Long Time Resident Recalls Lifetime of Changes Along Lindbergh

Later this month, Patch editors from Florissant to Mehlville will knit together a story about the day in the life of Lindbergh Boulevard. In a growth mode for some 81 years, Lindbergh has become the major (non highway) arterial in St. Louis county from north to south, or vice versa.

The Ladue-Frontenac Patch will hone in on the rich heritage of Shriner’s Hospital for Children, which moved to its present location in Frontenac in 1963.

Naturally, a lot has changed on the road and along the way since its early beginnings in 1930.

One long-time resident, Frederick Hermann, 85 of Ladue remembers an all time different road in his youth.

“Our family grew up on Arundel Place (in the city) and we moved to Denny Road and Litzsinger in 1933,” he said.

Few would remember, but the road wasn’t called Lindbergh road or boulevard in those days. It was called Denny Road.

Herman and his brother rode horses on the trails where Plaza Frontenac stands today. They rode their horses on the Orthwein Estate and all the way to the Queeny estate in West St. Louis County. The horses were kept in the Geyer Road stables.

One time, the brothers went all the way to Manchester and Kirkwood and bought a stripped down Model T Ford for $4 and drove it along the trails, all the way back to Ladue.

“We rode that thing everywhere,” he recalled. “We used to light kerosene and throw up a smoke screen to hide from the sheriff. In those days, you could almost walk on Denny Road any time of the day or night because there were few cars running,” he said. “The road was paved and four lanes wide, but hardly anybody drove on it,” he said.

Herman, who went to school at Country Day (then on Brown Road in North County) was the long time president of the Hermann Oak Leather Company, manufacturers of products such as harnesses for horse and buggies. The company, founded in 1881 is run by his son, in the fourth generation. It is the oldest standing company in St. Louis, and the only one of its kind anymore in the world.

Herman has been around for the entire growth period of Ladue. He recalls the “O4” street car that started out in Clayton and had a turnabout where Ladue City Hall stands today. “In those days, about all we had was Busch’s Grove and some early housing starts. “Development happened quicker on Ladue Road than Clayton Road,” he remembered.

The first homes were being built on Fordyce, Oakleigh and Clermont Lanes and along Kent Road and Tirrill Farms off Clayton Road. “Those were grand old houses,” he said.

With progress comes change. Ladue and Frontenac now have a hotel, automobile dealership, a private school, public library, many shops and restaurants found along Lindbergh since the 1930s.

Read about Shriners’ Hospital for Children coming to The Ladue-Frontenac Patch later this month.