Veuve Chouteau Residence. SW Corner, Main Street and Chestnut Street. Ink on paper by Clarence Hoblitzelle, 1897. Acc.#1897.22.8.
Courtesy Missouri Historical Society

[Block 33B] Madame Chouteau's House

As soon as Pierre Laclede moved his family to St. Louis, he immediately provided for the future of his wife and children. He secured a grant of land on Main and Chestnut Streets where he built a house which he gave to his wife. He also set aside land for a farm. The house was on the northeast corner of the square and faced the east. It had a high basement, a long gallery and an outside stairway. There was a picket fence around the yard.

Pierre Laclede built this large stone mansion in the northeast corner of this block in 1767. It was the home of Madame Marie Therese Chouteau of New Orleans, the "mother of St. Louis." The French veteran officer, St. Ange de Bellerive, first military commander of St. Louis, died in this house in 1774. The house measured 50 x 34 feet, faced east and had a high basement, which gave it the appearance of being a two story dwelling. Its long gallery and main floor were reached by an outside stairway on the south. A picket fence enclosed the yard, which contained a small orchard and grape arbor. Madame Chouteau owned at least three black and eight American Indian slaves.

This modern scene, looking eastward, was taken from the site of Madame Chouteau's House on First Street. The north leg of the Gateway Arch can be seen on the left, as can the large grain elevator across the Mississippi River in Illinois.