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Look Back: Aug. 22, 1876
Date: 8/21/2009 Album ID: 819928
Photos by Missouri History Museum, Compton & Dry
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On Aug. 22, 1876, voters in St. Louis city and county went to the polls to decide the region’s most fateful ballot question -- the "Great Divorce," or whether to split the city away from the county.
An engraving of the old City Hall. (Missouri History Museum) Wood engraving by Sorber.
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St. Louis City Hall before the current one. It was on 11th Street, between Market and Chestnut streets, one block east of the City Hall that was opened in 1898 and completed in 1904. (Missouri History Museum)
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Hanley House in Clayton, circa 1890, in its rural setting. When the city and county separated, county officials chose rural ground in the future city of Clayton for the new courthouse. The house, built in 1855, was the home of Martin and Cyrene Hanley, farmers and namesakes of Hanley Road. The historic home, at 7600 Westmoreland Avenue, is maintained by the city. (Historic Hanley House Collection)
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Pastureland in University City in 1907, one year after the city's incorporation, shows how rural that area near St. Louis remained even 31 years after the fateful vote. In the background, toward the east, is Washington University. Promoters of the city-county split put the city boundary near Skinker Boulevard on the theory that it gave the city plenty of land to grow. (University City Library Archives) University City Library Archives
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Henry Overstolz, who was St. Louis mayor during the Great Divorce. He sided with the forces that prevailed in court and, on March 21, 1877, effectively declared independence from the county by calling for new city elections. (Missouri History Museum) Photograph by Bradley Rulofson, San Francisco, ca. 1870s. N39133 Photo courtesy Missouri History Museum
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Edward Butler, the city's most famous political boss, who opposed the separation. Court testimony accused his minions of rigging ballot boxes in several city precincts. (Post-Dispatch photo)
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James O. Broadhead, prominent lawyer and chairman of the Board of Freeholders special committee on separating the city and county. He later argued in court against overturning the original vote in August 1876, which defeated the idea. (Missouri History Museum)
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Thomas T. Gantt, a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis, who was a strong supporter of separation before his appointment to the court. Gantt participated in key rulings that overturned the original vote and made separation possible. (Missouri History Museum)
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