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Every unit of the national park system will have a foundational document to provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed.
A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what the most important attributes of the park are. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity.
The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes. These components are core because they typically do not change over time. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts.
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park (the park) is located predominantly in southern Ste. Genevieve, a city of 4,410 people on the west bank of the Mississippi River, 64 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri. The park is approximately 13 acres in total. The park exists within the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District and within a larger historic district for Ste. Genevieve listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The creation of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park was authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 on March 23, 2018. The act authorized the establishment of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park as a unit of the national park system “to preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit of present and future generations the themes of French settlement, vernacular architecture, and community form and farming on the frontier associated with Ste. Genevieve.” On October 30, 2020, Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park was formally established as the 422nd unit of the national park system.
Park visitation coincides with tourism to the town of Ste. Genevieve, which increases during the city’s annual events and festivals between May and August. The park’s visitor experience typically begins at the visitor center, which is housed in the Ste. Genevieve Welcome Center. Here, visitors can learn about the park and its history, as well as begin walking tours of the historic district and the park’s historic buildings. National Park Service owned sites that are open to visitors include the Bauvais-Amoureux House (also referred to as the Jean Baptiste Ste. Gemme Bauvais House or the Amoureux House and built in 1792); the Jean Baptiste Vallé House (1794) and gardens; and the Green Tree Tavern (1790). While also known as the Janis-Ziegler House or Nicolas Janis House, it is referred to as the Green Tree Tavern throughout this document. Additional historic resources include associated cultural landscapes, historic building components, archeology, and archeological collections. Partner-owned properties, such as the Ste. Genevieve Memorial Cemetery and many other historic buildings and landscapes in Ste. Genevieve, also interpret the historic district’s French cultural heritage.
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park is a partnership park, with its historic buildings and landscapes in a mix of public and private ownerships with several nonprofit organizations and the State of Missouri. Several of these related historic resources are owned and managed in partnership with the State of Missouri at Felix Vallé State Historic Site and with other organizations, including French Colonial America and the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve. Partner-owned properties, such as the Ste. Genevieve Memorial Cemetery and many other historic buildings and landscapes in Ste. Genevieve, also interpret the historic district’s French cultural heritage. Many more historic properties within the park boundary that encompass the city of Ste. Genevieve are in private ownership.
Due to limited federal property ownership of the properties within the park boundary, NPS park management works collaboratively with other institutions to support and encourage the resource protection and, where possible, the public enjoyment of historic properties in Ste. Genevieve. Although the site has no federal oversight or property management outside of federal ownership, the park’s enabling legislation (2018) gives NPS staff the authority and option to actively coordinate with its community partners, such as nonprofit organizations, as well as private property owners, to provide technical assistance to nationally significant properties within the park or the national historic landmark district to identify, mark, interpret, improve, and restore properties through agreements with the National Park Service. Please refer to the Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments section of this document for more detail about this authority.
This summary narrative provides a historical overview of Ste. Genevieve and a historical context for the park’s purpose and significance statements, interpretive themes, and fundamental resources and values, which are described in this document. This brief overview is not meant to be a definitive history but rather highlights the major topics of the region’s history.
Further, this overview can be used to call attention to topics in need of additional research for the purpose of continually learning and understanding the richness and complexity of the histories of the people and places of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. This section was developed in collaboration with partners, historians, the State Historic Preservation Office and associated tribes. The information and terminology included in this document reflect their input.
