Ladue Turns 90 This December. Clayton Road Has Been Its Main Street for Longer Than That.

The Schnucks at Lindbergh and Clayton was once the site of a post office. Before RFD mail delivery reached the farms out here, letters for this part of the county came by postal stagecoach, and later by train, to the Dwyer Post Office. It stood next to a rail stop called Dwyer Station. A second post office stood a short drive east, at Price and Clayton, where Palm Health is now. Neither one was in a city, because there was no city yet.

Ladue marks its 90th birthday on Tuesday, December 1. The date it marks is a merger vote. The city was put together from pieces that already had names, roads and storefronts, and most of the celebrating this December happens on the oldest of those roads.

A vote among three villages

The City of Ladue's official history says three villages took shape here in the late 1920s: McKnight, Ladue and Deer Creek. They shared Ladue's fire department, but each village ran its own police, zoning and ordinances. On December 1, 1936, residents of all three voted to merge into a fourth-class city, which took the name of the largest village. A short time later Dwyer Village joined too. That settlement dated back to 1869, when it was established by a man named T.T. Dwyer.

The State Historical Society of Missouri keeps a place-name file compiled between 1928 and 1945, and it gives each village a little more shape. It puts McKnight Village in Central Township, west of Clayton, and says it was named for the McKnight family. It describes Deer Creek Village as a stop on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, named for the nearby stream, which later became part of Ladue Village. The Ladue name itself goes back to Peter A. Ladue. The city history fills in that Peter Albert LaDue was a St. Louis lawyer and banker. Ladue Road was laid out in 1860 and named for his farm near what is now Ladue and Warson.

The roads were already there

The 1936 vote came long after the routes it relied on were built. The city's own history dates them this way:

Price Road was surveyed and laid out in 1859 by Isaac J. Price, the man the Price Post Office was named for. Clayton Road is named for Ralph Clayton, who gave the land that became Clayton, Missouri. Mailboxes first went up along it after November 3, 1901, and mail was both dropped off and collected there. Early Ladue homes had no street addresses, so the mail carrier went by the addressee's name.

Seen this way, the founding villages read less like separate towns and more like jurisdictions drawn over a network of farm roads, rail stops and crossroads stores that already existed. T.T. Dwyer, who arrived in 1868, was the area's postmaster. He also owned and ran the Dwyer Annex, which held the post office, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a grocery, a dry goods hardware store and a saloon. That was a commercial corner at Lindbergh and Clayton about seventy years before Ladue was a city.

Where the old names still turn up

The older names are still on routes in use today:

• McKnight Road, laid out in 1853, carries the name of the McKnight family and their village.
• Deer Creek Preserve, at 9810 S. Forty Drive, carries the name of the stream and the village. Its parking lot is the drop-off point for the city's campaign-sign recycling through November 13.
• Dwyer Place, off Clayton Road, has the same name as Dwyer Village, the Dwyer Post Office and Dwyer Station. It is also the location of the newest piece of equipment on the street.
• Price Road still runs along the line Isaac J. Price surveyed.

Construction began in late summer on a pedestrian-activated HAWK signal on Clayton Road near Dwyer Place, and First Alert 4 reported in September that the work was underway. As of the city's October 7 Public Works Committee packet, Gerstner Electric had installed the signal cabinet, mast arm and push-button pedestal and was working on the ADA ramps. Pavement markings come last, and then the signal goes into operation.

The 1830 road keeps getting rebuilt

Clayton Road has had a busy fall. In the Fall 2026 newsletter, Mayor Nancy Spewak describes new sidewalks along Clayton Road from Lay to Stone Hall Cabinetry, just east of Price Road. She also notes that Ladue has installed 6.85 miles of new concrete sidewalk since adopting its Citywide Sidewalk Implementation Plan in 2012. In the Clayton Road Business District, Ameren began a reliability project. The newsletter said its first phase was expected to be done by the end of October so residents could shop in the district without construction in the way.

Another building is planned for the stretch. On October 19, the City Council approved a site development plan for a proposed two-story building of about 6,230 square feet at 9155–9159 Clayton Road, next to the renovated Ladue Market building. Period Restoration is the builder, and the suggested uses are retail or restaurant.

Planning for the new city began within a year of the merger. Urban planner Harland Bartholomew brought a preliminary comprehensive plan to the Ladue City Council under an agreement dated June 30, 1937, and the city history still quotes his reasoning:

"It should be recognized that cities are judged more by their character or quality than by their size."

Birthday week, on Clayton Road

The anniversary falls on a Tuesday. The two public events that follow both take place on Clayton Road, the oldest road in the city's history.

Thursday, December 3, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Ladue City Hall, 9345 Clayton Road. The city is holding a public 90th birthday celebration with cake, cookies, hot chocolate, historical items from the city archives and activities for children. In the Fall 2026 newsletter, the mayor invites residents to come by and share their memories along with their hopes for the city's future, and adds, "Everyone is welcome!" The archive pieces come from the same collection behind the newsletter's "From the Archives" column, which is credited to City Archivist Charlie Hiemenz.

This is the public half of the anniversary year. Earlier, the city scheduled an October 8 evening reception at Deer Creek Club to honor long-serving citizen volunteers, board and commission members, and former elected officials. It was organized on a cost-recovery basis, so no general tax revenue paid for an invitation-only event. The December 3 afternoon is open to everyone.

Saturday, December 5, the Ladue Merchants Holiday Walk. Ladue News describes the Ladue Merchants Association as a network of Clayton Road business owners that organizes district events, the Holiday Walk among them. This year's walk is advertised for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with holiday shopping, carolers and a visit from Santa. Last year's walk was listed at 9800 Clayton Road, from noon to 3 p.m., with Santa, Frosty, carolers, merchant discounts and treats. Check with your favorite Clayton Road shops for the final hours and meeting point.

Fill the Fleet, same morning, 9 a.m. to noon. During the Holiday Walk, Ladue Police, Fire and other participating vehicles plan to collect new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. Members of the Ladue Youth Council will hand out free hot chocolate to donors. The city lists this date as tentative.

The mayor ended her fall letter with a short request: "shop and eat in Ladue! Our business owners are your neighbors." T.T. Dwyer kept a general store and a hardware counter at the corner of Lindbergh and Clayton before Ladue had a name. On December 5, the same road will be lined with carolers and shoppers again.

If your home in Ladue has its own story, such as an original village address, a Bartholomew-era street or a family history on one of these old roads, Nika Leoni would be glad to help you trace it and share it well when the time comes. Schedule a private consultation.