Beginning with William Carr Lane, 48 elected mayors have served the city of St. Louis. The first 45 were men, and the most recent three have been women. Four of the mayors once called Lafayette Square home. They are:
George Maguire (mayor from 1842-1843)
resided at 1906 Hickory Street, a home no longer standing. Long involved in both real estate and city government, Maguire dealt with St. Louis’s rapid growth and development of the infrastructure to facilitate it.
James S. Thomas (1864-1869)
lived at 2029, later renumbered as 2035 Park Avenue. It has undergone extensive reworking since that time. Thomas presided over the nearby installation of the Thomas Hart Benton statue in Lafayette Park. He held the distinction of being St. Louis’s first banker. His bank started up in 1825, capitalized at $270, with a credit line of $3,000. While in office, he oversaw improvements to sewers and water lines to combat typhoid.
James H. Britton (1875-1876)
called 2051 Park Avenue home. As mayor, he was almost a footnote, as his administration lasted only nine months. This was result of a successful challenge to election results. He was a bank president and served in the Missouri state legislature from about 1848-1857.
Henry W. Kiel (1913-1925)
lived at 1625 Missouri Avenue (no longer standing.) Kiel served three terms as mayor, a stretch covering 1913 through 1925. He was a success in contracting and construction of large projects like McKinley school Loew’s State and Ambassador theaters, the Post-Dispatch building, Municipal Auditorium and Coronado Hotel. During his mayoral tenure, the city jail and the Muni were built, the zoo permanently established, Homer G.Phillips hospital acquired and industrial training homes for boys and girls established.
Commentary
These four St. Louis leaders lifetimes cover a period that extended from Maguire’s birth in 1796 through the death of Kiel in 1946. A lot of change in town between those dates. The city population grew from an estimated 1,000 to its all time high of 850,000. City split from county in 1875, never to be rejoined. Although strong arguments are made for reunification, the last public vote on the issue goes back to 1962. The smog, crime and crowding urged people out, and the dawn of cars and highways made commuting to the city from its outlying ninety-some municipalities possible. Mayors since Kiel have grappled with the inverse of the issue facing George Maguire in 1842.
With over a 15% population loss in just the past decade, St. Louis’s issues resist simple solutions. The city, however, continues to attract ambitious people who see the manure pile and envision the pony that waits inside it. It remains a great place to live, with a low cost of living, beautiful parks and free attractions. Opportunities abound for those with a strong vision and tenacious grip.
Resources
Maguire’s address confirmed by obit in St. Louis Post-Dispatch of October 12, 1882.
A reliable source of information on major figures in St. Louis history is provided by Mound City On The Mississippi, by the City of St.Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency. https://dynamic.stlouis-mo.gov/history/index.cfm
I’ve written more extensively on Mayor Henry Kiel, who lived in the Square for his entire twelve year term: https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/1917-the-life-and-times-of-mayor-henry-kiel/
A tidy review of events leading to and through the great divorce of St.Louis City from county appears from Jeannette Cooperman in St Louis Magazine of March 8, 2019. https://www.stlmag.com/news/politics/st-louis-great-divorce-history-city-county-split-attempt-to-get-back-together/
A dependable resource for the famous dear departed is Find A Grave, at https://www.findagrave.com
Hi Mike. A little anecdote regarding the lost Henry Kiel home at 1625 Missouri related to me by life long resident proprietor of the Mclaughlin Funeral Home, Gary Cooper. When he was young there was a blind woman who lived in the rooming house at 1625 who befriended a rat, thinking it was a cat. She could be seen sitting on the front stoop feeding and petting her little friend!
Wow, some pet! There’s a scene like that in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off that sticks in my memory.Thanks for sharing it.