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

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...

• Location of Bridgeton Memorial Park, in relation to Runway W-1W

 

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