Kirkwood, Missouri

Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of 2006, the city population was 26,936. Founded in 1853, the city is named for James Pugh Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad through that town. It was the first planned suburb located west of the Mississippi River.

History
Plans for a new community close to St. Louis began following the St. Louis Fire (1849) and the 1849 cholera outbreak that killed a tenth of the residents of downtown St. Louis. Kirkwood was the first suburban municipality built outside of the Saint Louis City boundaries.

Hiram W. Leffingwell and Richard Smith Elliott bought land 14 mi from downtown in 1850 at about the same time James P. Kirkwood was laying out a route for the Pacific Railroad. When the railroad reached the community in 1853, the developers sold lots for the Kirkwood Association. Other Leffingwell developments were to include the construction of Grand Avenue and the establishment of Forest Park.

The original town plat including quarter section blocks and families could be a block estate of 5 acre. Deed restrictions prohibited industrial development.

The train station of Richardsonian Romanesque style was built in 1893. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), it has become a symbol of the town. It is the only station stop that Amtrak makes in the Missouri metropolitan area outside St. Louis. Among the four other buildings in the city listed on the NRHP is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ebsworth Park Foundation.

In 1895 the Meramec Highlands resort was built on the bluffs above the Meramec River.

Traditions
The Greentree Parade is held every September. The Greentree Festival has many things to do such as arts and crafts for kids and many different foods from many different cultures. Greentree has been a tradition for 50 years. Since 1961, it has been held in Kirkwood Park. The festival was originally created to replace the drought-stricken trees in the park.

The Turkey Day Game between Webster and Kirkwood has been the longest running high school rivalry west of the Mississippi River. Every Thanksgiving day at noon the Kirkwood Pioneers play against the Webster Groves Statesmen. The winner of the Turkey Day game receives the Frisco Bell. The loser of the Turkey Day Game gets the ugly brown jug. The 100th Anniversary game was in 2007.

The Kirkwood Farmers' Market was founded in 1976. It is an outdoor market that has a variety of homegrown vegetables and fruits. There are more than 300 local businesses that contribute to the market.

Geography
Kirkwood is located at °N, °W (38.580652, -90.414289).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.3 square miles (24.0 km²), of which, 9.2 square miles (23.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.54%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,324 people, 11,763 households, and 7,257 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,961.3 people per square mile (1,143.0/km²). There were 12,306 housing units at an average density of 1,333.7 per square mile (514.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.76% White, 7.07% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population.

There are 11,763.5 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $70,261, and the median income for a family was $89,219. Males had a median income of $51,515 versus $36,235 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,012. About 2.8% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Crime
The city is normally low in crime. In 2007 and 2008, Kirkwood was the site of two sensational events. On January 12, 2007, Michael J. Devlin was arrested for abducting 13-year-old William "Ben" Ownby. Police investigating the case had discovered Ownby and also 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck living at Devlin's apartment. Hornbeck had been missing since the age of 11, when he was abducted from near his home in Richwoods, Missouri. The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation was set up to find him and other missing children.

On February 7, 2008 a gunman shot multiple people at a Kirkwood city council session, killing five: Council Member Connie Karr, Council Member Michael H. T. Lynch, Public Works Director Kenneth Yost, and two police officers, Sgt. William Biggs and Officer Tom Ballman. Kirkwood mayor Mike Swoboda and Suburban Journals reporter Todd Smith were wounded. The gunman, Kirkwood resident Charles "Cookie" L. Thornton, who had a history of disruptive behavior and legal actions against the city government, shot and killed himself in the nearby Imo's pizza parking lot minutes after the attack. Swoboda died the same year on September 6, 2008, succumbing to cancer in addition to complications from the February shootings.

Rail
Kirkwood sits along the Union Pacific Railroad. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak; Kirkwood Station is located near the center of downtown Kirkwood and is a stop for Amtrak's Missouri River Runner.

Bus
Bus service in Kirkwood is provided by Metro. Bus service connects Kirkwood to other suburban communities and downtown St. Louis.

Road
Interstate Highway 270 runs along the western edge of Kirkwood; Interstate 44 passes through the community along the southern portions of the city limits. Major surface streets include Manchester Road (Missouri Route 100) bordering the city to the north, and US 61/67 (Lindbergh Boulevard) which runs north-south through downtown Kirkwood as Kirkwood Road.

Primary and secondary schools
Public education in Kirkwood falls under the Kirkwood R-7 School District, which includes five elementary schools, Tillman Elementary, North Glendale Elementary, Keysor Elementary, Robinson Elementary, and Westchester Elementary, two middle schools, Nipher Middle School and North Kirkwood Middle school,and a single high school- Kirkwood High School, which dates back to 1865. North Glendale, Robinson, and half of Tillman go to Nipher Middle School, and Keysor, Westchester, and half of Tillman go to North Kirkwood Middle School. The District covers all of Kirkwood and as well as all and parts neighboring smaller communities of Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Oakland, and Warson Woods.

The Kirkwood High School Pioneers and Webster Groves Statesmen alternate as hosts of the Turkey Day game, the longest-running football high-school rivalry west of the Mississippi. Held annually, Thanksgiving Day 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the first match.

Colleges and universities
St. Louis Community College operates a 78 acre campus in Kirkwood, STLCC-Meramec. Meramec is the largest Community College in Missouri with over 12,000 undergraduate and transfer students.

Economy
Shop 'n Save, a grocery store chain, is headquartered in Kirkwood.