October 22, 1876 - 138 years-ago today The Great Divorce takes effect as St. Louis City and County were officially separated. In 1876, St Louis was a large city in a mostly rural county. Beyond the city limits was a vast area with few residents, providing little business & a small tax base. This started a never-ending controversy with city voters, who didnt want the financial burden of supporti...ng a sparsely-populated county. The issue had been simmering since before the Civil War, & when a Constitutional Convention was called in 1875, it came to the forefront. A provision to separate the city & county was overwhelmingly passed, & the citys boundaries were set. Giving them sixty-one square miles, this was thought to be more than adequate for future growth. Known in its day as the Scheme, the election results werent certified for months, with countless charges of fraud & malfeasance which led to a lengthy lawsuit.Decades later, many felt the separation had been a mistake, but the 1876 provision left no way for reunification. To remedy this problem, a constitutional amendment was written in 1922, & in November, 1924, it was easily passed by city, state, & county voters. This allowed voters to decide whether the city could rejoin the county. But there was more here than what met the eye. By passing the measure, county voters almost assured that reunification wouldnt happen. The citys attitude was hostile, & the wording of the amendment showed that. If passed, the citys boundaries would be expanded to include the entire county. All county offices would be eliminated, & come under control of the city. All county property would be transferred to the city, & all county municipalities would be eliminated. The St Louis Police Department would control all the area, & all school districts would be eliminated, & fall under the control of the St. Louis School Board. Put before the voters on October 26, 1926, 87% of city voters approved. As one would expect, 67% of county voters said no.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:14:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015