Community Corner
Clayton Community Foundation Introduces 'Clayton’s Neighborhoods' Video Project
The project provides a close look at multiple neighborhoods designed by nationally known architects early in the 1900s.
Clayton Community Foundation (CCF) is pleased to announce the Clayton’s Neighborhoods Video Project, a close look at multiple neighborhoods designed by nationally known architects early in the 1900s.
Shortly after the St. Louis World’s Fair, the undeveloped land west of Forest Park attracted the excitement of developers and interest of downtown residents. Clayton had been named the seat of St. Louis County government after the Great Divorce in 1876, and the wooded, rolling acreage was less than a day’s ride by horseback from the bustling downtown city.
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The CCF History Committee teamed with Cordell Whitlock, award-winning former KSDK television reporter, and Peter Foggy, former KSDK television videographer, to prepare the script and produce the videos of eight neighborhoods within the City of Clayton community over the past few months.
Starring in Clayton’s Neighborhoods is Esley Hamilton, who served for nearly 40 years as the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Preservation Historian. He is credited with cataloguing over 4,000 county buildings and adding more than 40 properties and districts to the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, he worked with the Missouri Department of Transportation to save a community of homes that belonged to the county’s first African American development during the Highway 40 expansion project. Hamilton has been called “irreplaceable” and “encyclopedic,” and received one of four nationwide preservation awards from the Secretary of the Interior.
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“We are so very fortunate to have Esley’s wealth of knowledge of local neighborhoods,” said Katie Lerwick, chair of CCF History. “His gift of information, along with our stellar team, has created a group of videos that will delight residents and inform people who are visiting or relocating here.”
An important video segment also features former Clayton High School history teacher and historian, Donna Rogers-Beard, who provides a meaningful overview of Clayton’s past African American community.
The videos can be found on CCF’s YouTube Channel.
About the Clayton Community Foundation
Founded in 2008, the Clayton Community Foundation (CCF) serves as a nonprofit partner to the City of Clayton to catalyze the community’s passion for excellence through private investment in Art, History, Parks, and Sustainability. CCF is an innovative philanthropic initiative that enhances cultural and community assets to provide generational impact. For more information, please visit claytoncommunityfoundation.org
About the City of Clayton
The City of Clayton is the hub of metropolitan St. Louis and the seat of St. Louis County. Clayton’s vibrant business districts combine 7,000,000 square feet of prestigious office space with the vitality of 1,000,000 square feet of retail space. The city, with its incomparable city services and a school district that consistently ranks as one of the best in the country, is recognized as one of the most desirable communities in which to live and work in the metro area. For more information, please visit claytonmo.gov.
This press release was produced by the City of Clayton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.