"Ste. Genevieve Historic District - Ste. Genevieve, Missouri" Waymark

The date of the first French, settlements in the vicinity of Ste. Genevieve cannot be determined. The earliest known grants of land were made in 1752, when 27 inhabitants owned about three miles of Mississippi River frontage. The original site of settlement, probably in the period 1735-40, was in the river bottom on the west bank of the Mississippi about three miles below the present town. Floods, notably one in 1785, caused repeated damage, and the town was moved gradually between 1785 and 1796 to the present site on high ground. By the latter year, only a few huts of traders remained at the old site. In 1772 the town had about 70 houses, one church, and a population of 691. In 1795, at its new location, the inhabitants numbered 839. Ste. Genevieve the principal seat of government in the region for many years after western Louisiana passed from French to Spanish control in 1762 thrived under Spanish administration, and by 1800 it had 180 houses and 1,163 inhabitants. In 1803, the Louisiana Territory passed to the United States and Ste. Genevieve then declined as St. Louis gradually grew in importance...

There are 49 buildings of historic and/or architectural interest from Ste. Genevieve French Settlement period still standing in or near the town.... Of the buildings cited, thirty-one were probably built in the eighteenth century, the others before 1825. Seventeen are of vertical log construction/ nineteen of wood or log, and thirteen of brick or stone. Nine require substantial repair or restoration, though all but the reconstructed Bolduc House have been altered in some degree.

Houses in early Ste. Genevieve were preponderantly one-room or two-room units. Typical exterior dimensions were 12'x 13', 15' square, and 18'x 19'. They usually were of logs placed vertically into the ground, five or six inches apart. Such construction was called poteaux-en-terre posts in the ground. Three houses so built are still standing in Ste. Genevieve. Later houses had rubble stone foundations on which the logs rested--poteaux-sur-solle posts on a sill. The walls were tilted inward a few degrees, for unknown reasons. The interstices were filled with bouzillage a mixture of clay or mud with twigs, animal hair, straw or limestone gravel.

The roofs were unusual because of their extremely steep pitch, often exceeding 70° , which was necessary to shed rainwater from the thatching. The roof was formed by massive Norman trusses, pegged in place...

Ste. Genevieve , with possibly 31 existing 18th century dwellings, is the finest surviving architectural example of a French Colonial village in the United States." ~ National Historic Landmark Nomination Form

The district was accepted as a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and was automatically accepted to the National Register of Historic Places when the Register was started in 1966.