St. Paul’s Lutheran, Des Peres

Some earlier records from this church have been indexed and microfilmed. A partial index of baptisms (1849–1904) and deaths (1851–1891) is online. This information is available in the Emerson History and Genealogy Center at St. Louis County Clark Family Branch.

Click here to go to the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church information on the SLCL website.

History

Established: 1838, still open in 2020

In 1838 a group of Protestant Germans settled in the area known today as Des Peres, Missouri, to form a joint German Evangelical and Lutheran congregation. Known as the German Evangelical Zion Church, this congregation was established on Manchester Road near Ballas Road in St. Louis County. Their first log cabin was built on that site.

In 1843, early Lutherans in the Stratmann area of the county (now Creve Coeur), who originally attended the Zion Evangelical Church rather than traveling downtown, split away to form their own church. These Lutherans called themselves the Evangelical Congregation of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession on the Bonhomme Road; they are now Immanuel Lutheran, Olivette.

The original Zion Evangelical Church built a second log structure about a mile north of Manchester and Ballas Roads in 1847, and they opened a cemetery for their members, which is now at 1930 Windmoor Place. They continued as a joint congregation until 1849 when the remaining congregants split into two churches, one Evangelical and one Lutheran. The Lutheran church, now called St. Paul’s Lutheran in Des Peres, remained at the Ballas and Manchester site.

The Evangelicals moved further north on Ballas Road to Ballas and Clayton and became the Parkway Zion Evangelical Church, retaining the early records of the former joint congregation.

St. Paul’s Lutheran in Des Peres built a new brick church in 1867 at the northeast corner of Manchester and Ballas Roads. The congregation helped build the Lutherans’ Orphan Home adjacent to their church in 1868. They continued to use the old log church as a school until 1883 when they built a new school behind the new church. The church kept the historic log church until 1949 when John Hagemann purchased the log church and moved it to his farm. In 1938, the congregation replaced their old red-brick church with a new stone building on the northeast corner of Manchester and Ballas Roads. They added a newer building to the north in 1985 to accommodate their growing congregation.

Address: 12345 Manchester Road, Des Peres, Missouri 63131

Church website: St. Paul’s Lutheran-Des Peres

GPS (Latitude, Longitude): 38.6040281,-90.4435069 (Click here for Google map.)

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery, located at 921 North Ballas Road, is a historical cemetery established in 1846 on the grounds of the church. Access St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery here.

Last Modified: 21-Sep-2024 13:05