Meacham Park (neighborhood)

Meacham Park is a neighborhood of Kirkwood, Missouri outside St. Louis. It was established as an unincorporated community largely of African Americans and was eventually annexed by the city of Kirkwood, which relocated many of its residents to make way for a mall and other commercial property.[1] Kirkwood previously annexed another strip and, aling with the construction of a highway, physically divided the communities. Years of discrimination and neglect followed with Meacham used for public housing projects but not receiving the public services of its neighboring city. After it was annexed and 100s of residents relocated or departed, tensions continued as its school was closed, requests for a community center at the closed school denied, and contracts made for city business with firms outside Meacham.

During segregation Meacham Park stood apart with its own institutions.[2]

On February 7, 2008, Charles L. "Cookie" Thornton, a disturbed construction business owner who has been in dispute woth3 Kirkwood officials for years, shot up a Kirkwood city council meeting killing five people.[3]

The former J. Milton Turner School building in Meacham Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The area includes the 1.25 acre Meacham Memorial Park.[4]

References
  1. "Black history is deeply rooted in formation of Meacham Park in Kirkwood". Webster Journal. March 21, 2018.
  2. Wright, John Aaron (January 4, 2004). St. Louis: Disappearing Black Communities. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738533629 – via Google Books.
  3. Cooperman, Jeannette (April 25, 2008). "The Kirkwood Shootings: Kirkwood, Meacham Park and the Racial Divide". www.stlmag.com.
  4. "Parks | City Of Kirkwood, MO". www.kirkwoodparksandrec.org.
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