Kimmswick Attractions

Everyone now has the opportunity to have a tour of the historic Anheuser Estate in Kimmswick. The estate home and museum is open for walk-in tours once a week, every Thursday from noon to 4:00 pm. Group tours may be arranged any day of the week by calling the City Hall (636.464.7407). Admission is $10 per person all proceeds from the tours are placed in the Anheuser trust fund and used for the upkeep of the property.

The Anheuser family bought the 23-acre estate in 1916 and used it as a summerhouse until 1945 when Mabel-Ruth and her husband, the late Frederick Straub Anheuser, moved there and named it Fredmar Farms.

Frederick was the great-grandson of Eberhard Anheuser (1805-1860), the original owner of the brewing company that later became Anheuser-Busch.

Before her death in October 2000, Mabel-Ruth Anheuser bequeathed the home and grounds to the city of Kimmswick. In addition, she donated $1.5 million to the city for the upkeep of the estate.

The estate includes many of the Anheusers’ belongings; such as furniture, dinnerware, clothing and the family’s book collection. A portion of the property is designated as a park.

There are also stables and a riding area on about 6 acres of the Anheuser property, which is used by Ride On St. Louis. The organization houses four horses at the facility. Find out more about Ride On St. Louis below. Like us on FaceBook “Anheuser Museum and Estate”.

Apple Butter Pavilion
1982 Home of the annual Apple Butter Festival. Historical members and friends constantly stir the apple butter, and then jar it when it is ready. The Festival is held the last weekend in October.

Burgess-How House & Museum
Location: 3rd & Elm St.
Open Sundays April – October from 1 to 4 pm. This is the first log building to be moved to Kimmswick (1970). Maintained and furnished by the Kimmswick Historical Society as an 1850’s farmhouse.

El Camino Real Marker
Location: Jefferson Square Park, Kimmswick MO

In the late 1700s the Spanish used the inland trails of the Native Americans. The route from New Madrid and Ste. Genevieve to St. Louis was called the route El Camino Real (The Royal Road.) This oldest road in Missouri passed near what would become Kimmswick. The Missouri Daughters of the American Revolution erected a red granite boulder in 1917 to mark the route. On Sunday October 19th, 2008 a ceremony was be held to commemorate the move of the El Camino Real Marker to the Jefferson Square Park location.

Historic Post Office
In continuous operation in the City of Kimmswick since 1858. Donated to the City by Lucianna Gladney Ross, December 2010.

Kimmswick Hall & Museum
Location: 600 3rd St.
Once the Kimmswick Baptist Church, this building is now the headquarters for the Kimmswick Historical Society. Informative meetings are held the first Monday of each month at 7pm. Everyone is welcome. It is free and open from 1pm – 4pm most weekends.

Archaeological history was made at the site in 1979 when scientists excavated a stone spear point made by hunters of the Clovis culture (14,000 – 10,000 years ago) in direct association with mastodon bones. This was the first solid evidence of the coexistence of people and these giant prehistoric beasts.

Mastodon State Historic Site contains an important archaeological and paleontological site – the Kimmswick Bone Bed. Bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals were first found here in the early 1800s. The area gained fame as one of the most extensive Pleistocene ice age deposits in the country.

Today, the 425-acre property preserves this National Register of Historic Places site and provides recreational opportunities. A museum tells the natural and cultural story of the oldest American Indian site one can visit in the state’s park system. A full-size replica of a mastodon skeleton highlights the exhibits. A picnic area, several trails and a special-use campground offer chances to explore the land where the lives of Native Americans and mastodons once intertwined.

Windsor Harbor Road Bridge

The oldest known wrought iron bridge in Missouri spans the Rock Creek. Built in 1874, the Keystone Bridge Company constructed this bridge to be placed across the River Des Peres at Ivory Avenue. It remained there until 1928 when it was replaced by a new bridge. The bridge was moved to Kimmswick and put in place in 1930. The bridge is only open to pedestrian traffic.

Follow