Although Ste. Genevieve is best known for its French colonial heritage and vernacular architecture, its history did not begin with the French. The region was first settled by American Indians as long as 13,000 years ago and has been continuously occupied since (Wood and O’Brien 1998). Around 500 CE, during the Late Woodland period, it is believed that the Dhegiha-Sioux-speaking peoples arrived in the area (Vehik 1993). The archaeological record of this cultural shift and adaptations match the oral traditions of the Dhegihan-speaking tribes, now the Osage, Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Kaw Nations (Rankin 1997 but see McMillan 2014). Around 1050 CE, people in the American Bottom built a civic-ceremonial site at Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis. The growing city attracted people from across the region and became the largest Mississippian urban center with a massive sphere of cultural influence, at its height hosting 20,000 people (Milner 1998). This period was characterized by the construction of large, flat-topped mounds, small triangular projectile points, shell-tempered pottery, an increased dependence on maize agriculture, and intensive long-distance trade. The Mississippians were part of a widespread cultural and religious tradition that encompassed most of what is now the Southeast, East, and Midwest portions of the United States. Approximately 50 Mississippian villages have been identified, which stretched along both sides of the Mississippi River, some of which contained mounds. Farmsteads, ceremonial centers, resource collections areas, and sacred rock art sites were also integral parts of a complex Mississippian landscape. Transportation and trade networks, including both trails and portages, as well as social networks, that began during this time were later appropriated by European colonists. The region was a natural one for these networks, as many of the continent’s major rivers had their confluence here.
Cahokia was abandoned by around 1400 CE (White et al. 2020), and settlement in the area was greatly reduced as the Mississippians and their descendants dispersed, reorganizing into smaller tribes (Cobb and Butler 2002). The Dhegiha-speaking tribes moved farther west due to pressure from the Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”), and the Osage stayed in central Missouri and continued to use the trail network that ran through Ste. Genevieve. The region was inhabited on both sides of the river by the 12–13 tribes that comprised the Illinois Confederacy, including the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa.
In the 17th century, European powers interested in exploiting the region’s natural resources and proselytizing American Indians entered into a contest for power, bringing with them new diseases and political pressures that devastated the native nations.
Ste. Genevieve was founded around 1750 by people of French descent who continued to fuel its growth until the early 19th century. The majority did not come directly from France but were largely French Canadian migrants or their descendants. People also came to Ste. Genevieve by way of other French colonies, such as Saint-Domingue and Louisiana (NPS 2016), and with them came the individuals they enslaved.
The migrants who settled in the region were somewhat isolated from other portions of French frontiers in America and lived in close proximity to American Indians. Their lives became intertwined with regional tribes and people of African descent, both free and enslaved. Although these interactions were not always without conflict, trade and intermarriage helped to foster and maintain relationships between groups.
Those born in this region were considered Creole, a term adopted from a Spanish word and meaning any French, Spanish, Black, or mixed-raced settler born in North America. While French culture predominated, the melding and fusing of French, African, American Indian and Spanish traditions in a new environment resulted in a unique culture that was radically different from its parent cultures.
Ste. Genevieve was an outgrowth of a century of French exploration of the Mississippi River Valley. This exploration was part of a larger competition of European empires in the new world, not simply for land but for political and economic dominance. In the Mississippi River Valley and the Illinois Country (in Upper Louisiana), the early major competitors were France (which initially colonized the region), Spain, and Great Britain.
The earliest French settlements, at the beginning of the 17th century, were located in the northeastern part of North America in Acadia (Nova Scotia) and along the St. Lawrence River. Quebec, founded in 1608, was the first continuously occupied French settlement on the continent. In the 1670s, Louis Jolliet and Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette followed the Mississippi River southward from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Arkansas River. Arkansas Post, founded by French traders in 1686, was the first permanent European
settlement in the Mississippi Valley (NPS 1960).
Following in the wake of Marquette and Jolliet, Robert Cavalier de La Salle completed the journey to the Gulf of Mexico in the early 1680s. French missionaries, farmers, trappers, and traders followed these pathfinders into the Mississippi River Valley, using the riverways and preexisting trails established by American Indians, searching for resources. Cahokia village, located in what is now southern Illinois, was founded as a Catholic mission by the Seminary of Foreign Missions in Quebec in 1699, making it the first permanent European settlement on the Mississippi River. The village would be followed by the establishment of Kaskaskia, also on the eastern side of the river, in early 1703. Others followed, eventually establishing Ste. Genevieve (around 1750) and St. Louis (1764) on the west bank of the river (Belting 1948; NPS 1960; Balesi 1992). The first town site of Ste. Genevieve, often referred to as “old town Ste. Genevieve,” was located in the flood plain about 3 miles south of the present-day village.
