Carrollton,The Neighborhood Claimed by Lambert Intl.



Description

Carrollton was once home to more than 1,800 homes and nearly 6,000 residents. The developer of the neighborhood was Fischer and Fitchell who are well known for building upper middle class suburban styled homes. The neighborhood was started in the mid-1950s. My house was built in 1957. The architectural style came from Southern California and is a 1950s modernist version of the earlier Californian bungalow. Few homes had basements, and many had radiant heat from the floors. The large subdivision was masterly planned with curvilinear streets that connect and follow the topography of the land. The minor collector or through residential streets were Bonfils Dr. and Woodfard Way. Many workers at nearby McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing, and TWA, now American Airlines, lived in Carrollton.



Recreation

The center of the subdivision contained a central park with a ball field, club house, and outdoor pools. On the perimeter of the neighborhood were three parks: O’Conner Park, Oak Valley Park, and Freeborn Park. The four large parks guaranteed that no resident was more than a half mile walk from a park and recreation. Throughout the years Bridgeton has invested greatly in their parks.



Retail

A shopping strip mall was built at the main Natural Bridge entrance; there was a Schnucks grocery, bowling alley, dry cleaners, Asian restaurant, independently owned drug store, independent hardware store, and other shops. The owner of the Asian restaurant lived in Carrollton. The family that owned the hardware store lived on Gist Road on the neighborhood exterior; the hardware store was established in the early 1900s when the area was a small rural junction at Natural Bridge and St. Charles Rock Road. The central park was at least ¾ mile from the grocery store and one could see the nuns from St. Lawrence Catholic Church walking to the grocery until they had to move.



Schools

The neighborhood originally had three elementary schools in both the Pattonville and Hazelwood School Districts. Hazelwood’s Bonfils Elementary on Gist Road served West Carrollton, whereas Pattonville’s Carrollton Elementary and Carrollton Oaks Elementary served the majority of the neighborhood.



Churches

This was a family and faith oriented neighborhood. The neighborhood was served by St. Lawrence Catholic and John Calvin Presbyterian churches within the subdivision’s boundaries while Arlington United Methodist, Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Shepherd of the Hills, and a Baptist church were located on Natural Bridge Road or McKelvey Road less than ½ mile from a neighborhood entrance.



Airport Expansion

Lambert International Airport was the 8th busiest airport in the nation in 1987, which prompted the airport leadership and regional leadership to consider an expansion with a new runway to continue to meet demand and maintain St. Louis as a viable hub for TWA. They considered expanding in multiple directions: east into Kinloch, south into St. Ann, and west into Bridgeton. Initially, the airport began buying land to the north of Gist Road and along Lindbergh. They also purchased most of Kinloch to the east. However, the decision west was made after the destruction of Kinloch and loss of Missouri’s first African American city. Bridgeton fought the airport every year with lawsuits. Residents formed to petition their local, County, State, and U.S. representatives. The “Buy Out” began in 1997 and was supposed to be completed by 2004; it was delayed until 2006. Less than one-hundred homes existed in 2006 out of the original +1,800 and 1/3 of Bridgeton is no more. In response the strip mall has nearly vacated and a new Schnucks has been built near Lindbergh along St. Charles Road Road. This is to the dismay of the many residents who live in the Carrollton apartment buildings and other apartment and townhouse complexes that line Natural Bridge Road who could walk to the grocery and stores without the use of a car. These residents will now have to join the typical suburbanite in driving for their errands or taking the bus which rarely comes.



