Lake St. Louis, Missouri

Lake St. Louis is a city located in western St. Charles County, Missouri. The city has an approximate population of 10,000. The city has a total area of  8.3 mi. 7.5 mi of it is land and 0.8 mi of it is water. The total area is 10.08% water.


The town of Lake St. Louis was founded in 1966 as a private weekend recreational lake community. One of the original five investors, Mr. R. T. Crow, felt its location between two major highways, I-70 and Rt. 61, and the westward growth of St. Louis justified building a new town, rather than just a weekend community. He investigated the idea of new towns, including visiting two others in the east: Reston, Virginia, and Columbia, Maryland. In the end, Crow bought out the other investors and became the sole developer of the Lake St. Louis community. St. Charles County approved the preliminary plan for Lake St. Louis in April of 1967. Construction on the dam for the 600-acre Lake St. Louis, the larger of the two lakes in the community, began in 1968. It was completed in 1973 and Crow filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy the next year.

With Crow out of the picture, and the looming threat of annexation from O'Fallon on the East and Wentzville on the West, the residents of the Harbor Town area of the community petitioned St. Charles County Circuit Court for incorporation of the Town of Harbor Town. The Court granted the petition and in June, 1975. With the approval of the incorporation, the Circuit Court appointed a Board of Trustees: George Heidelbaugh, Charles Bailey, David Spitznagel, Betty Patton and Howard Haddock as Chairman. In December of 1975 the town boundaries were expanded to include what was known as Phase A, the western-most portion of the city. In 1976 a special census was conducted that counted 2,445 residents. Residents voted in 1977 to change the name to Lake Saint Louis and become a 4th Class City under the Revised Statutes of Missouri. George Heidelbaugh was elected as the first mayor of the city.


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