[Centropolis]

Before the proliferation of the railroad, a hierarchy of cities along the Mississippi (and the Missouri, of which I included St. Charles) river existed to serve the comestible needs and desires of the growing city of Saint Louis as well as New Orleans, and in turn benefited from relative ease of access to two large markets. This thread covers some of the northern leg along the Mississippi River of this system, which more or less faded when the East St. Louis stockyards closed around 1960. My family has historically contributed to this system - providing beef, pork, hasenpfeffer, and other things nearly as long as St. Louis has been an American city. Today, these towns are seeing some signs of life and rehabs on the street grids, while not suffering from a great deal of sprawl north of Elsberry. The northern reaches of the area I covered are near and dear to my heart, and I'll trace the headwaters of this old economic system to it's end market. Areas and cities covered, all in Missouri, are rural southern Pike and northern Lincoln county, Paynesville (A), Clarksville (B), Louisiana (C), Elsberry (D), St. Charles(E), and St. Louis (F). Between Elsberry and St. Charles is a less substantial string of spartan rail depots that were not included.

St. Charles is not necessarily a part of this leg of the pre rail transportation corridor- for instance Alton, IL feels more kin to some of these cities - but I included it due to it's historical significance and later linkage by rail.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/Screenshot2010-12-26at53002PM.png

I'll begin on the farm, and then enter the Pike county, MO village of Paynesville. The folk song Sweet Bessie from Pike is based on the large number of residents from this county who left for the California gold rush of 1849.


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http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020692.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020698.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020746.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020750.jpg




Paynesville, Pop 91, established 1821 -

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020756.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020758.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020759.jpg

Onward towards the next confluence...

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020760.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020762.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020764.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020765.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020766.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020767.jpg

Entering the village of Clarksville, MO, settled 1817, population 490 -

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020773.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020774.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020775.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020776.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020777.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020778.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020779.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020780.jpg

We take a short jog north to the more substantial burg of Louisiana, MO, pop. 3863, settled 1817.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020781.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020782.jpg

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http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020813.jpg


We next head back south, through Clarksville to Annada, MO, pop 48

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020817.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020818.jpg

Elsberry, MO, pop. 2047, established 1879. Elsberry was primarily a rail town, unlike the cities to the north, and was specifically planned after a new rail line from St. Louis was established. The river had shifted at some point, leaving it without direct access to the Mississippi. This is the last substantial town grid before St. Charles.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020821.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020822.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020825.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020827.jpg

We now move into what has become metropolitan St. Louis. St. Charles was established in 1765 as Les Petites Côtes (Little Hills), under the French crown. The area has seen great deal of history, serving as the final settled stopping point of the Louis and Clark expedition after becoming part of the United States, where there was a hell of a party. Later declining in the shadow of its twin St. Louis as an agricultural hub and streetcar and railcar manufacturing center until the construction of I-70 and a new bridge across the Missouri River. Today, St. Charles county is known for mile upon mile of some of the worst planned sprawl in the midwest, but alas, there is a decent town grid to see...


http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020831.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020833.jpg

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http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020882.jpg


We return to the mothership of Saint Louis, pop. 356, 586, founded in 1764.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020883.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020884.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020888.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020889.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020890.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020891.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020892.jpg


Enjoy your midwinter!

[JivecitySTL]

Outstanding tour, as usual! Missouri is beautiful in the snow. Your pics always impress, Centropolis.

[Expat]

Thanks! I love seeing beautiful old Missouri towns like these.

[ColDayMan]

You're awesome. But you knew that already.

[stepper77]

What a great collection. There are definitely a lot of nice, historic buildings. And the snow adds to the effect. Thanks!

[-AX-]

Cool thread! I like this kind of tour!

[Expat]

Check out this amazing house for sale in Clarksville at only $50,000:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/101-North-Fourth-Street_Clarksville_MO_63336_M77536-60312

Un-effing-believable!

[OhioGuy]

Downtown St. Charles looks great! I love seeing lots & lots of brick! :tup:

[Thundertubs]

Great tour. I'm digging the snowy Missouri landscape shots.

[Centropolis]

Great tour. I'm digging the snowy Missouri landscape shots.

Thanks, I would have liked to have photographed Hannibal as the appropriate capstone, you pwned it, thankfully.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj282/fraz11nj/Hannibal%20MO/P1100650.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj282/fraz11nj/Hannibal%20MO/P1100650.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020803.jpg

Jinx! Forgot you went to Louisiana.

[Paradox21]

Lots of great stuff here! (Downtown St. Charles looks especially inviting) Nice work!

[Centropolis]

Lots of great stuff here! (Downtown St. Charles looks especially inviting) Nice work!

thanks! man this is crazy, i just was lookin' at your Toronto thread.

[LSyd]

great tour and photos, thanks.

-

[Moorlands]

Main Street St. Charles is a real cool historic district that has a pretty good entertainment/bar/nightlife scene.

[DeBaliviere]

St. Charles is a hellhole, but their historic downtown is nice.

I'm surprised Clarksville is so small.

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent thread! Missouri looks great in the snow.

[photoLith]

Amazing thread, so many beautiful little towns, I love them! You captured them quite well too and that St. Charles place looks pretty damned amazing. I had no idea there were any buildings that old as that one built in 1769 in the St. Louis area left. Thats pretty damned awesome.

[Expat]

Makes me wonder if there are any threads on here for towns south of STL on the Mississippi and west of STL on the Missouri River. History runs deep along these rivers.

[Centropolis]

Makes me wonder if there are any threads on here for towns south of STL on the Mississippi and west of STL on the Missouri River. History runs deep along these rivers.

Ste Genevieve

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=185149&highlight=Genevieve

I suspect I will get around to Washington + Hermann to the west, eventually.

[Expat]

Oh yeah, I would love to see Hermann, Washington, & that whole wine country area. Of course, I wouldn't blame you for waiting until spring.

[ls1z28chris]

Those are some charming little towns. With the economy and all this "staycation" talk, hopefully people in that area will have a chance to get acquainted with those places.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/das%20hinterland/P1020889.jpg

Neutral ground!

[wisla_krakow]

wow great thread!
the architecture in those small towns and villages is unreal. i hope it's all preserved in the coming years.

[flar]

Nice tour. Other than St. Charles (which has a St. Louis look), the other small towns and rural areas look a lot like what you'd see in Ontario.

[Evergrey]

This is one of the coolest photos threads ever... the snow rules... MOAR!