1852 ENGINE WHICH FIRST CAME TO CHELTENHAM

Special thanks to  Louis Schmidt   for his kindness in donating this photo and comments to this web page.

As you can see from the note Louis wrote on the photo that he identifies the date of the coming of the train to Cheltenham as Dec. 1, 1852. Below are some sources I have found which dispute this view.

What is fairly clear is that the are was still called SULPHUR SPRINGS when the first railroad came.

SOME SOURCES

• From: Stevens, Walter B. ST. LOUIS THE FOURTH CITY 1764-1909. Vol. 1.
  St. Louis: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1909.

  p. 481: (This must have been Louis Scmidt's source -- it matches exactly what he wrote on the photo of the engine:) "On the first day of December, 1852, the first locomotive whistle west of the Mississippi River sounded at seven o'clock in the morning. The locomotive stood in the Pacific Railroad tracks just west of Fourteenth Street....The train was run out to the end of the track laying a short distance yeyond the Manchester Ave. Crossing....
  
  "p. 482. "The section of road then opened was from the St. Louis teminus to Sulphur Springs as it was then called -- afterwards Cheltenham. Two coaches were occupied by the guests. The distance traveled was about five miles. At Sulphur Springs lunch was served and speeches of congratulation were made. 'For a new road, we may say advisedly that there is not a better built road in the Union,' the paper commented next morning."

• From: Snow, Marshall S. HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MISSOURI AND PARTICULARLY OF SAINT LOUIS.
  St. Louis: National Press Bureau Publishers, 1908. Vol. II., p. 336.
  
  

  "On July 4, 1851, L.M. Kennett, who was then mayor of St. Louis, commenced actual construction by removing the first spadeful of dirt, which was the occasion of a large and public demonstration. The Pacific Road was particularly a St. Louis enterprise, fostered by the state, counties and individuals. On Nov. 13, 1852 the road was complete to Sulphur Springs, a distance of about five miles from the starting point, and the first train made a trip on the Pacific Railroad.

• From: Coyle, Elinor Martineau. OLD SAINT LOUIS HOMES: THE STORIES THEY TELL.
  St. Louis: The Folkestone Press, 1979. Photo and caption: p. 129.
  
  

  From a Spode China commemorative plate celebrating the first run on the Pacific Railroad November 1852.

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• Yet ANOTHER date is given on the web site of Cheltenham Neighborhood Association
  
  See photo of station

  I will try to get to the Missouri Historical Society as soon as I can to get full details.
  Sept. 20, 2002

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