Historical Barnhart/Imperial and surrounding areas

08/12/2026

Imperial, MO
Sokol Camp
Original Wolf Hollow Rd (Now US 61/67)

-1923
The first Sokol (falcon) formed in St Louis in the 1860's. In the first decades of the 20th century, the members of Sokol St. Louis enjoyed occasional outings and weekend picnics in the country. Occasionally, committees were formed to investigate the purchase of land for a "camp", but not until Nov 1923 did a real opportunity present itself.
On Christmas Eve Anthony Matousek, Sr., and Charles Jerabek visited a farm for sale in the country. It was near Imperial, in Jefferson County, a bit more than 20 miles away from St. Louis. The pair signed the agreement to buy the 35 acre farm from Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Jenne. Immediately Sokol members began meeting to make plans even before they closed on the property in Feb 1924. When weather permitted, the work began. Every weekend for two years those who had automobiles brought along those who did not. Others took the train from St. Louis to Kimmswick. Members pooled their skills and talents to pour concrete, put up a main building and bring in utilities. Czech born Rudolph Weinberger was a well respected architect who had worked on a number of notable projects, including structures in downtown St. Louis. He drew up plans for the camp and worked alongside the carpenters and cement mixers. By 1930 the planned amenities were mostly in place. The newly built U.S. Highway 61-67 separated about 5 acres of land from the rest of the parcel.
Besides the main building and a small house for a resident caretaker, there was a rock garden reminiscent of the Sumava Region of south Bohemia, a bar and a swimming pool. The bar itself was a castoff from the Harvey's Restaurant in Union Station. It was dismantled and transported to the camp to be reconstructed onsite on a stone and concrete platform.
In subsequent years there were additional improvements including a covered dance floor. In 1999, the camp celebrated its 75th anniversary with a special picnic day and a meal. The Sokol Camp in Imperial is considered to be one of the finest Sokol Camps in America.

-Paraphrased by a column written by Marcella Milcic

07/22/2026

The Cedars
Liguori, MO
The "Bluffs" subdivision
1865

The Harris Place was known for many years as the "Cedars", a beautiful summer place, the site of one of the O'Fallon estates, probably owned by Colonel John O'Fallon. It had several beautiful homes with a separate slave quarters.
The "Cedars", just southwest of Barnhart, is now a monastery occupied by the Redemptorist Fathers, and known as "Liguori", a small city with its own post office, a publishing house, a chapel, and other buildings. The unincorporated town and Redemptoristine Nuns Order are named after St. Alphonsus Liguori, an Italian Catholic Bishop who lived from 1696 to 1787. The land, approximately 300 acres, is slated and being reclaimed for a new 299 home subdivision.

05/28/2026

Imperial, MO
Early 1800's

The modern village of Imperial, located in Rock Township in the northeast corner of Jefferson County, was founded in the 1800's, but this was not the first time the area west of Kimmswick had been inhabited. Evidence has shown that it was once the site of a prehistoric Native American village. Excavations of the area north of Rock Creek (directly behind Bethesda General Baptist Church) suggests that these prehistoric residents used the mineral springs for processing salt. Imperial is also the home of Mastodon State Historic Site where the bones of spear points of ancient inhabitants of the area are found.
The town was carved from a Spanish Grant given to Francis Labarge in the early 1800's. Many of the modern towns in Jefferson County started out with one name, and then changed to another over the years. The little community of Imperial was once called West Kimmswick, Liberty, and then Rockport before the present name of Imperial stuck. The name came from a clock factory that only existed about 2 or 3 years in a concrete building on the Bayer Garden property during World War 1, called the Imperial Clock Company.
The population of the town grew after 1904 when E.J. White and his wife, the former Margaret Miller, decided to open a general store. Mr. White, a mail carrier at Beck (now a part of Arnold), who was born and raised in Jefferson County, built the store with the help of his brother, William White. On April 15, 1904, he opened the general store and saloon (now Herrell's Market). Although the Frisco railroad ran nearby, there was no switch station; so White decided to build one. Before long, White convinced the railroad to make a stop at his depot, and the town began to prosper. A post office was established, and settlers built homes and businesses there. Local children were educated at either St. John's Catholic School or White School. In 1938, the new consolidated Windsor school was built south of Imperial on U.S. Hwy 61.
Today, Imperial is one of the fastest growing communities in Jefferson County. Residents enjoy the suburban setting of homes nestled in the rolling hills, but have easy access to the interstates and highways leading to St. Louis.

05/15/2026

We by no means authorize, endorse, support, nor accept any credit, promotions, or negative /positive remarks made by or for the below attached "Barnhart" page.

Also, If you see all the pics from Case and Bucks, you'll see all those pics were simply stolen from the original page as well. Some have been removed but some still stand.

Sorry for the drama as close to 10,000 followers but it was bound to come.

Copy cat page attached and reported.
CB using 1st amendment so enjoy their pics

https://www.facebook.com/share/14dhwvV4R7z/

Community

05/07/2026

Good morning. Our page is hacked so if anyone gets a message please don't answer
Thks

04/16/2026

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Joan Dean

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,

04/02/2026

Thank you, Tom Wilson, for the added info!

Barnhart, MO
Captain Butterworth Home
1859

Located on Mulberry Hill Rd overlooking the Mississippi river (!on private property!) stands this beautiful home. The stone home was built for retired Captain Butterworth in 1859.

Tom wilson writes:
"In 1969 my folks bought this place and restored it to perfection. The main home has 18" thick limestone walls and a window walk on top which you got to from a closet. My room was a log cabin with a stone fireplace which was the slaves quarters. It overlooked the Mississippi. There was a 3 story barn, six ice houses. My Dad hired a carpenter named Ed Rhomberg. He was an older fellow. My Dad told Ed that Union Electric would have the electric on in two days. Ed said what do I need electric for? Turns out Ed did not even own 1 power tool. Everything was done by hand. Explains why he looked like Popeye! There was a log cabin foundation with a granite gravestone down by the river. All it said was FRITZ. An old timer told us Fritz was a German shepherd who pulled slaves from the burning log cabin and saved their lives. I walked right to it about eight years ago. We found a couple copper whiskey stills here and there in the woods. We were told they could keep a good lookout for the feds from there. Oh, and Mastodon bones everywhere by the river banks."

04/01/2026

Coming up on that 10k! Can't wait to tackle the post what a day of redemption we shall have 🙂 We'll be hosting a nice sponsor of ours for a day for helping us by donating scanning equipment and special hardware to download all pictures in HD that will available anytime, anywhere. It's going to take a long time, but we'll get it done! So look out for our sponsor and when we hit that 10k followers/likes. Keep rollin 🚂

03/22/2026

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Diane Nagy, Tim Sticht, Joan Dean, Nancy Terry Von Behren, Janet Roth

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,