Day Tripping

Eureka! So Much More Than Six Flags

By Christy Marshall

Photography by Frank Di Piazza

The scene is easy to imagine. Men building railroad tracks heading west from St. Louis in the mid-1800s come around a bend and see an area relatively free of hills, rocks and excessive dirt. Someone shouts: "Eureka!" Bingo. A town has a name.

Today, Eureka teeters on morphing into St. Louis urban sprawl. Located along Interstate 44 just south of Wildwood, it doesn't require a day's trip. It's more a half-day--maybe just several hours. And when there, concentrate on the old part of town.

Leaving I-44 at exit 264, turn south (left) onto Highway 109 and follow the signs to the business district. Get ready to shop. The first (and about the best) antique stop: Central Avenue Antiques, on your right as you cross the railroad tracks. Park in front of the gray house. Inside you will find one treasure after another, mixed in with newer, albeit interesting, accessories.

Down the street and around the corner: Eureka Ice House Antiques, a little mall with 15 dealers selling their finds, and right next door to Gingerbread Antiques.

Back on Central: Studio 145, a resale shop selling clothes and shoes for mothers and their heirs. Next door is Chanticleer Antiques, home to a number of true finds, including vintage Christmas ornaments, a hand-painted Victorian drop-front desk and chair, old birdcages, four French opaline lily- shaped curtain tiebacks and a folk art church made out of shells. Another shop, Dragonfly Designs, selling a potpourri of old and new painted furniture, gift items, stationery and jewelry, operates out of the back room.

For the mother lode of craft stores, proceed to Painted Daisy Artique, which was voted as one of the Top 100 Retailers of American Craft each of the last five years by Niche magazine.

The store is packed with metal sculptures, photographs, glass paintings, woodworks, oil paintings, wire art, quilts, candles, a sepia photograph screened on canvas, funky nightlights by Cheryl Cohen, wire mesh candleholders, Sally Simpson's intensely colorful photos, Barbara Shupe's photographs of France.

Also on the block is the Firehouse Gallery, full of old firefighters' memorabilia as well as trunk loads of teddy bears.

If you start to be seized with hunger pangs, your choices up the block include Solid Rock Kaffee Haus, Michelle's Cafe (great homemade potato chips and chicken/brie wrap) and T. J. Samuels Grill.

Once sated, keep going up the hill to Melanie Human's Magnolia's Marketplace, a way-above-average florist (favored by a number of St. Louisans) and gift shop.

Before you head on home, stop by Eureka Nursery for extremely healthy plants. Crazy for collectibles? Swing by the huge (500 dealers) Great Midwest Antique Mall. Then it's a turn or two and you're bound for St. Louis' suburbs. With the city's sprawl, the far side of Wildwood is not far away.

First known inhabitants: Shawnee Indians

Founded: In 1858, when it was laid out as a village along the route of the Missouri Pacific Railroad

Early prosperous times: In 1890, Eureka was a village with nearly 100 homes, a Catholic chapel, Methodist church, post office, Freemasons' Hall, three stores, a district school, two blacksmiths, a wagon maker, a saloon and St. Louis Children's Industrial Farm, a camp for poor and orphaned city children now known as Camp Wyman.

First high school class held: In 1909

Incorporated: On April 7, 1954, Eureka incorporated as a fourth-class city with an area of 2.7 square miles.

Population: 7,676* Land area: 10.1 square miles*

Location: Two miles west of the former Times Beach site, which now is known as Route 66 State Park

Median resident age: 34.1 years*

Median household income: $74,301*

Median house value: $141,500*

School district: Rockwood School District

Six Flags St. Louis: Built 1970 (* According to 2000 Census)