The three elements of a village—long agricultural strips within a fenced-in Common Field, a compact village area with a street grid, and a commons for timber and pasturage—were a settlement pattern unique to the French in Upper Louisiana, more commonly known as the Illinois Country. This tripartite community arrangement was unlike the settlement patterns of other European ethnic groups on the frontier who built farmhouses on large agricultural allotments, creating an expansive rural pattern. The pattern was even unlike French Canadian habitants (residents, farmers) in the St. Lawrence River Valley and Great Lakes regions who constructed their homes adjacent to one another on the narrow ends of individually fenced long lots (seigneuries) (Ekberg 1998). This unique arrangement endured even when the village of Ste. Genevieve changed location after 1790 to escape frequent flooding.
Some of the inhabitants were extremely successful in business enterprises, most notably the fur trade, in which they dealt directly with the region’s American Indian tribes. In order to forge effective trade networks and bonds with the tribes, Creoles were formally adopted into tribes, such as the Osage, and intermarried with them. Later, US fur traders employed nonnative trappers, upsetting the balance of area cultures and forcing native people into poverty.
Mineral extraction and processing were important to the development of Ste. Genevieve. Early French traders and trappers camped at a salt spring and creek, which they called La Saline. This spring has a long history of importance to human inhabitance in the area, especially American Indian tribes, and was included in the earliest maps of the area. La Saline developed as an important manufacturing area for salt, which the French colonists needed to preserve meat, and importing it was difficult and expensive. Lead mining, initially a seasonal operation, also attracted the French to the area. Those directly engaged in mineral extraction, free and enslaved, resided in temporary structures near those production centers. While minerals like salt and lead were important to the early settlers of Ste. Genevieve, the primary attraction on the west bank was the wide, flat swath of rich farmland that stretched for miles along the Mississippi.
Ste. Genevieve was primarily an agricultural settlement. Shortly after their arrival, the French habitants established the Common Field, also called Le Grand Champ or the Big Field, in an area where there were several mounds characteristic of the Mississippian culture. The Common Field comprised long, narrow, unfenced plots of land, convenient in reducing labor since the French wheeled plow was so difficult to turn (Ekberg 1998). The “long lots” stretched west on the floodplain from the river’s edge to a row of limestone bluffs. The total area of these lots in the Common Field was estimated at 7,000 acres (Ekberg 1998). Though called a Common Field and enclosed by a single fence, the long lots—which ranged from 1 to 3 arpents wide (1 arpent = 192 feet)—were individually owned. This open-field system, which accompanied all compact villages in the Illinois Country, defied easy ownership classification, even in its time, because “during the spring sowing, summer growing, and autumn harvest seasons they were more or less free-hold property, although owners could not erect fences on them. After the harvest, when the livestock of every habitant had free range on them, the arable strips became communal land for pasturing” (Ekberg 1998). In addition to the village and Common Field were the “commons,” communal areas that could be used for pasturing and harvesting timber. At Ste. Genevieve, the commons were understood to be any lands outside the village and the Common Field (Ekberg 1998). All of these early industries were supported by American Indian and African enslaved labor. In fact, the lead industry was largely responsible for the growth of the enslaved African population in upper Illinois in 1722. The investment in enslaved labor grew as these industries expanded.
