For nearly 40 years, Esley Hamilton has served as St. Louis County Parks and Recreation preservation historian, earning the description “irreplaceable” from St. Louis Post-Dispatch readers for his unending efforts to save key elements of St. Louis history. This Thursday, St. Louis County Parks and Recreation is hosting a retirement party in his honor at Jefferson Barracks Park—a celebration of his tireless work to preserve this city for future generations.
The landscape of St. Louis as we know it today would be all but unrecognizable without Hamilton’s passion for preservation. Notably, he’s worked with Washington University to preserve the original architecture of buildings like Olin Library, and convinced the Missouri Department of Transportation to adjust its plans for Highway 40, saving a community of homes that belonged to the county’s first African-American development. In total, Hamilton has cataloged over 4,000 county buildings and added over 40 properties and districts to the National Register of Historic Places, not to mention the beloved Tower Grove Park.
“Esley’s position functions as the only central location on a county-wide basis where people can have questions answered about the histories of buildings and what sorts of regulations there are for demolitions,” explains Andrew Weil, director of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis. “The St. Louis County historic preservation commission has always relied heavily on Esley’s judgment and recommendations—when development plans come up, they can make sure some kind of due process is given to whether the sacrifice of a historic resource is worth the trade.”
Recognized on countless occasions for his encyclopedic knowledge of local historical buildings and sites, as well as his perseverance in the fight to save them from new developments, Hamilton was just awarded one of four nationwide preservation awards from the Secretary of the Interior.
Despite his service to St. Louis County, Hamilton’s position was set for elimination back in 2012 when St. Louis County Parks and Recreation experienced an intense budget crunch. Although several county employees were laid off at the time, Hamilton managed to preserve his position, and since then, the people of St. Louis passed Proposition P, a sales tax increase to build trails, overhaul the Gateway Arch grounds, and maintain parks. New administration since 2012 has also helped support Hamilton’s position.
Hamilton says, “The new county executive [Steve Stenger] and the new director of parks [Gary Bess] are very committed to keeping this position. I think they realize that this commitment goes back to 1957, when the county first created the historic buildings commission.”
Thursday’s retirement celebration for Hamilton will also serve as a welcome to Danny Gonzales, who will be replacing him as the new preservation historian. Gonzales previously worked with Hamilton in a variety of capacities as a curator at Jefferson Barracks historic site. According to Kyra Kaltenbronn, Program Services Manager at St. Louis County Parks and Recreation and Hamilton’s direct supervisor, Gonzales was the natural choice out of over 160 applicants from across the nation.
“Danny will take up the reins and move forward in a new direction, so to speak, with one of our main priorities: to get out records digitized,” Kaltenbronn say. “He’s very accomplished at writing, giving presentations and networking with the community.”
While Gonzales has some pretty large shoes to fill, he’s focusing on his own skills set to build on Hamilton’s legacy.
“Esley had been in the position for 38 years and accumulated a great archive of information, including documents of numerous structures and historic communities in St. Louis. These records will be valuable for a ton of different people—people doing house histories, people working to get buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and more,” he says. “What I will be working on is a way to make those resources more readily available to people through online portals.”
Hamilton’s current projects will be passed on to Gonzales from the get-go: saving the Incarnate Word Convent building in Bel-Nor from demolition by University of Missouri–St. Louis and securing a spot for Fort Bellefontaine on the National Register of Historic Places. The county also hopes to publish a new edition of the book of county landmarks, entitled The Past and Presence, initially published in 1996, in order to include more mid-century buildings and neighborhoods.
Gonzales adds, “I wanted this position because it gives me the opportunity to do some research projects that are vital but that aren’t being done in other places—in particular, I like to find ways to give voice to communities underserved by cultural institutions.”
He says he is most excited about being able to work with Hamilton for the next year, as he’ll be staying on part-time to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I’m looking forward to the chance to learn from someone who is a real St. Louis legend,” Gonzales says.
Esley Hamilton’s retirement party is Thursday, July 9 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Pavilion at Lemay, Jefferson Barracks Park, 305 Gegg. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit stlouisco.com/parksandrecreation or call 314-615-4386.
