This month in St. Louis History

From Missouri Historical Museum

Famous October dates from St. Louis' past

In past St. Louis-area Octobers, a music great was born, a newspaper giant died and one of the fastest growing counties was founded.

* The rock-and-roll legend Chuck Berry was born on Oct. 18, 1926, in The Ville neighborhood north of downtown St. Louis.

* Famed newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer died Oct. 29, 1911. Born in Hungary in 1847, he migrated to the U.S. in 1864. He began his St. Louis newspaper career in 1868.

* The origins of St. Charles County date back to October, 1812. But, county's geographic size has changed dramatically in the last 191 years.

These are just a few of the October historic landmarks in St. Louis history. Information for this article has been provided by the Missouri History Museum. You can find out all sorts of neat stuff by visiting exhibits or events at the Museum in Forest Park.

Governor William Clark established the District of St. Charles on Oct. 1, 1812. That was about six years after he and Meriwether Lewis returned from their famous Corps of Discovery exploration.

At the time the District was huge. Clark set the boundaries from the Missouri River north to Canada and from the Mississippi River west to the Pacific Ocean.

Obviously, since then the territory that's now St. Charles County has become smaller.

That original territory has been cut up into the whole states of Iowa and Minnesota. The district also included major portions of what are now Idaho, Missouri, Montana, North and South Dakota, Washington and Oregon.

Famed pioneer Daniel Boone was an early settler in the St. Charles area. He moved here from Kentucky in 1795 and lived in the county until his death in 1820. The Lewis and Clark exploration trip departed from St. Charles in 1804.

Also, St. Charles served as the state's first capitol. The original capitol building has been restored and is popular with tourists on the city's historic Main Street.

For more information, you could get a copy of The History of St. Charles County, Missouri (1765-1885).

Rock and roller Chuck Berry is now 77 years old. But, he's still performing. He's a regular at the Blueberry Hill cafe in University City. He also has a star on that city's Walk of Fame.

Berry was the third of six children born to Henry and Martha Berry. His mother was a school teacher and his father, a contractor. Henry also was a deacon at the Antioch Baptist Church, which was close to the family home.

The family's home was in The Ville neighborhood. That was one place in St. Louis where blacks could own property. In the 1920s and 1930s, The Ville was known as the home of the city's prosperous African-Americans.

Chuck Berry was singing in his church at age 6.

Berry had a lot of different jobs and experiences before he turned to music professionally. Not all experiences were good ones. He was once sentenced to 10 years for armed robbery.

In 1952, Berry began playing professionally at different St. Louis clubs. His first recording was of a hillbilly song titled "Maybellene." It ended up No. 1 on the rhythm and blues charts. It also sold over one million copies.

For more about Chuck Berry, you can go to www.history-of-rock.com/berry.htm.

In St. Louis, Joseph Pulitzer's name has been tied closely to local newspapers. In 1868, he started working at the local German-language newspaper, the Westliche Post. He bought that paper in 1872 for $3,000.

Six years later, he purchased the St. Louis Dispatch for $2,700. From that merger has come the present-day St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But, his wider reputation is tied mostly to his New York paper ownership and his Pulitzer Prizes. His New York circulation wars with fellow publisher William Randolph Hearst featured sensational reporting.

The most spirited competition coverage came during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. The derogatory term "yellow journalism" was used to describe such news coverage.

The first Pulitzer Prizes for journalism were awarded in 1917. They also continue today.

 

From "St. Louis 365"

Many firsts for St. Louis in October

There were all sorts of notable St. Louis anniversaries in Octobers past. Included were the only all-St. Louis World Series, the first iron-clad boat built and the first controlled directional air flight.

There was also a fateful decision in 1876 that has influenced life in St. Louis ever since. That was when the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County set firm boundaries dividing the two political entities.

These are among the 156 items of St. Louis history that were listed in the October chapter of "St. Louis 365." That's a book of historical tidbits by local historian Joe Sonderman.

(The book is available in local book stories or at www.booksonline.com. Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission to quote from his book.)

Here are 10 of the historical entries selected from "St. Louis 365":

October 1, 1944: The city was assured of the only all-St. Louis World Series ever. The Browns clinched the pennant with a 5-2 win over the Yankees. A crowd of 37,815 packed Sportsman's Park--the first sellout of a Browns game in 20 years. Oscar Grimes flied out to George McGuinn for the final out.

October 2, 1960: The Giants beat the football Cardinals, 35-14, in their debut at old Busch Stadium. A crowd of 26,089 paid to see the game. It marked the first NFL game played in St. Louis in 26 years.

October 4, 1911: Walter Brookins carried the first air mail in the City of St. Louis, and only the second in the United States. He flew the mail from Kinloch Field to Fairgrounds Park at a top speed of 60 miles per hour.

October 5, 1782: Nobody knows for sure exactly when Florissant was founded. But, on this date, Francois Dunegant received a tract of land from the Spanish to establish a government house and organize a village along Coldwater Creek. The Spanish called the village San Fernando, but the locals called it by the French name, "Florissant." The French had declared the area, "Un vale Fluerissant" or "Valley of the Flowers."

October 8, 1925: Ground was broken for the studios and transmitter for "The Voice of St. Louis" Corporation's new radio station near Geyer and Manchester. The station tentatively assigned the call sign "KVSL." The corporation wanted "KMO." It turned out those call letters were already assigned, so an "X" was tacked on the end.

October 12, 1861: James B. Eads launched his first ironclad warship at Carondelet. Eads had a contract from the government for seven ships like the "St. Louis," to be built in just 64 days. Because of bureaucratic entanglements, it took 100 days--still an impressive achievement. The "St. Louis' was the first ironclad in the world to engage a naval force.

October 22, 1876: This may be one of the most important dates in St. Louis history. In what seemed like a good move at the time, St. Louis City and County were officially separated. The city boundaries were fixed permanently. The "Great Divorce" is now blamed for many of the city's problems, as the population spread far beyond the city limits. In 1876, city residents were tired of paying for services in rural St. Louis County.

October 28, 1965: A landmark day in St. Louis history, as the Gateway Arch was completed. The heat caused the south leg to sag a bit, threatening placement of the final section. But, the fire department called in three pumpers to spray water to cool the steel down. As thousands watched, the 142nd and final piece was lifted into place. The Arch revitalized the downtown area. It has become a symbol of the city, known throughout the world.

October 30, 1900: The entire University of Missouri football team resigned, "rather than disgrace the university by continual failure." Players were upset over a restriction that only full-time students with an average of 75 or higher were eligible to play football.

October 31, 1904: St. Louisan Ray Knabenshue made what is believed to have been the first controlled directional flight. He attached a small motor to his balloon and rose above a crowd of thousands in Forest Park. Knabenshue took 37 minutes to cover the seven-mile course.