HENRY H. LAUMEIER PARK
PARK HISTORY
The first unit of the 97 acres of land that became Laumeier Sculpture Park
was a tract of 47.67 acres on Rott Road, purchased in September 1916 by
Roland L. Kahle, a department manager of the Ringen Stove Company. In
April 1917, Kahle obtained a building permit for a stone house and garage to
cost $20,450. They were designed by Ernst Janssen, a leading St. Louis
architect.
Henry H. Laumeier was married to Matilda Cramer in 1941, it was the
second marriage for both. They settled in the house on Rott Road, making
modifications that included glazing the big south porch and enlarging the
estate to 72 acres. Laumeier died at his home in December 1959 at the age
of 83.
Wayne C. Kennedy, director of the St. Louis County Department of Parks
and Recreation had his first meeting with Matilda Laumeier in 1963. In her
conversations with Kennedy, Mrs. Laumeier was enthusiastic about park
use, but not for playing fields. She favored used that would maintain the
general character of the landscape, possibly with such features as a formal
garden, a conservatory building and plantings compatible with the specimen
trees that she and her husband had placed in the broad lawns and meadows.
Matilda Laumeier died in March 1968 at the age of 86, leaving an estate
valued at $1,606,000. Her will provided for the gift of her home and
property to the County in memory of her husband but did not limit the uses
of the park. The seven room stone house and grounds were valued at more
then $500,000 and the bequest included $25,000 toward conversion of the
property to a public park.
With the addition of funds from the County’s 1969 Bond Issue, the first
stages of this preparation were accomplished. The Parks Department
acquired 4 acres on Rott Road, with a house for the park supervisor’s
residence, and the Peace Haven Association granted a small strip that jutted
into the park. With these additions, the park grew to 76 acres.
The concept of a sculpture park was crystallized with the offer of Ernest
Trova in 1975 to make a gift of large sculptures as the beginning of a
sculpture park and gallery. Trova made his offer formally on December 11,
1975, as a gift to the people of St. Louis County, with the comment that the
proposed sculpture park “would be in the tradition of the Kroller-Muller
Museum in Holland and the Storm King Center in New York.” His gift
consisted of 40 sculptures, with an estimated market value of approximately
a million dollars, and a number of maquettes and other materials.
Early in 1981, a group of private citizens purchased approximately 20 acres
adjacent to the east boundary of the park. This land has now been purchased
with 86 Bond Issue funds by St. Louis County to expand the park. Several
artists have been commissioned to create works specifically for this site,
including Jackie Ferrara , Mary Miss, and Beverly Pepper. The acreage will
remain as a natural area with some trails for hiking.
A trade of one half acre of land in 1990 gave the City of Sunset Hills a site
for a new fire station on Rott Road and the park property on the north side of
Rott Road to protect the park entrance. MSD sewers have been installed and
the old on-site treatment plants were demolished in 2003.
HENRY H. LAUMEIER
During his lifetime Henry H. Laumeier was a director of the Union
Bank and Trust Co. until its merger with the First National Bank in St.
Louis. His father founded the trust company in 1872. Henry H. Laumeier
married Matilda Cramer in 1941, the second marriage for both. They settled
in the house on Rott Road and enlarged the estate to 72 acres. Laumeier died
in his home in 1959 at the age of 83, and the couple never had children. In
1963 Wayne Kennedy began meeting with Matilda Laumeier, who wanted
to see the land remain an open space. When she died in 1968 at 86 she left
her seven room stone house and grounds to the county, as well as $25,000
toward the conversion of the property to a public park in memory of her
husband. In 1975 sculptor Ernst Trova donated 40 sculptures to the park,
which began the use of the park as a sculpture park and gallery.
CHARLES MOSS EDUCATION SHELTER
Charles Moss was born on October 22, 1918. He began working for
the Parks Department as a Parks Maintenance Man in 1964. He was
promoted to Parks Supervisor in 1967. He died in September of 1974, while
still employed with the Parks Department. A shelter at Laumeier Sculpture
Park has been named in his memory.