Missouri

The mail coaches and prairie schooners traveling west in the late 1800s on the Manchester Trail would have stopped in what is today known as Brentwood. Maddenville, as the area was then called, was named after a prominent businessman who owned a grocery store, barbershop, rock quarry, and blacksmith shop. While some travelers took respite in Porta's Tavern and pressed westward, others never left the community that later grew, along with the railroad, into a bustling community just outside St. Louis. This collection of words and images by the Brentwood Historical Society brings to life the small-town values and humble history of "The City of Warmth."

In this book, more than 200 historic photographs portray the days when the Brentwood Dinky streetcar ran from St. Louis, Link's Chicken Farm became infamous, and Louis J. "Pat" Bompart, grandson of Brentwood's founder, bought tavern patrons round after round of drinks. Pictured here are the schools, churches, businesses, and festivals that have endeared residents to Brentwood since its earliest days as a whistle stop.

In 1904, from a plot of land that would soon become University City, eccentric publisher Edwin Gardner Lewis shone the beam of what he claimed was the world's largest searchlight over the World's Fair in nearby St. Louis. Several years later, he claimed an even greater possession: a city, created around his publishing complex, complete with his own mayoral office, wide boulevards, and beautiful residences. The story of University City is one of urban wonder: from the city's "Hilltop Neighbor" and namesake, Washington University, to the diversity showcased in today's University City. The historic images in this volume illustrate the area's founding and development, from the largest printing press of the time, capable of producing 300,000 eight-page newspapers an hour, to the lion sculptures at the city's famed "Gates of Opportunity," standing proud as the city's everlasting symbol.