Pevely, Missouri

Pevely, Missouri
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Settled	1860
Population	5,484 (2010 census)
Area (sq mi)	4.69 mi²
Current mayor	Stephanie Haas

Pevely is a city along the Mississippi River in eastern Jefferson County, Missouri. It had a population of 5,484 at the 2010 census.

History

Pevely's origins are more obscure than those of many other communities in Jefferson County. The first identifiable inhabitant in the area was Bartholomew Harrington, who operated a stagecoach inn on the route from St. Louis to Ste. Genevieve, while a prominent early landmark was Pleasant Valley Mill, erected at some point in the early 19th century. A town did not really evolve, though, until 1860, when Judge Charles Rankin laid one out along a portion of the newly-built Missouri Pacific Railroad, dubbing it "Pevely Springs" and later just "Pevely." The meaning of the name is somewhat unclear; it is believed to stem from an early resident of that name, but about whom little is known.

Not incorporated until 1953, Pevely was for the first century of its existence a small farming community; it was a major supplier of dairy products, and there were some important vineyards along the Mississippi River as well. The city saw rapid expansion during the 1970s, more than quadrupling in size, largely as a result of the ongoing wave of suburban development in the county. It is now especially important as a bedroom community for those working in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and as a result continues to enjoy a steady population growth.

Pevely became the center of some controversy in November 2016, when the city's police chief, Charles Moutray, assaulted his wife after discovering that she was having an affair; the decision by county prosecutors not to press charges led to protests from locals and from anti-domestic violence activists. Moutray resigned as police chief in 2019.

Geography

Pevely is located along the Mississippi River in eastern Jefferson County, its core between Interstate 55 to the west and U.S. Routes 61-67 to the east. It is directly adjacent to the city of Herculaneum to the south, and is about six miles south of Kimmswick and ten miles northeast of Hillsboro. Its exact coordinates are 38°17’02”N 90°23’49”W.

The city lies on a range of low hills overlooking the Mississippi River, descending to the south into a valley created by nearby Joachim Creek. It has a total area of 4.69 square miles, and an average elevation of 440 feet.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Pevely had a total of 5,484 inhabitants, grouped into 2,128 households, with a population density of 1,207.9 people per square mile. This figure represented a dramatic increase from the 2000 census, when Pevely had a population of 3,768. 96.23% of the inhabitants were White, 1.02% were African-American, 0.31% were Native American, 0.33% were Asian, 0.02% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.15% were from some other race, and 1.95% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 1.20% of the population.

The median age in Pevely was 31.5 years, with 28.6% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 10.0% between 18 and 24 years old, 28.8% between 25 and 44, 23.8% between 45 and 64, and 8.8% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 48.2% male, 51.8% female.

According to the 2018 American Community Survey, Pevely had a median household income of $57,897, and a median family income of $71,850. The unemployment rate was 2.6%. The per capita income was $26,358. About 18.7% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 27.3% of people under the age of 18 and 3.6% of people 65 years old or older.

Government

Pevely has a mayor-council form of government, consisting of a mayor and two aldermen from each of the city's four wards. All members are typically elected for two-year terms. The current mayor of Pevely is Stephanie Haas, most recently re-elected in April 2021.

Education

Pevely is part of the Dunklin R-V School District, created in 1965 through the consolidation of the preexisting public schools there and in neighboring Herculaneum. Pevely Elementary is still included within the city itself, while Herculaneum has the other facilities, Senn-Thomas Middle School and Herculaneum High School.

Community Life

The city has four main parks: Pevely (City), Ellis Bage, Joe Whaley, and Stacey Reece (the latter named for a local casualty in the Vietnam War). The city park is the most developed of the four, and hosts most of the organized civic events. These events include the Pevely Homecoming Festival, typically held in late August each year and including live entertainment, carnival rides, and a pie-baking contest.

A major attraction in Pevely is the I-55 Raceway, a high-banked dirt racetrack located off Interstate 55 on the city's southern edge. Conducting auto races on Saturday nights from March to September each year, it has occasionally hosted racing celebrities such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and is said to be the largest dirt racetrack in a 100-mile radius.

One local item of historical interest is the Gustave Greystone-Meissner House, built in the 1840s and a surviving example of the Gothic Revival architectural style in the United States. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.