Historic Playgrounds along the Meramec River

MISSOURI LEGENDS

Historic Playgrounds on the Meramec

River

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In the late 19^th century, several popular summer resorts were founded southwest of St. Louis, Missouri on the Meramec River, including Meramec Highlands, Valley Park, Fenton, and Castle Park. As the Frisco Railroad trains started running on a regular basis to the Meramec Highlands and Valley Park train stations, Meramec River attractions became popular for wealthy St Louis families. Unfortunately, for the masses of St. Louisans, the cost of the train ride prohibited frequent visits for the common folk of St. Louis.

The Meramec Highlands "Frisco" Railroad Station was constructed in 1891 by the Meramec Highlands Company, the developers of a summer getaway for wealthy Midwesterners. Located on the bluffs overlooking the Meramec River, two miles west of present day Kirkwood, the station was built in the Romanesque Revival architecture. Once completed, it was deeded to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad for $1 in exchange for regularly scheduled service.

In nearby Valley Park, the Frisco Hotel was built in 1893 for the track crews who were pushing the railroad westward through Missouri. After the railroad was completed, the Frisco Railroad used the hotel as a layover for train crews as more wealthy St. Louis patrons began to enjoy the amenities on Valley Park’s section of the Meramec River. Valley Park began to boom with restaurants, grocery stores and other amenities. At the turn of the century, as many as 88 trains a day stopped in Valley Park.

By 1894, the wealthy were well acquainted with the lower Meramec River when the Meramec Highlands Inn and recreation complex was opened. Providing access to the river on a grander scale, the Meramec Highlands Inn provided its own depot, swimming beach, boathouse, rental cottages, a Pagoda dance pavilion, tennis courts, stables, croquet courts, and a mineral water bath house. Providing an excellent view of the Meramec River Valley, the Inn itself offered 125 stately rooms with "sanitary plumbing” and electric lights which made the resort the crown jewel of the summer resorts of the area. Numerous indoor amenities included a bowling alley, billiards and chess rooms, a barbershop, bakery, wine cellar, restaurants, banquet rooms, a stage for plays, and large verandas, where guests congregated to view the beautiful scenery. Many affluent St. Louisans would stay at the resort while still commuting to work on the Frisco Railroad. By the time the resort was in full operation, 12 trains a day stopped at the station.

Meramec Highlands during its heyday, courtesy Meramec Highlands

Meramec Highlands was not only built to serve the wealthy St. Louisans escaping the summer heat, but also in anticipation of the St. Louis World’s Fair planned for 1904. Just an hour’s ride from downtown, on the Frisco Railroad, the resort anticipated numerous visitors during the coming years.

However, the inn’s success was not to last. In 1896, streetcars to the resorts began to operate, providing one-way passage for as low as five cents. This allowed the "common people" to flock to the resort areas and as a result, the wealthy clientele began to shy away from the crowds. The patronage of the Inn dropped every year from 1900 to 1903 so a concerted bid was made to increase patronage during the 1904 World's Fair, via distribution of numerous brochures and heavy advertising.

During the World's Fair season, the Highlands Inn was filled up, partially due to the fact that room rates had been lowered to $1.00 a night. Despite a surge in business during the 1904 Worlds Fair, the hotel closed the next summer. During the next few decades, more attempts to continue its operation were unsuccessful. In 1925 the hotel and its 15 cottages were sold to private individuals. The Highlands Inn was destroyed by fire in 1926; however 12 of the 15 cottages remain in Kirkwood, owned by private individuals as family homes in what is now the Meramec Highlands Historic District.

Though the wealthy shied away from Meramec Highlands in search of more secluded resorts, the masses began to arrive by the thousands during the early 20^th century. Traveling on two electric lines and the Frisco Railroad, Sundays became so popular that the streetcar lines became hard pressed to provide sufficient transportation for all who wished to board the cars.

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Meramec River

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