Many other aspects of the culture made the region unique. Modifications and additions to the French language, clothing types, the system of laws, and the Roman Catholic religion were important features of Ste. Genevieve. Initially, Ste. Genevieve was part of the Immaculate Conception parish located in Kaskaskia. The first church, a log structure built in 1752 or 1753, was erected as a chapel on the public square. Enlarged and rebuilt a few times, the structure was the town’s “largest and most important building” (Ekberg 1996). Beginning in 1759, Ste. Genevieve had its own parish register in which the baptisms, marriages, and burials of both free and enslaved residents were recorded. The parish received its first priest around 1761. The Catholic parish “was the fundamental unit of social and government organization in the Illinois Country” (Ekberg 1998). The religion of the European colonists in the Illinois Country was exclusively Catholic under the French and later under the Spanish. Despite attempts to restrict immigration exclusively to Catholics from an early date, people of other denominations moved in and were accepted as long as they did not openly practice another religion. Catholicism was a state religion, part of a three-pronged governmental system that consisted of civil government authority, the military, and the church. The church also owned land in the Common Field and continues to own land to this day.
The culture of the Illinois Country differed from other European colonies in North America in many ways other than settlement patterns, agricultural traditions, religion, and language. French laws and customs afforded women significant but unequal rights and provided enslaved people with limited protections. Under the Coutume de Paris (Custom of Paris, which are ancient French customary laws), women, even within marriage, legally had the independent right to buy, sell, and inherit property; lend or borrow; marry or separate; bring a lawsuit or be sued; and engage in commerce, even using their maiden names. Marriage contracts between a prospective husband and wife were the norm. Several commonly used provisions protected the female partner within marriage and avoided the British emphasis on primogeniture, which placed all legal rights with the husband. First, partners were not responsible for the other’s premarital debts. Property could be retained within the marriage by the person who owned it at the time the partnership was formalized. A man could not dispose of his wife’s property without her consent; single women and widows had complete legal and financial autonomy. If the husband died before his wife, the widow received a significant portion of their common property, and the children divided the rest. Family was the significant unit in French culture and under French law rather than male inheritance. French inheritance laws allowed for the equal treatment of heirs regardless of sex (Boyle 1987).
The nature of life on the frontier provided opportunities for women’s expanded roles in household management, including business and financial matters. It was not unusual for wives to manage their families’ business interests and real estate while husbands were on long trips to hunt, trade, or conduct business (Boyle 1987).
The Code Noir, which dated to 1685 and was instituted in French Louisiana in 1724, regulated the practice of enslavement. The decree contained 55 articles governing the relationships between enslaved individuals and their enslavers. The articles provided guidelines for the treatment and care of those who were enslaved, recognizing them simultaneously as property and as human beings. While the code included various articles that imposed various restrictions on Black people’s behavior and provided for harsh punishment, it also contained articles that prohibited the breaking up of enslaved families and provided various legal protections, including the right of the enslaved to take their enslavers to court if they violated any of the code’s provisions. However, enforcement of the code was difficult, and “[l]ocal conventions, customs, and directives possessed more authority” (Stepenoff 2006).
By the end of the Seven Years’ War/French and Indian War in 1763, France had lost all of its North American territory (NPS 2016). Ste. Genevieve came under Spanish rule, which lasted until 1804. While France no longer had formal control over the area, ethnically French inhabitants continued to have a strong influence on its development. Throughout the period of Spanish administration, a “French Creole” culture predominated. Far from the center of Spanish governmental power in New Orleans, Ste. Genevieve’s elite French families were able to “maintain political power as well as social ascendancy in the community” (NPS 2016).
Following the British acquisition of the territory east of the Mississippi, a flow of French Illinois Country residents from there supplemented Ste. Genevieve’s population growth. The residents of the lands west of the river were recorded in a 1766 Spanish census of Ste. Genevieve and the surrounding seasonal encampments at La Saline and the area lead mines. The census tallied 319 free persons and 228 enslaved persons (Ekberg 2002). Throughout the colonial period, approximately 40% of the Ste. Genevieve population was enslaved. Many of the townspeople of Ste. Genevieve were enslavers, yet it was the few wealthiest families, like the Vallés and Bauvais, whose homes still stand and who enslaved about half of the total enslaved population (Ekberg 1996).
