High Ridge
Founders Stacy and Todd Isermann of STL Rent A Box are long-time residents of St. Louis, MO. Together, they are serving a niche in the moving industry that takes the stress out of moving by offering an alternative Eco-friendly, affordable option!
High Ridge was first used by humans approximately 10,000 years ago as a source for flint and chert, which it has in copious abundance, due to the exposures of the Burlington formation, which is approximately 10-30% composed of this rock. Evidence of flint quarries remains at nearby Crescent, just off the Antire arm of the ridge. In more recent times it appears to have been used largely as a hunting, not residential area. A Clovis point arrowhead was found in 1978 along the Saline arm of the ridge, where it slopes to the Meramec Valley on the northeast.(Cf:newspaper morgue: Meramec Community Press.)
White settlement in the region commenced in the 1790s at Fenton, and 1801 at House Springs to the southwest, but the first settlement of record on the ridge was by Thomas Maddox, who died and was buried along High Ridge Blvd, in 1848. The first post office was established in 1856. In 1860 the post office name was changed to Tallow Hill; it reverted to High Ridge in 1861. The settlement boasted a store, saloon and boarding house almost from the beginning—its location one day’s wagon ride from Affton and two day’s ride from downtown St. Louis made it a convenient evening stopover. Settlers were primarily northern European Americans: principally Germans, English and Irish. (cf: Along Old Gravois by Della Lang and the community library association, 120 pp. 1983.)
In 1880, many of the core businesses of the town were purchased by William Brackmann, whose brother assumed duty as postmaster. Some effort was made to rename the town to Brackmann, and indeed, some postmarks came out that way, but other town interests eventually prevailed against a town name change. From the 1880s until the 1940s, High Ridge served as the mercantile, social and church center for the surrounding countryside of small farmers. After WWII, the area, just over the Jefferson County line in an area of lower taxes and fewer government regulations, experienced the suburban tract home building boom which changed the character of the area from rural to outer fringe suburban. Suburban development continues today. (cf: Along Old Gravois by Della Lang and the community library association, 120 pp. 1983.)
High Ridge is unincorporated, despite several attempts from the 1960s forward to form a city. Northeast Jefferson County, including High Ridge, has been cited by University of Missouri geography professor emeritus Walter F. Schroeder as a “grand experiment” in governance by taxing districts, in which functions normally performed by a municipality (fire, sewer, ambulance, water) are instead controlled by elected district trustees, with other functions (police, planning and zoning, roads, real estate matters) left to county-wide ordinance, with the tradeoff being lower taxes than an incorporated region. This “experiment” was not planned, but is a result of the reluctance of long-time residents in the face of urbanization, and the antipathy of post-WWII and post-Korea settlers against the large urban governments from which most came. (cf: county records of Jefferson County, Missouri.
At STL Rent A Box, we believe in providing a product and service that is sustainable and sensible while giving our customers service they can rely on. We chose our products with great care, keeping the three R’s in mind: reuse, recycle, and reduce. Our clients share our values; they are just as interested and concerned about the community and environment as we are. We value having a product and service that is affordable and is an improvement that is already a necessity.
How can we help you with your move or remodel? Call us today, 314-899-7368
