The city has a total area of 11.85 square miles, including 11.83 of land and 0.02 of water. Most of it sits on an elevated plateau that divides the watersheds of the Gasconade River (a tributary of the [[Missouri River]]) to the west and northwest and the Meramec River (a direct tributary of the [[Mississippi River]]) to the east. It has an average elevation of 1,122 feet, the land generally sloping downward toward the south.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120702145235/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt</ref> | The city has a total area of 11.85 square miles, including 11.83 of land and 0.02 of water. Most of it sits on an elevated plateau that divides the watersheds of the Gasconade River (a tributary of the [[Missouri River]]) to the west and northwest and the Meramec River (a direct tributary of the [[Mississippi River]]) to the east. It has an average elevation of 1,122 feet, the land generally sloping downward toward the south.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120702145235/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt</ref> |