Simpson Park - St. Louis County, MO
Posted by: 
Wampa-One
N 38° 33.410 W 090° 27.992
15S E 720755 N 4270642
Located along Marshall Road and the Meramec River in Valley Park
Waymark Code: WM4P04
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 09/13/2008
Views: 9
PARK HISTORY
St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department purchased the original 148 acres in 1976 with the aid of matching funds from the United States Department of the Interior Land and Water Conservation Fund. Half of the original acreage was purchased with these funds, and the remainder was donated by the Simpson Sand and Gravel Company.
Thirty-four additional acres of the park was acquired in two later purchases. In 1977, 33 acres were acquired from the Simpson Company. Another acquisition was completed in 1981 with the purchase of a one-acre lot from a private owner. Additional acquisitions of 16 acres have been made through Bond Issue funds and Federal Emergency Management Agency supported purchases of properties along the Meramec River.
The existing lake was created through a combined damming/dredging operation. A dam was constructed to impound water from Grand Glaze Creek. This allowed Simpson Sand and Gravel to float a dredge barge to dredge sand and gravel. This process in turn enlarged the lake. The lake has been used in the past a paid fishing lake and the land between the lake and Marshall Road was used as a golf driving range. Both of these activities ceased functioning prior to acquisition of the property by the County. The land south of Marshall Road has been used as a construction landfill. Over a period of 30 years, a minimum of 10 to 12 feet of fill was added with a cap of 1-2 feet of soil placed over the fill by the Simpson Company.
The park was dedicated on July 6, 1991.
The Blue Heron Pavilion was completed in June of 1994 with funds from the 1986 Bond Issue and was designed to withstand flooding.
In 1996 Taco Bell donated funds for the installation of a soccer field and parking lot and a handicapped accessible fishing dock to be located in the main section of the park near the Blue Heron Shelter.
Two L&WCF grants were received in 1992 and 1995 respectively for the construction of the asphalt lake shore trail in the park north of Marshall Road and the Meramec River Greenway Trail that
extended the lake shore trail from the restrooms south across Marshall Road and east along the Meramec River to Greentree Park in Kirkwood.
Simpson Park is included in the Meramec River Greenway.
The park bears the name of the Simpson Company, which produces meramec sand, gravel and asphalt. The company is located in St. Louis Missouri and donated half of the original acreage for the park in 1976.
~ from St. Louis County Parks website (
visit link)