Chesterfield, Missouri, United States

🇺🇸 Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. It is the state's fourteenth-largest city. The broader valley of Chesterfield was originally referred to as "Gumbo Flats", derived from its soil, which though very rich and silty, resembled gumbo when wet.

History Present-day Chesterfield is known to have been a site of Native American inhabitation for thousands of years. A site in western Chesterfield containing artwork and carvings has been dated as 4,000 years old. A Mississippian site, dated to around the year 1000, containing the remains of what have been identified as a market and ceremonial centre, is also located in modern Chesterfield.

Historical communities The present-day city of Chesterfield is made up of several smaller historical communities, including: • Bellefontaine (French for "beautiful spring"), or as the locals called it, "Hilltown", dates to about 1837 with the arrival of August Hill. The first post office was established as Bellemonte ("beautiful mountain") in 1851. Eighteen years later, in 1869, the town and post office name were both changed to Bellefontaine. Rinkel's Market was a familiar landmark for years, at the intersection of present-day Olive Boulevard and Chesterfield Parkway. • The town of Lake started out as "Hog Hollow", in about 1850. The post office was established as Hog Hollow in 1871, but a year later the town's name was changed to what some thought was the more suitable name of Lake. Zierenberg's General Merchandise and Saloon (built around 1880) was a well-known landmark at the 18-mile marker on Olive Street Road. The original structure was destroyed by fire in 1918. It was replaced by the existing structure on the same site (Olive Boulevard and Hog Hollow Road). • Gumbo is located in the valley at the present intersection of Chesterfield Airport Road and Long Road. A notable landmark (until it was razed in 1998) was the old Twenty Five Mile House - so named because of its distance from downtown St. Louis. Gumbo's name derived from its soil, which though very rich and silty, when wet became gumbo mud. A substance very similar to gravel was made from Gumbo mud and used for streets and sidewalks in Forest Park during the 1904 World's Fair. Gumbo's post office operated from 1882 to 1907. • Monarch (earlier called Atherton, then Eatherton) was one of the settlements that sprang up along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific rail line when it came through the valley in the late 1870s. William Sutton's General Store stood on the north-west corner of Eatherton and Centaur Roads. Their post office operated from 1895 to 1907, when the mail was transferred to Chesterfield. A well-known residence in Monarch was named "The Shadows"; it still survives, with a commanding view from its bluff site. • Bonhomme, which is French for "good man", is located at the extreme western end of Olive Street Road. It had a blacksmith shop, grist mill, store, post office and Fenn's saw mill; but it was all washed away in the late 19th century by the Missouri River. Bonhomme was a popular name in St. Louis County; with Bonhomme streets, roads, creeks, churches and townships still so-named. However, this Bonhomme is the only one that ever had its own post office.

Incorporation The name "Chesterfield" was given by landowner Justus Post who arrived in Missouri in 1815 and began amassing an estate in the location of the present-day city. Post had grown up in Vermont, not far from the town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which sits on the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. Although Post eventually left Missouri and moved to Illinois, his chosen placename of "Chesterfield" stuck.

For many years, "Chesterfield" was an all-inclusive place-name for a vast, unincorporated sub-region of western St. Louis County (called "West County" by metro area residents) containing the unincorporated historical communities listed above, plus areas now incorporated as cities of their own (e.g., Ballwin). Police and fire protection in the community were fragmented and sporadic, the former provided by St. Louis County. As the population grew, Chesterfield Mall and other retail and commercial real estate developments sprang up; however, many residents were concerned about the lack of quality public services, and that the municipal sales tax benefited the county instead of the community.

An organization was formed calling itself the "Chesterfield Incorporation Study Committee". Headed by its president, John A. Nuetzel (himself a former president of the River Bend Association, a zoning watchdog group), the members "passed the hat" at neighborhood meetings, engaged legal help, drew up metes and bounds, and forced several failed public votes for incorporation. After a number of years, in 1988, The City of Chesterfield was finally established by its residents, and has thrived as perhaps West County's premier residential, business, retail, and transportation center.

