Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Encyclopedia
Ste. Genevieve is a city in and the county seat
of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
, United States
. The population was 11,654 at the 2000 census. Founded by French Canadian
colonists, it was the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River
in present-day Missouri.
, Ste. Geneviève is the oldest permanent European settlement in Missouri. It was named for the patron saint of Paris
. While most residents were of French-Canadian descent, many of the founding families had been in the Illinois Country for two or three generations. It is one of the oldest colonial settlements west of the Mississippi River
. It was located in an area encompassed by the pre-Louisiana Purchase
territory known as New France
, Illinois Country
, or the Upper Louisiana territory. Traditional accounts suggested a founding of 1735 or so, but the historian Carl Ekberg has documented a more likely founding about 1750. The population to the east of the river needed more land, the soils in the older villages had become exhausted, and lessening of pressure from hostile Native Americans
made settlement possible.
Prior to the French settlers, indigenous peoples
known as the Mississippian culture
and earlier cultures had been living in the region for more than a thousand years. At the time of settlement, however, no Indian tribe lived nearby on the west bank. Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
's map of 1755, the first to show Ste. Genevieve in the Illinois Country, showed the Kaskaskia
natives on the east side of the river, but no Indian village on the west side within 100 miles of Ste. Genevieve. Hunting and war parties did enter the area from the north and west. The region had been relatively abandoned by 1500, llkely due to environmental exhaustion, after the peak of Mississippian-culture civilization at Cahokia
.
At the time of its founding, Ste. Genevieve was the last of a triad of French settlements in this area of the mid-Mississippi Valley region. About five miles northeast of Ste. Genevieve on the east side of the river was Fort de Chartres
(in the Illinois Country); it stood as the official capital of the area. Kaskaskia
, which became Illinois’ first capital upon statehood, was located about five miles southeast. Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia, Illinois
were also early local French colonial settlements on the east side of the river.
In 1762 with the Treaty of Fontainebleau
, France secretly ceded the area of the west bank to Spain
, which formed Louisiana (New Spain)
. The Spanish moved the capital of Upper Louisiana from Fort de Chartres fifty miles upriver to St. Louis, Missouri
. Although under Spanish control for more than 40 years, Ste. Genevieve retained its French language, customs and character.
In 1763, the French ceded the land east of the Mississippi to Great Britain
in the Treaty of Paris
that ended Europe's Seven Years' War
, known in the United States as the French and Indian War
. French-speaking people from Canada and settlers east of the Mississippi flocked to Ste. Genevieve after George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763
. This transformed all of the captured French land between the Mississippi and the Appalachian Mountains, except Quebec
, into an Indian Reserve
. The king required settlers to leave or get British permission to stay.
During the 1770s, Little Osage
and Missouri
tribes repeatedly raided Ste. Genevieve to steal settlers' horses. The fur trade
, marriage of French men with Native American women, and other commercial dealings created many ties between Native Americans and the French. During the 1780s, Shawnee
and Delaware
migrated to the west side of the Mississippi following American victory in its Revolutionary War. The tribes established villages south of Ste. Genevieve. The Peoria also moved near Ste. Genevieve in the 1780s but had a peaceful relationship with the village. It was not until the 1790s that the Big Osage
pressed the settlement harder; they conducted repeated raids and killed some settlers. In addition, they attacked the Peoria and Shawnee.
While at one point Spanish administrators wanted to attack the Big Osage, there were not sufficient French settlers to recruit for a militia to do so. The Big Osage had 1250 men in their village, and lived in the prairie. In 1794 Carondelet, the Spanish governor at New Orleans, appointed the Chouteau brothers of St. Louis to have exclusive trading privileges with the Big Osage. They built a fort and trading post on the Osage River
in Big Osage territory. While the natives did not entirely cease their raids on Ste. Genevieve, commercial diplomacy eased some relations.
Following the great flood of 1785, the town moved from its initial location on the floodplain
of the Mississippi River
, to its present location two miles north and about a half mile inland. It continued to prosper as a village devoted to agriculture, especially wheat, maize
and tobacco
production. Most of the families were yeomen farmers, although there was a wealthier level among the residents. The village raised sufficient grain to send many tons of flour annually for sale to Lower Louisiana and New Orleans, which helped colonists in that region to survive, as they could not grow grains there. In 1807, the secretary of the Louisiana Territory
, Frederick Bates, noted Ste. Genevieve was "the most wealthy village in Louisiana."
associated with frontier settlements of the United States northeast, mid-Atlantic and Upper South, for which logs are stacked horizontally.
