I just received a kind word from Bridgeton City Administrator Thomas Haun that Bridgeton Mayor Conrad Bowers is willing to meet with me to discuss Carrollton’s history. In my excitement, I have already begun preparing questions though the interview will not likely take place until March. I am interested in hearing more about his tenure as the city leader during the Lambert Expansion Project.
If you did not already know, Bridgeton is in the finishing stages of relocating City Hall (Government Center as many are now called) down Natural Bridge into their newly constructed building. The new building has a new, modern design, but I will miss the mid-century style reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright building that was formerly City Hall. The new building now stands atop where Hot Shots Bar and Grill and (I believe) an old Phillips 66 used to be. It’s almost too metaphorically eerie that Lambert’s last buyout was ground zero for the initial airport expansion resistance.
Bridgeton’s official website concludes its informational section with the city motto: Bridgeton is Forever. The motto was developed when I was a kid during the first indications that Lambert International Airport was considering expanding into Bridgeton city limits. The current City Hall has a landing strip in its backyard. City leaders are the last to pack their things and move on in a different place, as so many of Bridgeton’s residents were forced to do for seemingly endless years. An outsider would believe that the town’s motto has simply become empty words spoken too long ago. I am not inclined to believe that the soul of Bridgeton Forever has left. Even with a major percentage of the township sold to the City of St. Louis and Lambert Airfield, you have to give the city credit for being on the side of the residents along the way, fighting the expansion project along the way, to be the very last ones to relocate. I do think there is good reason Mr. Bowers has remained in charge for decades. How many other civic leaders could possibly remain in office during the entire length of time half of their city had been declared eminent domain and gobbled up to an outsider? I can’t think of any other elected official that could outlast such a perfect storm of bad scenarios and still remain the captain. To say they, and all of city hall failed, would be wrong. They may have lost the battle, but by fighting valiantly, they didn’t fail as leaders. The part of Bridgeton that remains have loyal, long-time residents, commercial and industrial businesses and economic-minded goals for future growth. It is fair to say that the battered captain and crew finally deserve a grand new ship, a new Government Center that will hopefully sail in calmer yet prosperous seas. Bridgeton is indeed Forever as long as people continue to believe in Bridgeton.
J. Desy Schoenewies
56 Houses Left 
Dearest Jami-
Wow. I just stumbled upon your posts, while searching for more info on Times Beach. I feel ashamed to say that I was entirely unaware of Carrollton subdivision before reading all of this (I live in Wisconsin). However, once I started reading, I went to the beginning and finished the entire thing. I have run the gamut of emotions, from disgust and anger, to downright sad – a couple of the stories made me weep. I wasn’t prepared for that. Not only is your subject matter fascinating, but your writing style and obvious intelligence make this entire journey utterly intriguing. You should be very proud of your efforts here, especially since it encompasses a subject that is so dear to your own heart. Great work.
Thank you Cheryl. I truly appreciate the kind words of encouragement.
Just want to say, “Thank You” again. it has been a bit since i last wrote to you about Carrollton and the memories all we residents share about the area. Perhaps we appreciate this site somuch is due to the fact that Carrollton should not hve been destroyed, I as did so many of us, expect it to outlive us. Ine does not expect the neighborhood in which they grew up to suddenly disappear. O.K., it wasn’t sudden, it was a protracted event borne of corruptness and mishandling of public powers. The fact is, Carrollton is gone and we miss her. We move on. it doesn’t derail our lives. It just really lays out the fact that “you can’t, ever, go home again.
Pax, Jason
Very well put! Thank you Jason.
I lived here on Selwyn Lane when I was a boy…four to eight years old. I remember the pool, some of the streets, my best friends Susan Campbell and John Calhoun. At the end of Selwyn Lane was a large yet-to-be (and by the satellite photos I’ve seen, never-to-be) developed area that I remember we called The Big Dirt.
We were original owners there, from 1958-1962 and I think our house design was called a “Windsor” but I may be wrong. My dad built an elliptical-shaped patio in our yard, and an above-ground pool…things he was incredibly proud of, as well as his white 1959 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88.
Started public kindergarten and elementary school some miles away in an old brown-brick school building…then the new school near (or in?) Carrolton was opened in when I was in first grade. Anyone know the names of these schools?
I got curious and searched Google Earth a few months ago, only to have it take me to a bunch of un-labeled abandoned roads. But I found the patterns emerging, and was able to find the street, the pool, entrance…very strange indeed. Zooming out I found Lambert Field…I have no recollection of us being so close to the airport, but then, it was mostly prop planes back then. Makes some sense, though, since my dad had to fly a lot for his job.
I have always been fascinated by abandoned neighborhood around airports, wondering who lived there, and how it was they were forced to leave (the one at the ocean end of LAX must have been wonderful, on a bluff overlooking the Pacific) and how odd to find my own past now part of such a place.
I have lived in Honolulu for most of my adult life…haven’t been back to St. Louis in decades.
Thank you for this site. I find myself strangely moved by the posts and comments. I wish my parents and older brother were still alive, now that I find myself wanting to know more.
My fondest aloha to all who lived at Carrolton at the time of its condmemnation and were forced to leave. And sympathy to those who suffered from the recent tornado.
…Dennis
The second school you went to, when it was new, would have been either Carrollton Elementary on Celburne, or Carrollton Oaks Elementary. I have a feeling that if you lived on Selwyn, you would have attended Carrollton Elementary, over 270 from Woodford Way. You were also close to St. Lawrence Catholic Church and School.
When you searched Google, did you look at some of the older aerial maps that included Bridgeton Terrace and Cypress Road connecting to Natural Bridge Road (at Lindbergh before the tunnel? The airport was much smaller then, and you can see where the airport expanded to reach its boundaries today.
Thank you Dennis for your warm comments and recollections! Aloha to you!