-Author Unknown
On October 2nd, 1963 a portion of the former St. Louis Ordinance Plant was conveyed to Washington University under the terms of Quitclaim Deed #SA-VI-10 (Fy-64) (recorded on page 177 of Book 5211 of the St. Louis County Recorder of Deeds on October 9, 1963.) This transfer was conducted under the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat.377) as amended. The property, 1966.46 acres, is mostly within an 8 ft. Chain link fence constructed by the government. However, a 4 1/2 acre strip included in the above total and lying between the Meramec River and the right of way of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (recently acquired by the Burlington Northern Railway) is outside the fence. Secondly, a larger parcel, perhaps 75 acres, also lies outside the fence at the northwest perimeter, sharing a boundary with the former Mincke property, which became an addition to West Tyson County Park in 1980.
Since the time of this transfer the University has submitted annual utilization reports to the Kansas City regional office of the Federal Property Assistance Program as required, until 1983, under the terms of the quitclaim deed. These reports represent a detailed
account of the operations and programs of Tyson Research Center. Copies of the reports are among the University archives and are available at the Tyson office. A summary of current Tyson activities appeared in Chapter I. Between the end of the Korean War, during which the tract had been used for munitions storage, and conveyance to the University, the property was in federal hands but with little activity. Agricultural surplus commodities (mostly corn and a little wheat) were stored in Buildings #360-1 and -2 during this period. The material was brought in by rail and moved into the buildings by an elevator which was situated midway between the two structures. Later, after the University owned the property, it was noticed that quail were very abundant in the vicinity of these buildings, the walls of which had been opened in places to provide for air circulation so that the grain could be dried.
During the Korean War the munitions storage depot was administered by the U.S. Defence Corporation. The 52 bunkers were used for storing 30 and 50 caliber machine gun ammunition, and bulk powder. Oxidizing chemicals were stored in the chemical warehouses (Buildings #301-1, -2, -3), which are now art studios. The PETN vaults were for the storage of more volatile explosives; the large corrugated asbestos warehouses (Buildings #360-1, -2) were constructed and used for the disassembly and crating of trucks for shipment to the war zone. Tracer ammunition was tested at the several firing ranges. Presumably other war material also passed through the premises. However, we have encountered no clues that either radioactive materials, or chemical, biological or germ warfare agents were ever on the scene. Many civilians worked on the site and we have spoken with several of them. They do not report such material as having been present.
When the property was being prepared for transfer to the University, there was a decontamination performed. Some wood frame TNT vaults (Buildings #307-1 thru #307-5) were surrounded by giant plastic bags and incinerated. Discarded metal objects were apparently buried, for if one excavates in flat areas of the central valley, one may encounter old pipes, bedsprings, etc. We have made no effort to locate military records or those of the U.S. Defense Corporation. Presumably a scrutiny of such material would yield considerable understanding of operations during the years of munitions storage.
From June 23, 1950 until September 25, 1951 the entire federal tract (including what is now Lone Elk Park and the southern portion of west Tyson Park) belonged to St. Louis County. Known as Tyson Valley Park, the tract was open to the public. Concessionaires Marian and Helen Freeman operated a restaurant in the Central Administration Building (Building #313). The present classroom served as the dining room, the director's office as the kitchen, the secretary's office as the pantry and the room west of the entry was used for dishwashing. The garage housed a hot dog stand, and counters where one could purchase beer, or soft drinks and souvenirs. South of the building a fenced corral contained bison and a small railroad carried children and adults on an oval track. The county had received the property as a conveyance from the United States (recorded on page 32 of book 2960 in the office of the Recorder of Deeds). Because of the Korean War a provision in the deed, that the property could revert to federal ownership in the event of a national emergency, was utilized. The St. Louis Globe Democrat of September 5, 1951 carried a short item describing the transfer back to federal possession.