Of the vertical slab houses, the most distinctive are poteaux en terre ("posts-in-the-ground") where the walls made of upright wooden slabs do not support the floor. The floor is supported by separate stone pillars. Partially set into dirt, the walls of such buildings were extremely vulnerable to flood damage, termites and rot. Three of the five surviving poteaux en terre houses in the nation are in Ste. Genevieve. The other two are located in Pascagoula, Mississippi
and near Natchitoches, Louisiana
.
Most of the oldest buildings in town are poteaux sur solle
("posts-on-a-sill"). The town's oldest structure is the Louis Bolduc House
, a National Historic Landmark
. Built as a small structure in 1770 at Ste. Genevieve's original riverfront location, parts were relocated in 1785 when the house was expanded at the new site. It was built in 1792-1793, and has three large rooms, marking Bolduc's wealth. (Most of the building was too damaged by flood to reuse.) Other structures of note are the 1806 La Maison de Guibourd
Historic House, the 1818 Felix Vallé House State Historic Site
, the 1792 Beauvais-Amoureux House, the 1790s Bequette-Ribault House, and the 1808 Old Louisiana Academy.
The village followed traditional practices: most of the townspeople lived on lots in town. They farmed land held in a common large field. This land was assigned and cultivated in long, narrow strips that extended back from the river to the hills (at the first location). Only the exterior of the Grand Champ (Big Field) was fenced, but each owner of land was responsible for fencing his portion, to keep out livestock. The habitants used the same types of implements and plows as did those in 18th-century France. They used teams of oxen to pull the wheeled plows.
After the Louisiana Purchase
in 1804, Anglo-Americans as well as German immigrants migrated to the village. It became more oriented to trade and merchants, but villagers retained many of their French cultural ways. The Sisters of St. Joseph
, a French teaching order, established a convent
in the town, whose sisters taught in school. The Catholic Church of Ste. Genevieve, s built in 1876 and modeled after the Gothic style of those in France, was the third built in the village.
Ste. Genevieve marks its French cultural heritage with numerous annual events. Among them are: La Guiannée
, French Fest, Jour de Fête, King's Ball
and many others.
is nicknamed the "French Connection" because of its link to other French colonial sites in the area. It runs daily unless the river is flooding.
, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), all land.
of 2000, there were 4,476 people, 1,818 households, and 1,154 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,076.7 people per square mile (415.4/km²). There were 1,965 housing units at an average density of 472.7 per square mile (182.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.07% White, 2.14% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.25% from other races
, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.12% of the population.
There were 1,818 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,929, and the median income for a family was $43,125. Males had a median income of $31,546 versus $19,804 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $17,361. About 7.8% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 11,654 at the 2000 census. Founded by French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
colonists, it was the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in present-day Missouri.
History
Founded around 1735 by French habitants and migrants from settlements in the Illinois Country just east of the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, Ste. Geneviève is the oldest permanent European settlement in Missouri. It was named for the patron saint of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. While most residents were of French-Canadian descent, many of the founding families had been in the Illinois Country for two or three generations. It is one of the oldest colonial settlements west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. It was located in an area encompassed by the pre-Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
territory known as New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
, or the Upper Louisiana territory. Traditional accounts suggested a founding of 1735 or so, but the historian Carl Ekberg has documented a more likely founding about 1750. The population to the east of the river needed more land, the soils in the older villages had become exhausted, and lessening of pressure from hostile Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
made settlement possible.
Prior to the French settlers, indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
known as the Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
and earlier cultures had been living in the region for more than a thousand years. At the time of settlement, however, no Indian tribe lived nearby on the west bank. Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
Jacques Nicolas Bellin was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes....
's map of 1755, the first to show Ste. Genevieve in the Illinois Country, showed the Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
natives on the east side of the river, but no Indian village on the west side within 100 miles of Ste. Genevieve. Hunting and war parties did enter the area from the north and west. The region had been relatively abandoned by 1500, llkely due to environmental exhaustion, after the peak of Mississippian-culture civilization at Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...
.
At the time of its founding, Ste. Genevieve was the last of a triad of French settlements in this area of the mid-Mississippi Valley region. About five miles northeast of Ste. Genevieve on the east side of the river was Fort de Chartres
Fort de Chartres
Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. The Fort de Chartres name was also applied to the two successive fortifications built nearby during the 18th century in the era of French colonial control over...
(in the Illinois Country); it stood as the official capital of the area. Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...
