St. Paul Road

While St. Louis County is often viewed as devoid of history, in reality much of the western portion of the county still contains vestiges of close to two hundred years of habitation. For instance, the rail line that heads out west, following the Meramec River, contains numerous small towns that date back to before the Civil War. Even more interesting, many of the roads that we drive on today date back at least one hundred and fifty years, such as St. Paul Road, which will be the subject of this entry.St. Paul Road heads off through the hills south of Kiefer Creek, and is actually one lane for large portions of it. The first, northern section, contains in places the original log cabins of the earliest settlers.At one point, as seen below, the road narrows to approximately ten feet, sandwiched between two old log structures of a homestead. To the east, a large field stretches off in the distance.Sadly, there is little to no information on St. Paul Road, as seen here in the Julius Pitzmann Map.
After St. Paul Road intersects the more recent Ridge Road, it becomes two lanes as it plunges down into the Meramec River Valley. The town of Jedburgh, or sometimes called Sherman, or sometimes called St. Paul, sits along the railroad tracks that have been here since at least the 1840's. The town clearly was larger in the past, but a few of the commercial buildings still stand; this one for instance, has been converted into a single family residence.This church, seen below, is a strange mix of styles; I think it's probably from the 1950's or 60's, but it possesses older stain glass windows as well as an ornate belfry. Who attends this church??This whole area is steeped in mystery, and since I was a teenager (and clearly long before) this part of the county was believed to be haunted--where teenagers got run over by trains or disappeared on the nearby Lawler Ford Road, or as we called it, "Zombie Road." Some friends have told stories of being chased from the area by trucks with their high beams on, or other weird encounters with mentally retarded men on bicycles. I have to admit I've never even met anybody who even claims to know anyone who lives down this way.

Due to the lack of bridges across the Meramec, this area seems destined to stay largely rural, even as suburban sprawl is now reaching as far west as Lincoln County. I, for one, am glad that this area, an interesting relic of the past when steam engines rolled through the sleepy towns of the Meramec, will remain largely undeveloped--and full of mystery.