Spanish rule brought some changes to the slave system. During the early French colonial period, the enslaved were transported up the Mississippi largely from Lower Louisiana, where the majority of the enslaved population, originating from the Senegambia region of West Africa, initially arrived. However, during Spanish colonial rule, slavery intensified, and the origins of the enslaved population became increasingly diverse (Ingersoll 1996). The Spanish also placed prohibitions on the acquisition and trade of American Indians, issuing a decree outlawing the trade in 1770 (Webre 1984). However, these prohibitions did little for those American Indians who were already enslaved. According to the 1776 Spanish census, 29 enslaved American Indians, primarily children, remained enslaved (Ekberg 2002, 2007). In order to exercise control over the enslaved population, laws were passed restricting their activities, limiting their movements and ability to gather. The fact that those who were enslaved lived in the same dwelling as their enslavers or nearby in separate structures allowed for constant surveillance. Those who labored in mineral extraction, away from enslavers, seemed to have had more opportunities, as evidenced by their ability to engage in trade and attempt escape. Under the Spanish, strict prohibitions against interracial relationships did not exist and more opportunities for manumission existed, including the ability of the enslaved to purchase their own freedom, which had been discouraged under the Code Noir (Ekberg 1996).
During the 1770s, the Osages, who called themselves Ni-U-Ko’n-Ska, or “children of the middle waters,” periodically conducted hunting and war parties in the area. Their principal business was trapping and hunting for furs, including beaver, buffalo, and nearly every other furbearing forest creatures. Trade with the Europeans made available a profusion of European goods and brought wealth to the Osages. At the same, the Spanish encouraged tribes who fought against the British to settle in the area as a de facto military force to protect Ste. Genevieve and nearby Cape Girardeau. Large groups of Shawnee migrated to the area beginning in 1773, joined to by smaller groups of Delaware and Peoria (Lankford 1999; Staab 1999). In 1793, Baron de Carondelet, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, gave the Shawnee a 625-square-mile (400,000 acres) land grant that extended from immediately south of Ste. Genevieve to just north of Cape Girardeau. These tribal communities provided a buffer against hostile incursions and helped to provision the town.
Perhaps the biggest change during the Spanish period was Ste. Genevieve’s location. The original town site suffered from devastating floods in the 1780s, with the flood of 1785 being the most destructive. This disaster led to the founding of “new” Ste. Genevieve (present-day Ste. Genevieve) on higher ground to the north, on the banks of two small streams—the North and South Gabouri Creeks. During a flurry of activity in the 1790s, French settlers laid out the town’s new location with a grid pattern of streets and moved their church and burial ground from the old town site to a location near the new town’s central core. As in the old town, the village was compact; the typical lot size was approximately a quarter block (Ekberg 1996). Whatever the size of the lot, residences were small, with gardens, orchards, and outbuildings, such as kitchens, privies, quarters for the enslaved, stables, and corn cribs, occupying the rest of the lot (Stepenoff 2006).
This period dates the extant collection of French vernacular vertical log architecture that has come to define Ste. Genevieve (NPS 2016). The inhabitants built unique homes, using and melding several different vernacular traditions and incorporating them into one specific building type. Both White and Black local artisans used paid and enslaved labor to combine vertical logs with the Norman roof truss that was imported from France and used extensively in Canada (Stepenoff 2014). A secondary roof structure was added to the steep Canadian roof, an idea imported from the Caribbean and Louisiana, to cover a galerie (or porch), which shaded and protected one or more walls of the house, sometimes on all four sides. The galerie and double-pitched roof can be traced via the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast to vernacular African house types, as can specific carpentry techniques to enslaved African workers and designers (Edwards 2006). The double pitch of the roof formed by these two roof structures gave the houses of the middle Mississippi River Valley a distinctive appearance. The complexity of construction was quite high when compared with a timber-framed house or the horizontally placed logs of a frontier cabin in the Anglo portions of North America. The house of the middle Mississippi Creole was not easily built by the average homeowner without professional assistance, especially due to the complexity of the roof. The architecture of the houses themselves demonstrated the complex interweaving of cultures in the region (Peterson 1947; Kornwolf 2002; Edwards 2006; Stepenoff 2014).