, which became Illinois’ first capital upon statehood, was located about five miles southeast. Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia, Illinois
Cahokia, Illinois
Cahokia is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 16,391. The name is a reference to one of the clans of the historic Illini confederacy, who were encountered by early French explorers to the region.Early European settlers also...
were also early local French colonial settlements on the east side of the river.
In 1762 with the Treaty of Fontainebleau
Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)
The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a secret agreement in which France ceded Louisiana to Spain. The treaty followed the last battle in the French and Indian War, the Battle of Signal Hill in September 1762, which confirmed British control of Canada. However, the associated Seven Years War continued...
, France secretly ceded the area of the west bank to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, which formed Louisiana (New Spain)
Louisiana (New Spain)
Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1764 to 1803 that represented territory west of the Mississippi River basin, plus New Orleans...
. The Spanish moved the capital of Upper Louisiana from Fort de Chartres fifty miles upriver to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Although under Spanish control for more than 40 years, Ste. Genevieve retained its French language, customs and character.
In 1763, the French ceded the land east of the Mississippi to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
that ended Europe's Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, known in the United States as the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. French-speaking people from Canada and settlers east of the Mississippi flocked to Ste. Genevieve after George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
. This transformed all of the captured French land between the Mississippi and the Appalachian Mountains, except Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, into an Indian Reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
. The king required settlers to leave or get British permission to stay.
During the 1770s, Little Osage
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
and Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
tribes repeatedly raided Ste. Genevieve to steal settlers' horses. The fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
, marriage of French men with Native American women, and other commercial dealings created many ties between Native Americans and the French. During the 1780s, Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
and Delaware
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
migrated to the west side of the Mississippi following American victory in its Revolutionary War. The tribes established villages south of Ste. Genevieve. The Peoria also moved near Ste. Genevieve in the 1780s but had a peaceful relationship with the village. It was not until the 1790s that the Big Osage
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
pressed the settlement harder; they conducted repeated raids and killed some settlers. In addition, they attacked the Peoria and Shawnee.
While at one point Spanish administrators wanted to attack the Big Osage, there were not sufficient French settlers to recruit for a militia to do so. The Big Osage had 1250 men in their village, and lived in the prairie. In 1794 Carondelet, the Spanish governor at New Orleans, appointed the Chouteau brothers of St. Louis to have exclusive trading privileges with the Big Osage. They built a fort and trading post on the Osage River
Osage River
The Osage River is a tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The Osage River is one of the larger rivers in Missouri. The river drains a mostly rural area of . The watershed includes an area of east-central Kansas and a large portion of west-central and central...
in Big Osage territory. While the natives did not entirely cease their raids on Ste. Genevieve, commercial diplomacy eased some relations.
Le Vieux Village (Old Ste. Genevieve c. 1750)
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, to its present location two miles north and about a half mile inland. It continued to prosper as a village devoted to agriculture, especially wheat, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
production. Most of the families were yeomen farmers, although there was a wealthier level among the residents. The village raised sufficient grain to send many tons of flour annually for sale to Lower Louisiana and New Orleans, which helped colonists in that region to survive, as they could not grow grains there. In 1807, the secretary of the Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...
, Frederick Bates, noted Ste. Genevieve was "the most wealthy village in Louisiana."
Architecture
The oldest buildings of Ste. Genevieve, described as "French Creole colonial", were all built during Spanish rule. The most distinctive buildings of this period were the "vertical wooden post" constructions where walls of buildings were built based on wood "posts" either dug into the ground (poteaux en terre) or set on a raised stone or brick foundation (poteaux sur solle). This was different from the log cabinLog cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
associated with frontier settlements of the United States northeast, mid-Atlantic and Upper South, for which logs are stacked horizontally.
Of the vertical slab houses, the most distinctive are poteaux en terre ("posts-in-the-ground") where the walls made of upright wooden slabs do not support the floor. The floor is supported by separate stone pillars. Partially set into dirt, the walls of such buildings were extremely vulnerable to flood damage, termites and rot. Three of the five surviving poteaux en terre houses in the nation are in Ste. Genevieve. The other two are located in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
and near Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
.
Most of the oldest buildings in town are poteaux sur solle
Poteaux-sur-solle
Poteaux-sur-solle is the name for the "posts-on-sill" style of French colonial architecture used by French and French-Canadian settlers in North America. Houses in this style in the present-day United States can be found in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri; Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, and former French...
("posts-on-a-sill"). The town's oldest structure is the Louis Bolduc House
Louis Bolduc House
The Louis Bolduc House, also known as Maison Bolduc, is an example of poteaux sur solle construction and is located in Ste. Geneviève, Missouri. The first historic structure in Ste. Genevieve to be authentically restored, the house is a prime example of the traditional French Colonial architecture...
, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. Built as a small structure in 1770 at Ste. Genevieve's original riverfront location, parts were relocated in 1785 when the house was expanded at the new site. It was built in 1792-1793, and has three large rooms, marking Bolduc's wealth. (Most of the building was too damaged by flood to reuse.) Other structures of note are the 1806 La Maison de Guibourd
La Maison de Guibourd
The Guibourd House, also known as La Maison de Guibourd, is an example of poteaux-sur-solle sealed with bouzillage construction...
Historic House, the 1818 Felix Vallé House State Historic Site
Felix Vallé House State Historic Site
The Felix Vallé State Historic Site in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, was originally built in about 1818 by Jacob Phillipson, a Jewish merchant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the home of Felix Vallé and Odile Pratte-Vallé...
, the 1792 Beauvais-Amoureux House, the 1790s Bequette-Ribault House, and the 1808 Old Louisiana Academy.
Culture
For decades, Ste. Genevieve was chiefly an agricultural community. The habitants raised chiefly wheat and corn (maize), as well as tobacco. They produced more wheat than residents of St. Louis, and their grain products were critical to survival of the French community at New Orleans.The village followed traditional practices: most of the townspeople lived on lots in town. They farmed land held in a common large field. This land was assigned and cultivated in long, narrow strips that extended back from the river to the hills (at the first location). Only the exterior of the Grand Champ (Big Field) was fenced, but each owner of land was responsible for fencing his portion, to keep out livestock. The habitants used the same types of implements and plows as did those in 18th-century France. They used teams of oxen to pull the wheeled plows.
After the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
in 1804, Anglo-Americans as well as German immigrants migrated to the village. It became more oriented to trade and merchants, but villagers retained many of their French cultural ways. The Sisters of St. Joseph
Sisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...
, a French teaching order, established a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in the town, whose sisters taught in school. The Catholic Church of Ste. Genevieve, s built in 1876 and modeled after the Gothic style of those in France, was the third built in the village.
Ste. Genevieve marks its French cultural heritage with numerous annual events. Among them are: La Guiannée
La Guiannee
La Guiannée Celebrated on December 31 La Guiannée or La Guignolée is a French medieval New Year's Eve tradition that is still practiced in two towns in the United States. The tradition related to poor people being able to ask the more wealthy for food and drink at the celebrations of winter...
, French Fest, Jour de Fête, King's Ball
King's Ball
The King's Ball - La fête des rois The 250-year-old tradition of the King’s Ball was brought to the New World by Catholic émigrés, who measured the passing of time in two ways – by agricultural cycles, and the Church’s religious calendar...
and many others.
The French Connection
The Ste. Genevieve-Modoc Ferry across the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
is nicknamed the "French Connection" because of its link to other French colonial sites in the area. It runs daily unless the river is flooding.
Notable natives/residents
- Philippe-François de Rastel de RocheblavePhilippe-François de Rastel de RocheblavePhilippe-François de Rastel de Rocheblave was a soldier, businessman and political figure in Lower Canada. He was sometimes referred to as the Chevalier de Rocheblave....
- Canadian military and political figure in the 18th century - Pierre GibaultPierre GibaultFather Pierre Gibault was a Jesuit missionary and priest in the Northwest Territory in the 18th century, and an American Patriot during the American Revolution....
(1737–1802) - Jesuit priest in the 18th century - Charles NerinckxCharles NerinckxRev. Charles Nerinckx was a Roman Catholic missionary priest who migrated from Belgium to work in Kentucky. He founded the Sisters of Loretto religious order.-Early life and education:...
(1761–1824) - Founded the Sisters of LorettoSisters of LorettoSisters of Loretto or the Loretto Community is a Catholic religious institution, which, according to their mission statement, "strive[s] to bring the healing Spirit of God into our world" and is committed "to improving the conditions of those who suffer from injustice, oppression, and deprivation...
missionary in 1812 and the First Congregation of Black Women in 1824 - Lewis Fields Linn (1796–1843)- U.S. Senator (MO, 1795–1843)
- Lewis Vital Bogy (1813–1877)- U.S. Senator (MO, 1872–1877)
- William Pope McArthurWilliam Pope McArthurWilliam Pope McArthur was an American naval officer and hydrologist who was involved in the first surveys of the Pacific Coast for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.-Early life:...
