While living in Creve Coeur for my time in St. Louis whenever I needed to think or meditate, I always go to a body of water all of my life. While living in St. Louis County from May 1992 to January 2011 that body of water for me was always Creve Coeur Lake.
I knew about some of the infamous history of Creve Coeur Lake Park. Creve Coeur in French is "heartbreak" or broken hearts and I was aware of the legend has it that the lake was named for a young Native American Woman whose heart was broken by a young Frenchman. She threw herself to her death from Dripping Springs thereby splitting the lake in two.
I did not know about all the "gangsterocious" activity tied to prohibition and the speakeasy action that was happening in the 1930s. By this time the park went into decline. Speakeasies, bootleggers, gangsters and houses of ill repute began to take over. No longer was Creve Coeur Lake Park a destination; it was then a place to avoid. Several violent murders took place there.
YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK THIS OUT:
The was a train that used to come through the Park and there were hotels and what they called "Ice Houses" back in the day. Ice Houses as they were/are called were gathering places, especially in Texas. In Texas, for instance, ice merchants also sold groceries and cold beer, and worked as early convenience stores and local gathering places. In time, they converted into full-on convenience stores. For instance: famous US 7 -Eleven convenience store chain developed from ice houses that were owned by the
southland Ice Manufacturing
These activities in the Creve Coeur Lake Park ended when the "Depression" occurred in America.
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