Transformation

The white frame farmhouse on Gist Road with its red barn at the entrance to Carrollton west and across from the now destroyed Bonfils Elementary has witnessed the transformation. The fertile landscape suitable to farming morphed into the modern, clean, and ideal 1950s suburban community whose glory years the Baby Boomer generation enjoyed. Many of the early residents were from rural America, received their college degrees in Engineering, Astrophysics, Business Management, and other fields, moved to the suburban communities close to their jobs, and took up work at McDonnell Douglas and TWA. The rapidly transforming semi-rural landscape less than ten miles from St. Louis City limits reminded them of their small town and rural origins. The neighborhood has since been returned to swaths of green space and is reforesting to the likes of deer, rabbits, and squirrels. The suburban trees have matured over the fifty years and create vaulted ceilings over the barren streets no longer lined with homes, children riding bikes, and neighbors walking dogs. The neighbors knew one another through the commonality of the children in grade school, seeing one another at church, and enjoying the Carrollton Club creating a community spirit that can exist in the suburbs despite much rhetoric to the contrary. However, as the generation ages and their children are grown and gone that spirit dwindles. This thread is dedicated to the spirit of Carrollton and in remembrance thereof before the past has escaped us and few can recall that where airplanes land and takeoff was once a thriving neighborhood.



Barren Street





Map





Carrollton (main section)



Grundy

















My former and now leveled home





Ralls, Phelps, Sangamon, and Gallatin

















Celburne





Hemet









Bondurante









Grandin and Brumley



























Other Streets





















































O’Conner Park

37 Acres of wonderful hilly land with a plateau for the tennis courts, pavilion, and bathrooms, the park even had several acres of forest for neighborhood kids to explore and play cops and robbers in or capture the flag.

































View towards the Missouri Bottom lands and St. Charles in the distance; if you look hard enough from the park you can see the spires of the historic churches









Carrollton West





























Carrollton north

























Entrance to Natural Bridge Road and McKelvey Road









Carrollton Oaks was the first section of the subdivision to be purchased and I do not have any pictures of it.



Carrollton Apartments along Natural Bridge Road

Thanks for this thread and the pictures. It makes me tremendously sad to read about the destruction of this beautiful neighborhood, which was built as the American Dream.



I knew someone that lived in Carrollton. It was a really nice house. Formal living room w/fireplace, dining room, big kitchen, hardwood floors, family room with big glass doors overooking a big patio - California style. I loved that place and would be happy living there now.



It may sound funny to say this, but I feel like saying a little prayer to mark the loss. This is a tragic loss. It makes me sad for you with your childhood home and entire neighborhood destroyed.

On Black Friday, I helped a friend of mine (Webster film student) shoot a film in Carrollton West. It's kind of eerie now. There's this entire suburban street layout with no houses or streetsigns or anything. It's just grass and the occasional tree where you'd expect houses to be. Thanks for the history behind the area.

Does anyone know how Carrollton got it's name? There is a town in Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC, called New Carrollton. New Carrollton, MD is a similar type of development. It is a planned 1950s development, winding streets, etc. I think the houses in Carrollton, MO might be slightly bigger/upscale and have a bit more comtemporary flair. New Carrollton, MD is named after Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Charles Carroll is important in Maryland and US history as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He signed it "Charles Carroll of Carrollton". Carrollton was the name of his large Maryland estate given to him by his father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis. In the 1950s, the developers of New Carrollton, MD used the name Carrollton because the land had some kind of connection to the Carroll family. Since Carrollton was already a place name in Maryland, they renamed it New Carrollton.



Is there any connection between the name of Carrollton, MO and Charles Carroll.

Fantastic write up and photos, SMS!



Thank you, so much, for posting.



My sister and her family now live in Ferguson after finally closing their buy out deal with the city on their house on Hemet. And, your post has caused me to recall countless names of buddies that lived on streets called Gallatin and Celburne who I played soccer and dodgeball with everyday at Carrollton Elementary.



My friends whose homes used to be in Carrollton Oaks are now treated to a pile of dirt 200 times the volume of the valley in which it filled. It blows me away everytime I see it when visiting home.



My grandmother's ancient brick house on Gist....goners.



Scherer's Pizza (first job) and Klaas' Market (best little quick mart ever) on Natural Bridge...goners



Personally, I'm happy my parents bought their place on the other side of Natural Bridge, or I'd be feeling extremely blue.