largest home I have ever seen. An enormous mansion sat high on top of the hill. As a child, I remember bars on the windows. I was told it was a home for people who “just weren’t right.” Later on it was purchased and refurbished. Bison roamed freely on property. That didn’t mean that they never got out, though. I remember being driven to school one day, surprised to see them roaming Ladue Road. They were eventually rounded up and sent home. The property was later sold to a developer who built the Woodbridge condos. There was the hope that someone would keep and update the mansion, unfortunately no one bought it. It was so sad to see it torn down; I loved that house for a long, long time.

Creve Coeur Plaza boasted a Ben Franklin, IGA, Velvet Freeze and Plaza Prescription Shoppe. There was a gum machine at Ben Franklin that had striped gumballs. If you were lucky enough to get a striped gumball, you’d get a prize. My first Barbie came from Ben Franklin. Sunday nights my Dad would take us out for an ice cream cone at Velvet Freeze. Gold Coast Chocolate was our favorite.  Dierbergs was where is now, and Creve Coeur Inn had the best fried fish sandwiches you’ve ever had. Anything else you needed could be found at Essen Hardware. Back then, as now, Creve Coeur had it all!

Time passed, I got married and moved away from my childhood home.  My husband and I moved a few times, had our children and moved back to Creve Coeur eighteen years ago. I currently live about one mile due south from where I was raised. My home is one of a kind, originally built around a log cabin in the 1800’s. It might sound silly, but I fell in love the first time I turned the doorknob to my home. I told my husband that I simply had to live here. After eighteen years I still feel the same way. I smile when I pull up the driveway, cherish the little artifacts I find when I’m working in my garden, and am so glad to be, once again, living in Creve Coeur. Being named “Citizen of the Year” is just icing on the cake.