These structures are largely of two types, the rarest of which today “is the poteaux-en-terre, or post-in-the-ground, where the vertical logs that form the exterior walls are inserted directly into the soil without a foundation wall or a sill underneath them. Only five of these houses have survived in North America, and three of them are still standing in their original locations in Ste. Genevieve” (NPS 2016).
The surviving examples of this house type in Ste. Genevieve are the Bauvais-Amoureux House, the Vital St. Gemme Bauvais House, and the Bequette-Ribault House. Although rare today, this house type was the most commonly built in the Mississippi River Valley. The other type, less common when built but better able to survive, was the “poteaux-sur-sole, or post-on-sill, houses that have vertical log walls mounted on a wood sill atop a stone foundation. Twenty-four of these have been identified in Ste. Genevieve” (NPS 2016).
During this period, Ste. Genevieve continued to develop as a hub of agriculture, industry, and trade. Ste. Genevieve became “one of the principal trading points” in the middle Mississippi Valley. An influx of settlers from former French colonies on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, now controlled by the British, increased the range of occupations in Ste. Genevieve, diversifying the economy. Agriculture, however, remained at the colony’s center. Ste. Genevieve “produced more cereal grains than any other settlement in Spanish Louisiana” (Ekberg 1996). Residents, free and enslaved, continued to work the Common Field, which is still cultivated today. Lead was the second leading industry in Ste. Genevieve and one of its major exports (Ekberg 1996). The residents not only became involved in the sale and trade of lead, but also in its mining, as lead mines in Ste. Genevieve produced lead for the entire Louisiana colony (Schroeder 2002). After the arrival of Moses Austin from Virginia in 1797, the lead industry, using improved techniques and enslaved laborers, became increasingly efficient and was able to operate year-round. This development expanded the area’s dependency on slavery (Schroeder 2002).
Ste. Genevieve’s growth during the final years of the 18th century and the early 19th century was fueled by French-descended people who migrated to Ste. Genevieve and the neighboring settlement of New Bourbon from other towns in the Illinois Country and French Canada. New Bourbon, established by a French nobleman named Pierre Charles Dehault Delassus Deluziere, was located approximately 2 miles southeast of Ste. Genevieve on a ridge overlooking the Common Field along the road that led to La Saline. An émigré from France, Delassus founded New Bourbon in 1793 as a haven for others like him—aristocrats fleeing the French Revolution. The residents of New Bourbon were similar to those of Ste. Genevieve. The small population of New Bourbon participated in the social and economic life of the area, tilling land in a Common Field and interacting with the farmers, traders, and residents of the more prosperous Ste. Genevieve. However, New Bourbon failed to thrive, leading to its demise around 1860 (NPS 2016).
The American Revolution (1775–1783), the Louisiana Purchase (1803), and Missouri statehood (1821) resulted in demographic and cultural shifts that transitioned Ste. Genevieve from a French village to an American town (NPS 2016). While Ste. Genevieve was French-dominated, it was not exclusively French. When the origins of the 175 men in the Ste. Genevieve militia were recorded in 1779, the majority came from the Illinois Country and Canada, but 15 were of English heritage (probably from the British colonies) and 4 were German (Ekberg 2002). Following the American Revolution, Anglo Americans began migrating into the area.
During the early historic period, many American Indian tribes lived in eastern Missouri. The Osages had long been established and are likely the decedents of the Mississippian mound builders. In addition, several different Algonquian-speaking people, displaced by war, disease, and European encroachment in the east, moved into the area, forming agricultural villages south of Ste. Genevieve. Some relocated across the Mississippi River, while others moved farther east and south. These groups included the Illinis, Peorias, Shawnees, and Delawares (Lenapes) (Stepenoff 2006; NPS 2016). Their villages included “enclosed gardens and fields, domesticated animals, and horizontal log buildings in the Anglo-American style” (Stepenoff 2006). By the mid-1780s, the Peorias, who had migrated to the west bank of the Mississippi after the French and Indian War, were residing in Ste. Genevieve and had established a village in the Bois Brule bottom. They were followed by groups of Shawnee from the Cumberland and Ohio River valleys. These groups settled in seven villages between Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau, where they remained until their forced removal in the 1820s (NPS 2016).
