Difference between revisions of "St. James, Missouri"
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Beginning in the 1970s, a new development occurred in the area with the development of several wineries, most notably St. James Winery just north of town along Interstate 44. Especially in recent years, these award-winning and widely-known vineyards have drawn wine connoisseurs to the region, providing a significant boost to the city's economy. | Beginning in the 1970s, a new development occurred in the area with the development of several wineries, most notably St. James Winery just north of town along Interstate 44. Especially in recent years, these award-winning and widely-known vineyards have drawn wine connoisseurs to the region, providing a significant boost to the city's economy. | ||
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| + | ==Geography== | ||
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| + | St. James is located along Interstate 44 in eastern Phelps County, crossed by Missouri State Highway 8 (of which it is the western terminus) and Highway 68. It is about nine miles northeast of [[Rolla, Missouri|Rolla]], and 12 miles southwest of [[Cuba, Missouri|Cuba]]. Its exact coordinates are 37°59’56”N 91°36’59”W. | ||
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| + | The city lies along the northwestern edge of some rugged uplands that are part of the upper Meramec River valley; some of these slopes have been used in recent decades for its thriving wineries. The river itself, as well as the notable Meramec Spring and its accompanying park, flows just a few miles to the southeast. St. James has a total area of 4.28 square miles, and an average elevation of 1,093 feet.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 16:40, April 30, 2021
Saint James (more commonly St. James) is a city in eastern Phelps County, Missouri. It had a population of 4,216 at the 2010 census.
It was founded to be a shipping point for the nearby Maramec Iron Works, which were the first commercial iron works west of the Mississippi River (the site is on the National Register of Historic Places). The city is currently in the heart of Missouri's wine country; several wineries are located in or around the city including the St. James Winery, which has won numerous awards and of which one family member has served as Missouri's Director of Agriculture.
History
The St. James region was first settled during the antebellum era, and was originally known as Big Prairie, due to the patch of natural grassland on which it was located. A town was first laid out in 1859, in anticipation of the arrival of the Pacific Railroad from St. Louis; as many of the early settlers were from Ohio, it was first named Scioto, after one of the cities in that state. The following year, however, it was renamed St. James, in an oblique reference not to the apostle Saint James, but to Thomas James, an Ohioan who operated the Meramec Iron Works nearby and intended to use the town as a shipping point for its products.[1]
The city prospered during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks first to the activity of the iron works--though it eventually went into decline--and its proximity to the railroad, as well as the philanthropy of the James family, whose members (especially Thomas James' great-granddaughter, Lucy Wortham James) established a number of public institutions and parks, including Meramec Spring Park, giving it a rather bucolic appearance. For this reason, St. James is sometimes called "Forest City of the Ozarks."[2] The city stood out in another way with the election of Mayme H. Ousley in 1921, the first woman to be elected mayor of a Missouri town. The city hall was named in her honor in 2013.[3]
Beginning in the 1970s, a new development occurred in the area with the development of several wineries, most notably St. James Winery just north of town along Interstate 44. Especially in recent years, these award-winning and widely-known vineyards have drawn wine connoisseurs to the region, providing a significant boost to the city's economy.
Geography
St. James is located along Interstate 44 in eastern Phelps County, crossed by Missouri State Highway 8 (of which it is the western terminus) and Highway 68. It is about nine miles northeast of Rolla, and 12 miles southwest of Cuba. Its exact coordinates are 37°59’56”N 91°36’59”W.
The city lies along the northwestern edge of some rugged uplands that are part of the upper Meramec River valley; some of these slopes have been used in recent decades for its thriving wineries. The river itself, as well as the notable Meramec Spring and its accompanying park, flows just a few miles to the southeast. St. James has a total area of 4.28 square miles, and an average elevation of 1,093 feet.[4]