St. Louis area town razed for stores that didn’t come

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo — Allenton, Missouri, used to be a small town near Eureka, Missouri. There was a general store, a post office, and a school there. Families settled in, and houses sprung up. The community was small, but, as is customary in small towns, everyone knew everyone.

It was a town until 2004, when plans for a strip mall development started, which led to the town being taken over by the government. When those ventures failed, there was nothing left.

Allenton was established in 1853, but it never grew beyond 70 frame homes, a post office, a schoolhouse, a church, a gas station, and a couple of bars.

Allenton residents convinced Eureka to take over the town in 1985 in order to tackle serious water supply concerns. County health officials discovered that sewage from numerous septic tanks was flowing into the well water.

When Allenton was a town, crossing a small, steep bridge was one of the two good ways to enter into it. The other route will take you many miles away from Eureka.

Due to its remote location, Allenton has remained rural. Four-wheel drive vehicles with high clearance can cross Fox Creek and access Allenton from the west through a farmer’s dirt road.

Hunter’s Ford Access on the Meramec River is the only way to access to Allenton from the south

A railroad track separates Allenton from the rest of the county. Before the Civil War, James P. Kirkwood, the namesake of the adjacent town, built these railroads.

This was one of the first transcontinental railroads, and it helped America reach its “Manifest Destiny” goal of controlling the whole continent from sea to sea. Allenton grew up because of the railroad. It was a place for railroad workers to live and a place where crops from nearby fields could be loaded.

The St. Louis Paranormal Research Society, said that Allenton is a ghost town. It is a ghost of a town, since no one lives there.

Fond memories of the past

One Eureka, Missouri, resident recalls her time in Allenton. Kristal Harris stated that her time spent in Allenton was “wonderful.”

They were an eight-person family. They had long-time friends who resided on the Hill, on the far west and east sides of town. Furthermore, they were the Bentons.

Kristal Harris as a young kid in front of her home in Allenton, Mo.

“The Eureka school district, before it was known as Rockwood school, is the reason our parents moved from St. James, Missouri, in the 60’s,” Harris said. “Dad said he wanted us to have a proper education since he and mom were not that privileged. They raised the first three children in a two-room house and later bought a house kit, assembled it with family and community, and then the well went in in the 70’s.”

Harris stated that she remembers “Helen Janke babysat for me for a while; my parents were at work, so I hung out with her at the store.”

Harris claimed that the supply store, Janke, caught fire when she was about three years old. There was no longer a store in town after the disaster, only a post office.

Harris said her most clear recollection of growing up there is being taught to put God first, people second, and themselves third.

“The Rays up on the Hill were excellent teachers of Biblical values alongside our parents,” said Harris.

Kristal Harris said this is a photo of her brother and his first car. In the background are structures that are no longer standing in Allenton.

Harris stated that she would spend her summer vacations at Six Flags. “Our summer babysitter was Six Flags. There were several high school students who knew our parents from school, and we were being observed attentively while we spent the most of our time in the arcade.”

Six Flags was the neighborhood hotspot in the 1980s, and while the Coco Cabana Friday Night Dance in the Park only lasted one summer, Harris said she had the nicest time dancing and catching up with her classmates.

She also said that at the time, Allenton kids could use the pool, pool tables, and sauna at the Ramada Inn.

This is the demolition of Kristal Harris child home in Allenton.

“I do remember a barbershop at one time and two churches. Across the stone bridge entry to Allenton, to the right of our home, we watched a truck stop move in,” said Harris. “I also remember playing in old concrete pipes along the railroad tracks as our secret hideouts as children.”

Harris stated that her parents sold the Allenton home to a married couple. Harris’ parents eventually retired to Steelville.

After Eureka, Missouri, annexed Allenton, Missouri, the couple who bought her childhood home went through the process of being bought out.

So, what exactly happened?

1,000-acre are about seven and a half football fields big

The government used the “eminent domain” clause to evict several private property owners. Furthermore, the municipality was supported by tax increment financing. This TIF used tax money for private purposes. St. Louis County has declared the town blighted, therefore this TIF can be used.

Residents were fed up with being stuck in limbo, so Eureka used its own funds to buy out a few property owners in 1999.

Then, in 2004, American Heritage Residences, Jones Berra Co., and a few other companies came up with the most ambitious plan yet: a shopping center with about 1,700 homes and a Lowe’s home improvement store at its center.

Allenton, Missouri’s days were numbered in 2006, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to reports, the town was going to be demolished and replaced with a 1,000-acre housing complex and a big-box retail outlet.

A decade later, given Allenton’s proximity to Interstate 44, one developer after another attempted to put together deals for shopping developments, according to a 2010 St. Louis Post-Dispatch report.

In 2010, the city’s former mayor, Kevin Coffey, said that people have wanted a big store for a long time and have complained about having to shop elsewhere. According to him, the development would have included sports fields, playgrounds, and a recreation center.

He said that Allenton had a few nice homes, but the area was not at all charming. The siding on some trailers had come loose. Sewer lines were only present in a few dwellings. According to Coffey, some residents’ septic tanks were 75 years old and completely destroyed.

Allenton is no longer a thriving community. Main Street and a few other roads still have street signs, but they are in disrepair. Vacant lots are littered with the remains of old houses and fence posts. Along the now-abandoned streets, old mailboxes with their former house numbers are still visible.