A Brief History of Meacham Park

Meacham Park, Missouri was established in 1892 when Elzey Eugene Meacham, a white real estate speculator from Memphis, Tennesse purchased 158.61 acres for $33,308. Meacham named the area after himself. The land was divided into 25 foot lots and sold mostly to whites although Meacham made the lots available at a lower price to attract African Americans. Some of the early settlers in Meacham Park were farmers.

Meacham Park was a thriving interracial neighborhood until well after WWI. However, after WWII the black population in Meacham Park increased and the white popultion decreased. Meacham Park has constantly undergone changes throughout its history both good and bad. Meacham Park was an unincorporated part of St. Louis County until the 1991 annexation into Kirkwood.

1892 – Elzey E. Meacham purchases land and begins to sell lots

1896 – Sandy Spears, a farmer and real estate broker, is the first African American to live in Meacham Park

1906 – African American children attend Booker T. Washington School, white children attend Jefferson School

1908 – Meacham Park School built for the 14 white children (52 African American children have to walk to Booker T. Washington School

1912 – George Cabiness opens the first store in Meacham Park

1919 – D.M. Powell opens a grocery store; Powell is the first African American store owner in Meacham Park and becomes a prominent businessman in Meacham Park

1920 – Kirkwood School District pays tuition for African American students to attend Sumner High School in St. Louis

1921 – New Booker T. Washington School built

1924 – Meacham Park School opens; renovated in 1938; later known as the J. Milton Turner School

1930 – D.M. Powell organizes the “Powell’s Grocery” baseball team; some went on to play in the Negro Leagues

1951 – Joe Cole founds Club 44 with the Kirkwood YMCA

1954 – Brown v. Board of Education; African American students enroll in Kirkwood School District for all grades

1957 – Kirkwood annexed 100 foot strip of commercial property from Meacham Park that consisted of most of Meacham Park’s commercial area; some residents begin to distrust Kirkwood

1968 – Construction on I-44 takes some land from the Southeast corner of Meacham Park

1968 – William “Bill” Jones starts publishing In Our Opinion, a newspaper

1968 – Water and sewage systems installed using a Federal Grant from HUD

1988 – Urban League hired to survey residents about redevelopment, annexation, and general concerns; results showed that most residents were in favor of redevelopment and annexation

1991 – Meacham Park annexed into Kirkwood (approval of 83% of Meacham Park and 72% of Kirkwood voters)

1994 – OPUS Corporation awarded contract for redevelopment of Meacham Park

1995 – Desco Group replaces OPUS Corporation as developer

1999 – Kirkwood Commons open

2005 – Kevin Johnson shoots and kills Sgt. William McEntee, Kirkwood Police Officer, in Meacham Park

2008 – Meacham Park resident Charles “Cookie” Thornton opens fire at Kirkwood City Hall meeting, killing five; Thornton is shot and killed by Kirkwood Police

Sources:

http://ci.kirkwood.mo.us/com-dev/meacham-intro.htm

Meacham Park: A History 1892-1989 by Lonnie R. Speer

http://www.cfuh.org/HistoryDraft.pdf