FROM NEW MADRID TO CLAVERACH
How an Earthquake Spawned a St. Louis Suburb
When the earthquakes of 1811-1812 hit the New Madrid Fault, the Mississippi River changed not only its course but many lives, and the location of land. Those who suffered damage to the land were subsequently issued certificates to claim public land westward of the river.
Author James Sherby tracts the creation of a certificate, no. 465, from slave-owning farmland to one of St. Louis County’s most highly valued property in the Clayton area. The development of this Clayton neighborhood and the lives it touched until 1930 are detailed in this narrative along with a collection of photographs, maps and documents illustrating this unique history in Missouri.
