40 South News

Recently I was pleased to renew a friendship with a man who I once had as an instructor of digital photography, John Nagel.  In the spring of 2007, I was enrolled in my second semester of Photoshop at St. Louis Community College – Meramec. It was the last semester that John taught before retiring.  I […]

Maplewood Richmond Heights School District is one of six districts that reinstated a mask mandate recently, and as a result was sued, again, by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who claimed they had no authority to do so, as reported by KSDK and other sources. MRH was the only one that supplied KSDK with a […]

Local online sources cover our local news. The Business Journals — Side Project Brewing to open new joint space with Pizza Champ Feast Magazine — Shared by Side Project Brewing will open alongside Pizza Champ with a new patio in Maplewood on May 18 Fox 2 — Taste of Maplewood festival happens this weekend KSDK […]

Even though I never knew Emma Beauvais Thomas Grumley, I feel a deep connection to her.  This is due mainly to having been allowed access to so many of her very personal images and documents by her great-great granddaughter, Chrissie Hayes McConnell. I have lost count of how many posts have come out of this […]

Forget Me Not Boutique, a women’s boutique, is planning a grand opening on Saturday, May 14, at 2718 Sutton Boulevard. The space was formally Elements of Design. Also, Rob Birenbaum announced on Facebook that BLK MKT Eats (blkmkteats.com) is coming to his property at 7356 Manchester Road in the fall. Rob said: “Interesting flavors and […]

Maplewood City Manager Michael D. Reese forwarded to 40 South a 2022-2023 budget memo that he sent to the Maplewood City Council on May 5. “It references how we’re investing in Maplewood residents, businesses, and planning for the future (including in public safety),” he said. 2022-2023 budget memo from Maplewood City Manager Michael D. Reese […]

Reader Ed Notter emailed me a few of the images he has accumulated that he’d like to share with the rest of my audience.  I suggested he send all of what he has found.  This he did and here they are.  In alphabetical order.   Thanks so much to Ed Notter for sharing these with […]

More images from the collection of Emma Beauvais Thomas Grumley. This is the eleventh post in this series. For those of you who are just coming on board, all of these images are part of a collection that once belonged to young Emma Thomas, daughter of William Lyman and Catherine (Kate) Sutton Thomas.  I assume […]

Maplewood’s Coffee Crawl will have two less stops on the tour next year. Stone Spiral Coffee and Curios, opened for 15 years, and C Oliver, since 2019, have closed their doors. Stone Spiral, 2500 Sutton Boulevard, was open seven days a week 12 hours a day or more; less on Sunday, including an open-mic night […]

Letters, I get letters.  Not really but I do get phone calls, texts and emails.  I thought that followers of this space might enjoy this recent exchange I had with Gary Luebke. On April 20 at 3:05 PM, Gary wrote: Hello Doug, I have read a number of your articles on the history of Maplewood […]

The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation has presented former Maplewoodian Larry Giles and Maplewood’s oldest home, Woodside, with their highest honors. Tuesday was a big day for Maplewood history in Jefferson City.  I would like to congratulate everyone involved. We lost Larry Giles less than a year ago.  He was a fine and talented man […]

Totally unexpected, rare artifacts from the farm of James Compton Sutton, Sr. for your viewing pleasure! A little over a year ago I made two related posts, the first of which was titled, Rarer Than Rare.  The subject was not only an astonishing photograph of James Compton Sutton, unseen by anyone in our town for […]

More images from the collection of Emma Beauvais Thomas Grumley. This is the tenth post in this series. For those of you who are just coming on board, all of these images are part of a collection that once belonged to young Emma Thomas, daughter of William Lyman and Catherine (Kate) Sutton Thomas.  I assume […]

Reported in online news recently: Advantage News — Colleen Marie Lucy | Granite City Obituaries | advantagenews.com   Albany Herald — Best suburbs to live in America | Features | albanyherald.com   KSDK — Ask Allie: New reports of stolen mail from USPS drop boxes – KSDK   St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Skornia aims for […]

The city of Maplewood is having a dual port level 2 charging station installed at the Marietta parking lot, a city employee said Monday. It will be near the west entrance to the lot, and offered as a free service to residents and visitors. There will be a 2-hour charging limit. No other limitations, such […]

The Heating Stove from the Maplewood Train Depot has been relocated to the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois. We recently lost one of Maplewood’s oldest residents, Rita Kippenberger.  Rita lived her entire 97 years in the house she grew up in on Maple.  I regret that I didn’t try harder to interview Rita […]

Maplewood Ward 3 candidate Mary Killian has sent additional concerns of hers to be published. 1) I would like to see the city develop a central point, source or office where the citizens could find answers to questions or be directed to help. It could be manned by knowledgeable volunteers and overseen by a city […]

More images from the collection of Emma Beauvais Thomas Grumley. This is the ninth post in that series. A particularly enjoyable part of this mission that I have set for myself is having had the opportunity to closely examine hundreds of original photographs with a connection to our community. The image quality of many of […]

Lee Wynn taught and coached in the Brentwood School District for 33 years, and served on the Brentwood Board of Aldermen a total of 24 years. He died on March 10, 2022. He was born on Wednesday, October 25, 1933. Services: Memorial at Alive Church, 1809 Des Peres Road, St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, May […]

Through their giveback program, Closets for a Cause, Saint Louis Closet Co. officially donated $3,359.12 to the Cancer Support Community of Greater St. Louis. This nonprofit’s mission is to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by the community. “We are thrilled to partner with Saint […]