Saint Louis

Formed October 1, 1812 (5^th county)

Saint Louis County (1,004,310), Clayton (17,362), Florissant (52,532)

The Modern steel and concrete structure was erected in 1971 and being renovated in 2015.  The courthouse is on Central Street between Carondelet and Bonhomme streets.  Interstate Highway 170 is six blocks to the west of the site.  It sits in the middle of numerous government buildings supporting Saint Louis County.  Murphy, Downey, Wofford, and Richman are the architects.  A Justice Center was built in 1996 and an Administration Building in 1970.  There have been 1878 and 1949 courthouses previously.  Saint Louis County was created on October 1, 1812 as an original county (5^th county.)  Saint Louis was the first county seat until 1876 when Clayton assumed the role.  The county is named for King Louis IX of France.  He is also the source for Saint Louis City.  The county seat is named for settler Ralph Clayton. 

Saint Louis County government consists of a sheriff, an Executive, and 7 Council Members.  Twenty Circuit Court Judges and Eleven County Court Judges serve Saint Louis County.  Saint Louis County is in eastern Missouri.  Saint Louis, Missouri is directly to the east of the county.  The Missouri River forms its northern border.  The Mississippi River forms its northeast and southeast borders.  Illinois is across the Mississippi River to the east.  The county center is 3.5 miles West-Northwest of Clayton in Ladue.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Saint Charles County and Illinois and Saint Louis City and Jefferson and Franklin counties. 

The area of the county is 508 square miles.  It is 78 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 1 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1977.0 persons per square mile making it 2 out of 115 in the state.  Saint Louis County has 68.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 44 crosses the county east to west from Saint Louis City to Franklin County.  Interstate Highway 55 travels north to south from Saint Louis City to Jefferson County.  Interstate Highway 64 enters from the east, Saint Louis City, and terminates.  Interstate Highway 70 goes east to west from Saint Louis County to Saint Charles County.  United States Highway 40 passes east to west from Saint Louis City to Saint Charles County.  United States Highway 50 enters from Illinois, east, and joins Interstate Highway 44 into Franklin County.  United States Highway 61 comes in joined with United States Highway 40 from Saint Charles County, west, splits and goes south into Jefferson County.  United States Highway 67 enters from Saint Charles County and joins United States Highway 61 into Jefferson County.  Saint Louis County looks like a bucking bull.  Clayton is near the eastern border of the county.  Florissant is in the northeast quarter of the county.  Clayton is the county seat and Florissant is the largest city.  Clayton is 1.7% of the county population while Florissant is 5.2% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced FLOER-I-SANT.  This county is in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.