In February 1951, 10 elk (2 bulls and 8 cows) were released into the park. By 1958 these animals had overpopulated and overgrazed the tract and it was clear that supplemental feeding would be necessary. Therefore 103 animals, almost the entire herd, were shot and removed between October 9, 1958 and March 2, 1959. The data collected on this occasion was published (Murphy, Dean A., 1963. "A Captive Elk Herd in Missouri." Journal of Wildlife Management 27(3):411-414).. The lower jaws of these animals are being held by y e Missouri Department of Conservation, in Columbia, Missouri. A single animal remained after the hunt; he was still alive in 1964 when a fence between Tyson Research Center and Lone Elk Park was constructed. Shortly after the closure of the last section of the fence the bull was seen on the county's side and eventually it contributed to the name of the park itself. Later, additional elk, bison and other animals were introduced to the park.
During World War II the property had also been used for munitions storage as during the Korean War. A detailed description of the operations of the munitions storage program is not possible here. The property was acquired by eminent domain in 1941 from a Mr. Henry Mincke and, presumably, from the Ranken estate which had extensive holdings along the Meramec and U.S. 66 between Kirkwood and Eureka. Construction of the perimeter fence took some time and during that period, military personnel patrolled the perimeter of the property in jeeps, complete with mounted machine guns, and on mule back.
Prior to the military presence, reaching back to about 1700, the property was rural farmland and woods. Aerial photographs from 1938 reveal plow furrows in the field along I-44. A small farm in that area grew watercress just below Blue Grass Spring. A fenced pasture extended northward to the vicinity of the Twin Ponds. A telephone line ran from here across country to Mincke Hollow where a limestone quarry operated on a lease which ran from 1877 to 1927. A second farm was situated along the railroad tracks at the north end of Tyson. Its barn and barnyard were in the vicinity of Railroad Pond. Cattle and hogs from this farm roamed the hills either side of the wide Tyson hollow in the center of the tract. If the practices followed were typical, in autumn fires were set to clear away less desirable vegetation and to reduce the tick population.
A dirt road ran from the farm out to join U.S. 66 (now I-44) along the same general route as the one later selected for the main paved road of the munitions storage facility.
Trees were cut in the upland forest of the hillsides as these areas were close to such transportation arteries as the railroad and U.S. 66. A barrel stave plant in Pacific was the probable destination of much of the white oak; also a sawmill once operated at the west side of the Antire hill. It is difficult to place the peak of the lumbering* activity, but we do know that in 1941 the Moss Tie Company had negotiated a contract to cut on the north side of U.S 66 so the forest must have recovered by then to a considerable degree. The wartime activities prevented their exercising their rights under this contract. (Personal communication, D. B. Mabry).
In Mincke Hollow a town was established by the Hunkins-Willis Company and occupied by those working at the quarry. The Tyson station of the railroad served as the major connection with the outside world. The old foundations of the houses and the spring box at the Mincke Spring are the only obvious reminders that there once was community there. The most southerly of the building foundations, on the west side of the road is that of the former school house. Larger foundations. at the north end of the hollow remain from former kilns, peraps a company store and other larger structures. The Kimswick limestone present is virtually nothing but calcareous shell fragments and fossils. Thus it is chemically useable for making lime. The quarry operation terminated in 1927 when the 50-year lease was not renewed by the property owner, Mr. Mincke.
We have less information on the earlier agricultural and settlement activities of western man on the site. However, we assume that life here was not practiced very differently from elsewhere in the region, as described in various volumes on the history of the area. A summary of these appears as Chapter 2, Man and the River, in the Lower Meramec River Management Study, prepared by the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation and published in 1980 by the Meramec River Recreation Area Coordinating Committee.
The same document as well as Chapman and Chapman, Indians and Archeology of Missouri, 1964, describes use of the area by Indians or various cultures back to 12,000 B.C. In 1974 a sizeable portion of Tyson Research Center was included in the BeaumontTyson Quarry District, a 44 square mile area entered at that time in the National Register of Historic Places. This designation derives from the presence of an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 chert quarries along the ridge tops in the district. The nomination document, available in the Tyson office goes into considerable detail about the quarries and their significance.
The chert from this area is of high quality and became a medium of trade. Archaeological research in the Crescent Hills cherts has been a continuous enterprise. Recent studies have included the determination of prehistoric heat treatment via thermoluminescense and the differentiation of prehistoric quarry areas through neutron activation analysis.
In addition to the quarries, it is quite probable that there was an habitation site along the edge of the Meramec flood plain northwest of Tyson itself.