St Louis Real Estate

Affton, Missouri is an inner ring suburb of St Louis, Missouri.  It is situated west of the City Limit of St. Louis, south of Webster Groves, East of Sappington, Crestwood and Concord and North of Lemay.  Click Here To Link To The Google Map Of Affton

History

The modern history of Affton, MO goes back to 1803 when a Frenchman by the name of Gregoire Sarpy, a business partner of one of St. Louis' founding fathers August Chouteau, was granted 6,000 acres by the then King of Spain. 

In the 1820's Sarpy sold approximately 3,000 acres of this land to a Scotsman named Kenneth MacKenzie.  MacKenzie had also made his money trading furs with the local Indian tribesman.  He used the land as a plantation until 1842 when he had the land surveyed into 40 acre tracts.  Many of these tracts were purchased by immigrants, particularly German immigrants.

He also sold a 485 acre tract to Louis Benoist, a St. Louis Banker.  In 1853 Benoist hired George Ingram Barnett (the first European trained Architect in St. Louis) to design his country estate.  Benoist named the estate, "Oakland".  The mansion still exists today and is owned by the Affton Historical Society.  Most of the land that was connected to the mansion is where Lakewood Park Cemetery is now located.

The early community was primarily made up of farming families that would work the land and then load their produce in horse drawn wagons for the trip to the farmer's markets located in the city.

Though most of the earliest settlers of Affton were of German heritage, quite a few English immigrants moved to the area as well.  The oldest church in Affton is the Episcopalian Church which was built in 1882.

Grant's Farm 

Grant's farm was an 80 acre tract that was given to Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United states, in 1848 by his father-in-law Colonel Frederick Dent .  Grant's Farm was really just east of where the Busch Family Estate (known as Grant's Farm) is currently located. 

The cabin from the farm was moved from it's original location in 1890 and used as an advertising tool to promote a subdivision that was being built in Webster Groves.  The cabin was then moved to Forest Park in St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair.  August Busch, of the brewing family, purchased the cabin and returned it to Affton.  He placed it near one of the entrances to the Busch Estate off of Gravois road.  He then restored it.

Gravois Road (from the French for gravely creek and referring to the gravely creek that ran along the route) was the main thoroughfare into Affton.  At first it was simply a dirt trail, which then grew into a larger dirt road that was able to accommodate a wagon.  As early as 1804 there was enough traffic along Gravois to justify a license being issued to run a ferry across the Meramec River.

The road was eventually "paved" with planks of wood and farmers along the road who agreed to maintain it were granted a license to extract a toll from people traveling around it.  The Missouri legislature approved the road being paved with a mixture of tar and gravel.  It stayed this way until 1914 when it became the first road in the country to be paved with concrete.  This innovation was facilitated by the fact that the Busch family agreed to pay for 1/2 of the cost of doing so. 

While Affton continued to grow, it maintained its rural character all the way into the 20th century.  In the 1930's the area was incorporated as a village, but then disincorporated later because the area could not afford to maintain police and administrative functions.  Affton did later incorporate it's own Fire Protection District, but still utilizes St. Louis county for other administrative duties.

Affton has grown into a suburban community that has maintains a definite since of community.

Demographics (for zip code 63123 based upon the 2000 Census)

Total Population                49,679

Number of Households    22,186

Median Age                           40.8

Breakdown By Race And Gender

White                                          95.6%

Asian/Pacific Islander                 1.9%

Black                                               .9%

Other                                               .5%

Female                                        53.1%

Male                                             46.9%

Income Statistics

Median Household Income              $40,746

Household Income < $50K                  61.4%

Household Income $50K - $100K      29.9%

Household Income > $100K                 8.7%

Miscellaneous Statistics

Average Household Size                    2.14

Percent Of Residents Holding

A Bachelors Degree                           29.7%

Real Estate Information (based upon information gathered from May 23, 2006 - May 23, 2007)

Average Sale Price                     $158,424

Average Sq. footage                         1,296

Average Days on Market                       76

Average Price Per Sq. Ft.                 $127

At any given time there are numerous houses on the market in Affton ranging from the low 100's through the high 6 figures.  For information on homes in Affton or on the Affton real estate market, please feel free to call or click on the "contact us" link.

Wikipedia Article On Affton          Affton Chamber of Commerce             

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