Geography Chesterfield is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of St. Louis. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.52 square miles (86.82 km²), of which 31.78 square miles (82.31 km²) is land and 1.74 square miles (4.51 km²) is water.

Portions of Chesterfield are located in the floodplain of the Missouri River, now known as Chesterfield Valley, formerly as Gumbo Flats. Here several small creeks empty into the Missouri River (Caulks Creek and Bonhomme Creek). This area was submerged during the Great Flood of 1993; higher levees built since then have led to extensive commercial development in the valley. Chesterfield Valley is the location of Spirit of St. Louis Airport, used for corporate aviation, as well as the longest outdoor strip mall in America.

Economy Reinsurance Group of America, Dierbergs, Kellwood, Amdocs, Aegion and Broadstripe have their headquarters in Chesterfield. Chesterfield has three malls, two of which are outlet malls as well as a strip mall called the Chesterfield Commons.

Economy: Top employers According to a recent Financial Report, the top employers in the city include: 1 St. Luke's Hospital; 2 Parkway School District; 3 Bayer; 4 Delmar Gardens Enterprises; 5 Reinsurance Group of America; 6 Dierbergs Markets; 7 Amdocs; 8 Mercy Health; 9 McBride & Son Companies; 10 MOHELA.

Arts and culture St. Louis County Library Samuel C. Sachs Branch is in Chesterfield.

Parks and recreation Faust Park contains a playground, historical village, walking trail, carousel, and The Butterfly House, which opened in 1998. A nearby cement butterfly sculpture by Bob Cassilly was dedicated in 1999.

Recreation facilities in Chesterfield include Chesterfield Amphitheater, Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex, and Chesterfield Family Aquatic Center.

Education Public schools Rockwood School District serves the western portions of the city, and Parkway School District serves the east. District schools located in Chesterfield include: • Chesterfield Elementary • Green Trails Elementary • Highcroft Ridge Elementary • Kehrs Mill Elementary • Marquette High School • Parkway Central High School • Parkway Central Middle • Parkway West High School • Parkway West Middle • River Bend Elementary • Shenandoah Valley Elementary • Wild Horse Elementary; Private schools There are four private elementary schools: Chesterfield Day School, Chesterfield Montessori School, Ascension School, and Incarnate Word School. Barat Academy is a private high school.

Colleges Logan College of Chiropractic offers undergraduate and graduate level courses on Chiropractic, Pre-Chiropractic, Sport Science and Rehabilitation medicine.

Highways and major roads Interstate 64 (locally referred to as "Highway 40") runs East-West through Chesterfield. There are seven exits serving the city (numbers 14-21). Missouri Route 340 (a.k.a., Olive Blvd.) runs on East-West through much of Chesterfield, before turning Southwest near the I-64 Interchange; its name changes to Clarkson Road south of this junction. Missouri Route 141 runs along the eastern border between Chesterfield and Town and Country. Route 141's northern terminus was, until recently, located in Chesterfield at Olive Blvd. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic (DHT) began construction of Route 141 in Chesterfield in 2009. MoDOT expanded Route 141 between just south of Ladue Road (Route AB) to Olive Boulevard (Route 340). DHT extends Route 141 from Olive Road to the Page Avenue Extension (Route 364) at the Maryland Heights Expressway.

Transport: Public Public transportation is provided by Metro and connects Chesterfield to many other portions of Greater St. Louis by numerous bus routes.

Transport: Air Spirit of St. Louis Airport is located in the Chesterfield Valley; the airport is owned by St. Louis County.

Transport: Rail Central Midland Railway (CMR), a division of Progressive Rail Inc. of Minnesota, provides regular freight rail service to industrial customers located in the Chesterfield Valley. CMR operates the far eastern segment of the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway's St. Louis to Kansas City main line that was constructed in 1870. The active portion of the former CRI&P line runs from the north side of St. Louis, where it connects with the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis and Union Pacific Railroad, and now terminates in Union, Missouri. A primary rail customer in Chesterfield is a RockTenn (formerly Smurfit Stone) corrugated packaging plant which is located on a spur track that extends from the main track northward along the east end of the runway of the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. RockTenn typically receives inbound shipments of corrugated paper.