St. Charles Rock Road is the current name of what was the first road to traverse present-day St. Louis County, Missouri between

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and St. Charles. For most of its length it is also known as Route 180.

Route description

Its present-day origin is at the border of the cities of Wellston (to the east) and Pagedale, starting as a co-signed road with pre-existing Route 180 at a T intersection with Lucas-Hunt Road. Route 180, up to this transition point, is co-signed with Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, from Route 180's eastern terminus in St. Louis' Kingsway East neighborhood; Dr. Martin Luther King Drive originates farther east than Route 180, where the Martin Luther King Bridge crosses the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

into central St. Louis. St. Charles Rock Road/Route 180 proceeds northwest past several cemeteries, crosses under I-170 within St. John, then continues through Breckenridge Hills and St. Ann. As it enters Bridgeton, it crosses over

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

and then under I-270. From I-270 it continues northwest towards the banks of the Missouri River, ending opposite St. Charles at Missouri Bottom Road.

History

In the 1760s, St. Louis (on the

) and St. Charles (on the Missouri) were the two major European settlements in the lower Missouri River Valley. A path between the two came to be known as King’s Highway, a name used in

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

by the Spanish and then the French for many frequently used roads. The southeastern end of the road became known as St. Charles Street. On May 20, 1804, Capt. Meriwether Lewis reached St. Charles, the expedition's last "civilized" stop, via St. Charles Rock Road to meet up with Lt.

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...

. The

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

then officially began with 40 to 50 men – the precise number is unknown. In 1819, St. Charles Road was established as a

post road A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries, only major towns had a post house and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due ...

and stagecoach road; by 1837 it became a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

. The road furnished access to the Santa Fe Trail and

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

for the many westbound

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

s that were outfitted in St. Louis. After passage of the Missouri Plank Road Law in 1851, it became an

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

plank road. In 1865, St. Charles Road was rebuilt with macadam and renamed St. Charles Rock Road. In 1921, it became the first

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

state highway in St. Louis County. In 1953, St. Charles Rock Road was completed as a divided two-lane highway along much of its length.

Transportation

A major influence in the route's location today was construction of an electric interurban railway, the St. Louis, St. Charles and Western Railway, west from Easton Avenue (which had been St. Charles Road and became Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) and Hodiamont, in stages, to St. Charles. From Wellston to the current location of

Lindbergh Boulevard Lindbergh Boulevard, named after the aviator, Charles Lindbergh, is a section of U.S. Route 61 in Missouri, U.S. Routes 61 and U.S. Route 67 in Missouri, 67 that extends through Missouri. Lindbergh Boulevard is home to Missouri's only traffic ...

the line ran in a straight shot while the road meandered around St. John and Breckenridge Hills. Eventually the road was relocated to adjoin the streetcar line, which ran to its north. Many portions of the original road are now side streets in the area. Running west, streetcar line diverged from the Rock Road at the present location of Lindbergh and headed northwest for Bridgeton, which brought it just west of where the Rock Road swung south away from its present route to join Fee Fee Creek and head west. The route was winding, the creek prone to flooding but the land acquisition was easiest along the Creek. When the interurban line stopped running in the 1930s, the Road Rock was reconstructed on the railroad right-of-way for a direct shot into St. Charles. The former route was named Old St. Charles Rock Road, now Boenker Road. Today, a portion of the streetcar right-of-way, complete with poles, has survived intact on the south side of the Rock Road just east of Earth City Expressway.

References

External links

*
The St. Charles Road and the Gateway to the Santa Fe Trail
from a

Shepherd University Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university enrolled 3,159 students in Fall 2020. History Shepherd University began when the county seat of Jefferson ...

website
Route 180
from kcroads.com

from the official website of the City of St. John {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Charles Rock Road Oregon Trail Transportation in St. Louis County, Missouri