History

In the late 18th Century, French traders arrived in the area that is now Old Town St. Peters. From 1830 to 1850, German Catholics who settled the little village joined with most of the French inhabitants. Through the efforts of those people, the area developed into a prosperous farming community. The settlement took its name from the first log church established in 1815, called St. Peters on Dardenne Creek.

In 1910, the community formally incorporated as a village. Over the next decade, automobiles and trucks replaced horses and railroads. Part of the Salt River Road became Highway 40 in the 1920s. Later, a new span of highway, that eventually became Interstate 70, was built over the Missouri River and bisected the little village.

After years of steady growth, the beginning of the new century found St. Peters as a thriving farming community. The primary commodity sold by farmers was wheat. Bottom farmland was worth $80 to $125 per acre depending on improvements and location. The land on the hills was selling for $60 per acre.

St. Peters felt the effects of modernization. The Roaring Twenties brought us modern ideas, advances and products. The decade saw the mass production of automobiles, the availability of credit, and the rising popularity of mass entertainment, with the advent of radio, popular sports and movies. The Volstead Act prohibited alcohol during this period, but that didn't stop people from drinking at speakeasies or from stills. The Twenties ended with a cataclysmic event - the stock market crashed in 1929 and the Great Depression began.

St. Peters saw its population grow from 248 in 1930 to 305 in 1940. One of the City's favorite sons, Dr. Manley O. Hudson, was appointed in 1936 to the Court of International Justice, which could be called upon to settle international disputes. The world court was established in conjunction with the League of Nations, as part of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Although not a member of the League, the U.S. had one judge on the world court.

Locally, the story was growth - tremendous growth. St. Peters grew from a town of 486 in 1970 to a burgeoning suburb of 15,700 by decade's end to become the fastest growing city in Missouri. Annexations, mostly voluntary, became commonplace, increasing the town's area from less than a square mile in 1970 to more than 11 square miles in 1979.

With this amazing growth came the enormous responsibility of accommodating it. One of the most noticeable effects was the traffic. Aided by passage of a half-cent transportation tax in 1983, the City built 14 miles of multi-lane streets during the Eighties. Mexico Road was transformed from a rural road to a four-lane thoroughfare from Cave Springs Road to Highway K in O'Fallon. Mid Rivers Mall Drive was extended to connect Interstate 70 to Highway 94. The Mid Rivers Mall Drive/I-70 interchange was built, and the City rebuilt interchanges at Cave Springs and Highway 79.