Committee backs name Old Slave Road

WILDWOOD, Mo. -- A city council committee in the St. Louis County town of Wildwood is recommending the town keep Old Slave Road as the name of a private street.

Wildwood's Administration/Public Works Committee voted 6-1 last week to keep the name Old Slave Road.

The council has the final say.

Karen Fox, who lives on the road, filed paperwork in October to change the name to Elijah Madison Lane.

Some have said the Old Slave Road name honors the area's history and the black families who lived there -- descendants of slaves who came to the area from Virginia in 1837. Others find the name offensive.