(1814–1850) - American naval officer and hydrologist. First to survey and map the U.S. Pacific Coast - Robert MooreRobert Moore (Oregon pioneer)Robert Moore was an American politician and pioneer in the Oregon Country. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the War of 1812, he also participated in the early movements to form a government in Oregon Country and founded Linn City, Oregon...
- Oregon pioneer and founder of Linn City, OregonLinn City, OregonLinn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:... - Nathaniel PopeNathaniel PopeNathaniel Pope was a politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Illinois.-Early life, education, and career:...
(1784–1850) - Representative of the Illinois Territory - John Hardeman WalkerJohn Hardeman WalkerJohn Hardeman Walker was an early landowner in southeast Missouri, most famous for convincing the United States Congress to place the Bootheel in Missouri instead of Arkansas....
- U.S. Congressman - Henry DodgeHenry DodgeHenry Dodge was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son was Augustus C. Dodge with whom he served in the U.S. Senate, the first, and so far only, father-son pair to serve concurrently....
(1782–1867) - U.S. Senator (WI, 1848–1857) - Augustus Caesar Dodge (1812–1883) - U.S. Senator (IA, 1848–1855)
- Jean Ferdinand RozierJean Ferdinand RozierJean Ferdinand Rozier was born in Nantes, France to Francois Claude Rozier and Renee Angelique Colas . In 1802 he served in the French Navy. Jean Ferdinand immigrated from France to New York in 1806, eventually settling in the village of Ste...
- (1777–1864) Historic businessman and partner of John James Audubon - John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
- (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter - Prospect K. RobbinsProspect K. RobbinsProspect K. Robbins was a young man well known for his education, military service, and surveying skill in St. Charles and Lincoln counties, Missouri...
- (1788–1847) Surveyor who established the Fifth Principal MeridianFifth Principal MeridianThe Fifth Principal Meridian starts from the old mouth of the Arkansas River, and, with the base line running west from the old mouth of the St. Francis River, governs the surveys in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota; those in Minnesota, west of the Mississippi River and west of the third...
in 1812 (after the Louisiana Purchase) prior to Missouri entering the Union.
Geography
Ste. Genevieve is located at 37°58′37"N 90°2′55"W (37.976960, -90.048672). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), all land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 4,476 people, 1,818 households, and 1,154 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,076.7 people per square mile (415.4/km²). There were 1,965 housing units at an average density of 472.7 per square mile (182.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.07% White, 2.14% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.25% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.12% of the population.
There were 1,818 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,929, and the median income for a family was $43,125. Males had a median income of $31,546 versus $19,804 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $17,361. About 7.8% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.
Sister (Twin) Cities
- Bohlsbach,
BadenBadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
,
GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
See also
- Louisiana (New France)Louisiana (New France)Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...
- Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
- Illinois CountryIllinois CountryThe Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
- Ohio CountryOhio CountryThe Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
- New FranceNew FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
- New SpainNew SpainNew Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
- French in the United StatesFrench in the United StatesThe French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. According to year 2000 census figures, 1.6 million Americans over the age of five speak the language at home; making French the fourth most-spoken language in the country behind English, Spanish, and Chinese...
- Timeline of New France historyTimeline of New France historyThis is a list of the timelines for the history of northern New France beginning with the first exploration of North America by France through being part of the French colonial empire.*Beginnings to 1533 - northern region...
- Three Flags DayThree Flags DayThree Flags Day commemorates March 9 and 10, 1804, when Spain officially turned over the Louisiana Territory to France, which in turn ceded the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase.The ceremony in St...
- A few acres of snowA few acres of snow"A few acres of snow" is one of several quotations from Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, which are representative of his sneering evaluation of Canada, and by extension New France, as lacking economic value and strategic importance to 18th-century France...
- French colonization of the AmericasFrench colonization of the AmericasThe French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
- French colonial empireFrench colonial empireThe French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
- List of North American cities founded in chronological order
- Sainte GenevièveGenevieveSt Genevieve , in Latin Sancta Genovefa, from Germanic keno and wefa , is the patron saint of Paris in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition...
- List of commandants of the Illinois Country
- Historic regions of the United StatesHistoric regions of the United StatesThis is a list of historic regions of the United States.-Colonial era :-The Thirteen Colonies:* Connecticut Colony* Delaware Colony* Province of Georgia* Province of Maryland...
External links
- Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve, Inc. Guibourd Historic House & Mecker Research Library
- Ste. Genevieve County Historical and Genealogical Resources
- Sainte Genevieve Chamber of Commerce
- Felix Vallé State Historic Site Missouri Department of Natural Resources
- Ste. Genevieve Herald
- Historic maps of Ste. Genevieve in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...