Mertz Cabin, Chesterfield, MO - Relocated Structures on Waymarking.com

The house was originally built in 1848 by Ludwig (or “Lewis”) and Salome Mertz, following their immigration from the Alsace-Lorraine (a region that borders Germany and France), in the 1840s. The Mertz family immigrated to join a cousin who had preceeded their move to Missouri. Eventually there was a small community of German immigrants in the area, which became known as Alsace, and which is currently called Town and Country.

There appears to have been two construction phases for the home, due to the odd location of one window that opens into a center hallway. The construction technique is an excellent example of the “V” notching method which is very common to this area.

Ludwig and Salome Mertz raised their six children in the home, and were very industrious farmers. On thirty acres, they produced beans, peas, corn, potatoes, and supported 8 dairy cows and the oats and hay to feed them. They produced surplus which was trucked to the city markets, and when the railroad was established, they were able to support markets further away. In the 1880, the Mertz family experimented with the production wine, and also of wheat, which had become major US export to Europe.

In 1986, the dwelling was moved to Faust Village Park to make room for the Maryville Centre (part of Maryville University).

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At the site of the Mertz Cabin, you will also find some other historic structures, including the Wiehage Smokehouse, which was also relocated and formerly belonged to a relative of the Mertz family. There is also a bee-hive oven, an outhouse, and a woodshed.


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The Faust Historic Village is a St. Louis County park that was developed on on a tract of land that once belonged to the second governor of Missouri, Frederick Bates, who had acquired about 1,000 acres of land in 1808-09 when he was Secretary for the Upper Louisiana Territory. Bates was elected Missouri’s second Governor in 1824 and died the next year. Bates’ Thornhill Estates was acquired by Leicester Busch Faust and his wife Mary, who donated the 100 acres of land for development of the park, in 1968, and Mary later provided several more acres at her death in 1996, which nearly doubled the size of the park.

A section of the park now houses the Faust Historic Village, a collection of buildings that were moved from other locations and preserved at this site. The collection includes 4 residences, and 7 other buildings, including two barns, a carriage house, a blacksmith shop, and two smokehouses, all dating between 1840 and 1888. The Carriage house was relocated from Woodland (also called Jennings), Missouri and all of the other were relocated from the Chesterfield area. The village represents the architecture and lifestyle that were common in the 1880’s. There is a brochure for self-guided tours, and there is no charge to visit Faust Park.

Address:
Faust Park
15185 Olive Blvd.
Chesterfield, MO
Phone: 314-615-8328

Original Location: N 38° 38.692 W 090° 30.274 Type of move: City to City Building Status: Public Related Website: [Web Link] How it was moved: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/27/2022 Forest-Ghost visited it 09/02/2013 ornith visited it 07/04/2011 Queens Blessing visited it 07/26/2009 kJfishman visited it

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