Congress considers Ste. Genevieve for National Parks System

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Ste. Genevieve, a centuries-old town on the western bank of the Mississippi River, could become part of the National Park System under legislation filed by Missouri’s congressional delegation.

If Congress approves the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Site, the town of less than 5,000 could see federal funds for cultural programs and building preservation.

Local officials also hope National Park Service designation will draw attention — and visitors — to the town’s French colonial architecture, which the U.S. Department of the Interior recognized in 1960 as a national historic landmark district.

French settlers founded Ste. Genevieve more than 250 years ago, and the town calls itself the oldest European settlement in Missouri.

The French and Spanish governments controlled Ste. Genevieve for decades before the Louisiana Purchase brought it into U.S. territory. Flooding in the 1780s forced townspeople to rebuild their homes on higher ground.

In the following years, the town saw more settlers of British-American and German origin.

The Park Service has been studying Ste. Genevieve since 2006.

In May, the agency issued a 107-page report noting the town’s “unique concentration” of French vertical log houses — which differ from the horizontal log structures other Europeans favored — include rare “post-in-ground” homes, where the exterior logs were inserted directly into the soil rather than set on a foundation.

The Park Service’s report notes while little original French architecture remains in other areas that saw an influx of other Europeans, in Ste. Genevieve “we clearly see the physical imprint of French inhabitants as they mingled with later waves of settlers ... making visible the community transition to part of the new American republic.”

Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill this week sponsored legislation on the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Site in the upper chamber, while Rep. Jason Smith filed a bill in the House.

“Ste. Genevieve is not only a treasure to us here in Southeast Missouri, but also part of our Missouri heritage and early American identity,” said Smith, whose Southeast Missouri district includes the town.