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Bridgeton Memorial Park - Burial Records
Bridgeton, St. Louis County, Missouri

bridgeton memorial park
Bridgeton Memorial Park

GPS: 38.749154, -90.386703

W-1W Runway, St. Louis Airport
Bridgeton, MO 63044

Date published: December 31, 2017
Total records: 103

Bridgeton Memorial Park is no longer in existence.

History

Bridgeton Memorial Park originally began as "Village à Robert Cemetery" named after the settlement of the same name. The settlement dated back to 1794, and documents filed by the Federal Aviation Admnistration declared that the cemetery dated back to the same year, 1794. Originally sized at 2 acres, it was considered the one of the oldest cemeteries in the greater St. Louis area.

Documents created by other historians and genealogists suggest that the cemetery was established much later, in 1843, as an integrated, black and white burial ground.

There are reports that many African Americans were buried here, some of which were Civil War veterans. The cemetery has also been referred to as a "pauper's cemetery", while others referred to it as being the poorer alternative to Washington Park Cemetery. The cemetery slowly went into decay after surviving family members died off or moved away. Many, if not all, tombstones were stolen, crumbled and broken, or had mysteriously disappeared.

A legal decision by the Circuit Court of St. Louis County in the suit, "Inhabitants of the town of Bridgeton, et al, vs. Mildred Cobb, et al., November 1, 1963", concluded that the the City of Bridgeton was in fact legally required to provide permanent maintenance of the cemetery, and place a memorial of those buried in the cemetery.

Thus, in 1969, the City of Bridgeton converted the land into a memorial park, and assigned a street address of "4616 Long Rd". It was sized at 1 acre, and was situated on the same 2 acre plot of the original Village à Robert Cemetery. They removed whatever visible structures were there, allowed the bodies to remain, and then leveled the grounds. It was estimated about 10,000 graves had been created here since its inception in 1794. The city added a memorial wall that contained the names of interred bodies, but only 100+ names were offered. They also added four granite benches.

In 2001, St. Louis Airport Authority acquired the land for its own expansion. Following, the memorial wall and benches were removed. Between 2002 and 2003, the Authority distinterred the bodies and reinterred them at St. Ferdinand Cemetery in Hazelton, MO, along with the original memorial wall. During the disinterment process, only bone fragments were found. St. Ferdinand Cemetery, in turn, recorded 709 interments in section 70, and gave them each the surname, "Doe" in their records.

The Bridgeton Memorial Park today lies below runway W-1W, on the east side of where Long Rd had once ran.

St. Mary's Catholic Church (which was also demolished for airport expansion) had been located northwest of the cemetery, perhaps no more than 200 to 300 feet. Because of the proximity of the church, some residents believed the cemetery belonged to the church, but it had not been. While persons buried at Bridgeton Memorial Park were not necessarily Catholic, the selection of St. Ferdinand Cemetery as the new reinterment location may have been chosen to maintain the same closeness to Catholic-blessed grounds.

Cemetery Records

Documents available for download...

 

Listing of names that had been inscribed on the Memorial Wall erected by the City of Bridgeton in 1969...


ADAMS, Annie
ADAMS, Benjamine
ADAMS, George
ADAMS, Lottie
ALEXANDER, Ben
ALEXANDER, George
ALEXANDER, Henry
ALEXANDER, Lucy
ALLEN, Eugene
BASSETT, Arthur
BERRY, William, Dr.
BIVENS, Febie
BIVENS, George
BIVENS, Lizzie
BIVENS, Millie
BIVENS, Rafe
BIVENS, Samuel
BLACK, Cosley
BLACK, Edward
BLACK, Hiram
BLACK, King
BLACK, Sam
CARTER, Bell
CHEEKS, Lilly
CLANTON, Henry
DICKSON, Fred
DUGLAS, Joe, Jr.
EDWARDS, Auston, Jr.
EDWARDS, Auston
EDWARDS, Grace
EDWARDS, Katie
GALLIGER, Family, The
GRANNISON, Almiria
GRANNISON, Dan
HALL, Creed, Jr.
HALL, Creed
HALL, Hillard
HALL, Hiram
HEGGERTY, Jack
HEIDORN, Children, The
HODGE, Lizzie
HODGE, Steve
HORN, Family, The
JACKSON, Nasrus
JOHNSON, Amy
JOHNSON, Georgia
JOHNSON, Julia
JOHNSON, Robert
JOHNSON, Tuner
KNIGHT, Mr.
LEWIS, Henry
LINT, Hal
LINT, Luvenia
MCCLURE, Family, The
MOORE, Jessie
MUMPS, Enoch
PHILLIPS, Elic
PHILLIPS, Eliza
PHILLIPS, Ike
PHILLIPS, Tilly
PHILLIPS, Walter
PRUITT, Bell
PUEROA, Family, The
RIDDLE, Fred
ROBERTSON, James
RUSH, Will
SCOTT, Baron
SCOTT, Louise
SCOTT, Lydia
SMITH, Laura
STANTON, Roberta
STEVENSON, Lewis
STEWARD, Fred
STOCKER, Henry
TAYLOR, Joseph
THOMPSON, Abe
THOMPSON, Henry
THOMPSON, Hiram
THOMPSON, Jenny
TUCKER, Mamie
VONRAY, Barney
WADLINGTON, Texas Hall
WALKER, Edward
WALKER, Kit
WALKER, Lizzie
WALKER, Quiller
WALKER, Tommy
WHITE, Barbara
WHITE, John
WHITE, Noah
WHITE, Shibina
WILSON, Alice
WILSON, Ernest
WILSON, George
WOODSON, Theodore
WOOLFOLK, Baby
WOOLFOLK, Hadley
WRIGHT, Gibson
WRIGHT, Hiram
WRIGHT, Mamie
YOUNG, Green
YOUNG, Mary Ann
YOUNG, Skip

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