Cottleville History
Cottleville History
As one of the oldest cities in St. Charles County, Cottleville has been working to preserve and enhance its historic downtown district which is home to; shops, businesses, restaurants, a U.S. Post Office, churches, a grocery store, pubs, City Hall, and 210 acres of parks.
The City completed a Master Plan for the area in recent years and launched a $1.2 million StreetScape project in 2011 to add 120 parking spaces, lighting and sidewalks to the historic downtown area along Highway N. The goal is for Old Town Cottleville to retain the best of its past and be a distinctive center for the Community. From the years 2015 thru 2019, similar streetscape improvements were made to Fifth Street and Main Street. Additional streetscape improvements are coming to Chestnut Street and the remaining portions of Main Street.
A Brief History
The Town of Cottleville is one of the oldest in St. Charles County. As far back as 1800 there existed a group of houses located near the spot where the old Boone’s Lick Road crosses the Dardenne Creek.
Cottleville, located along the old Boone’s Lick Road, was first settled by Captain Warren G. Cottle, who secured a land grant from the Spanish in 1798. The area did not develop much until the John Pitman family of Kentucky settled about one and one-half miles west of town in 1810. Captain Warren Cottle died in 1811. His son Dr. Warren G. Cottle Jr and his children, who were quite numerous, inherited his extensive farmlands. It was said of Dr. Cottle that he farmed extensively and practiced medicine occasionally because there was little sickness among the people, and those who got sick had no money to pay for his services. One of Dr. Warren Cottle Jr.’s sons, Lorenzo, inherited about 200 acres of land located on both sides of the Dardenne River. In 1839, Lorenzo parceled into lots that part of his property lying on the east side of Dardenne and named the town Cottleville in honor of his deceased father and grandfather. Before that time the village was sometimes called Dardenne or Pin Hook. Other early settlers were George Huffman, also from Kentucky, prior to 1803; Aaron Rutger, a Hollander, prior to 1809; Nathaniel Simons from New England; and Nicholas Contz, a Pennsylvania Dutchman Read More