Old Jamestown History

Association History....

The Old Jamestown Association was incorporated in 1942 as a not-for-profit benevolent organization by the State of Missouri. The reasons for forming the Association then are essentially the same reasons for its existence today. However, some of the concerns of area residents were quite different then:

...Evaluate the pros and cons of incorporating as a village...The feeding of garbage to the hogs by local farmers...Trash burning along Sinks Road...Building of snow fences and snowplowing the roads (the Association owned its own snowplow)...

The Association continued to operate during the 1950's, often responding to such issues as, the threat of "being gobbled up by Florissant," the proposal to install a marine transmitting station for riverboat communications, and the project by Laclede Gas to store all of the natural gas for the St. Louis metropolitan area in a porous rock formation 1200 feet below the ground surface in the Old Jamestown Area.

The Association became inactive in 1963 and remained so until 1987 when St. Louis County announced the formation of the "New Jamestown" Area Study committee, whose purpose was to "help draft a plan for developing one of the County's few areas that remain largely undeveloped." The concept of a comprehensive plan was generally supported by residents. However, the virtual omission of area residents from the citizens' study committee, among other concerns, was viewed as intentional. Citizen activity over the next several months led to the reactivation of the Association in October 1987. The Association took a contributory role in the Area Study by providing information to the County and keeping residents advised of the progress. The Area Study was complete and submitted to the County Council in April 1988, six months later than originally planned. (Copies of the Old Jamestown Community Area Study may be obtained from the St. Louis County Department of Planning.)

Some Old Jamestown Area History….

The following article, compiled by Beverly Girardier, is reprinted from the July 1989 Association newsletter:

EARLY LAND OWNERS OF NORTH COUNTY Part 1

Between 1770 and 1804 (the year the Louisiana Territory was officially transferred to the United States), Spain sent 7 lieutenant governors to St. Louis. Two of these were especially important in the settlement of the Missouri Territory. Captain Manuel Perez, appointed in 1787, encouraged immigration and was quite generous in conceding large tracts of lands to the newcomers. And Zenon Trudeau, appointed by Carondelet in 1792, also encouraged the immigration of Americans and appointed Antoine Soulard as surveyor to locate the claims of the concessionaires. By 1800, most, if not all, of the land in north St. Louis County had been granted to the first settlers.

An Atlas of the City and County of St. Louis, published the first day of January, 1838, shows the names of the original claimants, and the number of acres claimed by each. Among early claimants were Benjamin F. James, Cumberland James, Morris James, and Sarah James. Very little can be found on the James, but, since their land tracts are touching one another or very close to each other it would be logical to assume they were related. The James were granted a total of 1,863 acres; David Brown, 310.28 acres; Ebenezer Hodges, 425.35 acres; William Patterson, 510.42 acres; John Seeley, 340.28 acres; and Guy Seeley 574.22 acres.

In 1813, Phinehas James purchased 340.28 acres from Mrs. Sarah James for $1000. (Her tract was located at the end of Halls Ferry). In 1816, after Hall’s Ferry was surveyed, Phinehas sold the land to Rufus Easton for $3000. His next venture was an attempt to start a settlement, to be called James’ Town, on land originally granted to Morris James. On June 16, 1819 the Missouri Gazette ran a front-page advertisement by Phinehas James offering lots “situated on the southern bank of the Missouri River, six miles above its confluence with the Mississippi”. Although the notice made the area sound like paradise, the town never materialized. A few old maps showed a Jamestown and there was mention of Jamestown in early books and county records. In a report dated August 7, 1832, road commissioners alluded to the “ferry landing below where Phinehas James formerly lived in Jamestown”. Another petition in 1845 by a Gilbert James asks for a road “commencing in Jamestown, running so as to intersect the road leading from Robbins Mill to Florissant and thence southwesterly.

Early maps show the original Jamestown Road running along what is now Portage Road to the spot where, until recently, the historic Vilray Blair House stood on the bluffs of the Missouri River. However, no physical evidence has been found to prove the existence of James’ Town.

The following article, compiled by Beverly Girardier, is reprinted from the October 1989 newsletter.

JAMES CLEMENS

Development came slowly to North County. In 1868, the largest portion of the Guy Seeley tract of land, Survey# 934 (the 574 acre tract south of the Missouri River between the western edge of Jamestown Farms east to the Portage Road Area), was subdivided into 25 lots by James Clemens, Jr. Charles Mueller owned the remaining eastern section.

Within a month of Clemens subdividing the tract, William Buenger purchased lots 13, 14, 23, and 24. In the early 1800's, Buenger purchased two more lots from the Clemens' children. Buenger died in 1899, leaving his estate to his brothers and sisters. This tract remained intact until 1978, when it was subdivided as Jamestown Farms. By coincidence, the plat placed the William Buenger home on lot 14, the same number as its lot in the Clemens Subdivision.

A 1909 map shows the following owners of lots in the subdivision: H. H. Niehaus: lots 16 and 11, F.K. Mueller: lots 17, 18, 19 and 20, C. Soderstrause: lot 6, J. Meyer and H.H. Henke: equal portions of lot 7, J.H Schneider: lots 8 and 9, Chris Huhs: lots 3 and 10, H. Peiman: lot 11, Sundermeyer: lot 4, H.H. Trampe: lot 5, and John Campbell: lots 1 and 2.

James W. Clemens, the developer, was a successful businessman in St. Louis. He was a cousin of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and was born in 1791 in Kentucky. He came to St. Louis in 1816 where he established himself as a merchant. In 1833, he married Eliza Mullanphy, daughter of John Mullanphy, St. Louis' first millionaire.

Although James Clemens never lived in North County, his wife's family did have a home in the Florissant area. Their home, the stately Taille de Noyer, is located on the grounds of McClure High School. The restored home is open to the public.

In 1841, Clemens retired from mercantile life to manage his own and his wife's property and to pursue a banking business. Six years after the death of his wife in 1841, work began on his mansion at 1849 Cass Avenue. Clemens built the house with Eliza in mind. Her face is carved into a marble fireplace in the front room and also appears in an ornamental plaster ceiling molding in the first floor hall. Eliza's death mask, duplicated in cast iron, decorates the outside of window lintels. It was sold by the Clemens family in 1885 and is now used for the homeless.

One of the more interesting holdings of Clemens was the "Old Rock House": built around 1817/18 by Manuel Lisa as a warehouse for his Indian trade. Purchased in 1828 by Clemens, the building remained in the Clemens family for 60 years. Situated on the southwest corner of Wharf and Chestnut Streets, the "Old Rock House" served many purposes, from saloon to the supposedly first meeting place of the St. Louis Board of Alderman. To make way for the Arch, the building was dismantled around 1959 with plans to reassemble the building later at another location on the Arch grounds.