By Martha K. Baker
Photographs by Ashley Heifner
Journalist Edward R. Murrow brought his cameras to Affton to film the class of 1950 for his television show See It Now. He found mostly white pupils with names such as Schiller and Beier, descendants of German immigrants who settled the area in the mid-1800s.
If Murrow were to revisit the now-151-year-old Affton School District or its near neighbors, he would still find mostly white students (the area is 97 percent white), but the local ethnos is evolving to Bosnian and Croatian. Twenty to 25 percent of the students in the Affton School District study English as a second language. “It’s all the same, but different,” says Kathy Jadlot, vice president of the Commerce Bank branch in Affton, referring to the area’s welcome mat for immigrants.
“We’re a melting pot,” says Joan Edleson, executive director of the Affton Chamber of Commerce. “A lot of the current wave of immigrants first moved to the city of St. Louis. When the families needed more room, not just a four-room house, they moved to a suburb close to the city. Here, they’re buying houses with three and four bedrooms.”
Underwritten by a $200,000 federal grant, the Affton Community Betterment Association, supported by the Community Partnership Program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, is studying the two areas of principal concern to Affton: its immigrants and its aging population.
The Un-City: Affton remains unincorporated because (1) its seniors worry about more taxes and (2) St. Louis County responds to Affton’s needs. “The county faithfully sends representatives to meetings of the Chamber of Commerce and the Betterment Association,” says Jadlot. “We get good service through the county.”
Coneheads: Supporters of the giant double-scoop ice-cream cone (est. 1942) that stood for years in front of the Velvet Freeze store on Gravois effected its move to the front yard of Mesnier School (6930 Weber).
Who’s buried in New Mount Sinai Cemetery? Fannie Hurst (1885-1968), author of 17 novels and more than 100 short stories championing the working woman. But don’t look for her under H; her records in the lovely stone office building are filed under D for Danielson, her husband’s name. Which. She. Never. Took.
Developments: The old Heege School at McKenzie is being converted into lofts, with price tags between $150,000 and $200,000. New houses are filling in the Lakewood area off Langley. There are eight new houses on Tesson Ferry Road; 132 condos on the old White-Rogers parking lot, off Reavis Road next to the community center; $500,000 homes going in across from Grant’s Farm. “We’re becoming a more affluent community,” says Edleson. “People are moving here because they want to be close in to work downtown.”
Actor John Goodman's joke: "I'm from L.A.—Lower Affton."
Statistics: Population in 1931: 800 | Population in 2000: 20,535 | Median Age: 39.9 years
Troughs: Gravois Road landmarks: Syberg’s, Federhofer’s Bakery, Sam’s Steakhouse and Phil’s Bar-B-Que. The Ten Mile House, which opened about 1872, earned its name by originally standing 10 miles from the courthouse downtown.
63123: The ZIP code takes in one city (Green Park), six villages (including St. George and Marlborough) and one unincorporated area (Affton).
Politics: A mix of liberal and conservative—but, says one voter, “A real liberal would not get elected from Affton!”
18 Holes: Tower Tee, a recreation complex of par-3 and miniature-golf courses, batting cages and a driving-range, has stood under the cottonwood trees at 6727 Heege for nearly 50 years.
