We left our little jaunt through the fountains of St. Louis in the cooling spray in front of Union Station. We’re going to board an invisible train and go west for our next stop.
Founded in 1853 as the first planned suburb west of the Mississippi river, Kirkwood, MO has roots in the railroad tracks. Railway engineer James Pugh Kirkwood did such a fine job of locating, surveying and building the rail line through the community that they named the town in his honor.
The railroad still runs numerous freight trains on the tracks and Amtrak pauses at the historic train station. So stay alert and listen up when driving through.
Our point of interest today is on the Plaza. Across the tracks and within site of the train station it’s a new development in the heart of this small city. Across the street is City Hall. Fronting the plaza are several restaurants below housing with a multistory garage behind to ease the parking situation.
The official name is Unity. Installed in 2006 it’s already witnessed joy and sorrow. Let’s toast that it will assist in keeping the Kirkwood Community in Unity.