Anglo-American settlement, which began in the 1790s, continued to increase after the Louisiana Purchase. While some people stayed only temporarily in the town before moving on to opportunities further west, others remained in Ste. Genevieve, bringing with them different cultural and building traditions. The American period, which resulted from the Louisiana Purchase, also resulted in shifts in the Black population, as the enslaved population and the number of enslavers in Ste. Genevieve continued to decline.
Mirroring a transition occurring in other French towns, Ste. Genevieve underwent a period of change in adjusting to new laws and cultural influences. Following the Louisiana Purchase and US government takeover of the territory in 1804, the structure of government changed, and as a result, the institutional underpinnings of the creolized way of life in the Illinois Country were damaged (Gitlin 2009). As historian Jay Gitlin observes, Louisiana had a much larger French population base and a professional civilian legal class that allowed elements of the French legal system to survive there (Gitlin 2009). The law was changed to a system based on English common law. Verification of land claims under the new laws led to disputes. Common law eliminated beneficial provisions that women and enslaved persons had previously held. The greater autonomy for women and the meager protections for people of color provided under French and Spanish Civil codes began to disappear (Moore 2010). The economic independence women enjoyed under the French and Spanish was threatened by English common law, under which a husband assumed all legal authority over a wife’s property. Local ordinances and laws became increasingly restrictive towards free and enslaved people of African descent.
The increase in Ste. Genevieve’s population following the Louisiana Purchase “diversified the area’s agricultural landscape, as more farmers lived on their newly settled land outside Ste. Genevieve rather than living in town and commuting to the Common Field” (NPS 2016). Buildings in frame, brick, and stone were constructed for British-American newcomers and French residents in architectural styles that were very different than those used during the colonial period.
Though Ste. Genevieve grew, it did not grow as rapidly as St. Louis or Missouri itself. In 1804, when the Lewis and Clark Expedition began, St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve were comparable in size (Stepenoff 2006). During the Spanish and early in the American administration of the area, Ste. Genevieve was the center for the vast Ste. Genevieve District, but as counties were subdivided during the 1810s, the village lost influence over the resource-rich district that surrounded it (Schroeder 2002).
The statehood of Missouri in 1821 resulted in even more changes for Ste. Genevieve. Although Ste. Genevieve County had more than doubled its 1830 population by 1850, this increase was eclipsed by the explosive growth of St. Louis, which documented more than 100,000 residents in the county that same year (US Census 2005). While Ste. Genevieve was once a center for agricultural production and trading, it was quickly displaced by St. Louis as the primary economic center in the region.
Not only did statehood result in changes to Ste. Genevieve’s economic position in the region, but it also changed life for its residents. Life became increasingly difficult for Black people—enslaved and free. While slavery was decreasing numerically, it remained significant, and enslavers remained committed to the practice, “vigorously pursuing runaways” (Stepenoff 2006). Legislation made it increasingly difficult for free Black people, and their migration into the state was discouraged. Black people lost many of the rights they had previously, and to maintain their free status, they were required to post bond and obtain licenses (Stepenoff 2006). Despite this, the free Black population increased through self-purchase, manumission by local enslavers, and in-migration. They also asserted their rights through the legal system, and it was not unusual for them to be property owners. For example, Antoine Recole, who purchased his freedom in 1816, owned several properties in Ste. Genevieve. Extant properties connected to the history of free Black people include the Bauvais-Amoureux House, the Bequette-Ribault House, the Joseph Saraphin/Recole House, and the Moses Austin Outbuilding. Several of these properties connect to the history of enslaved women, and often their children, who obtained their freedom.
The demographics of the population continued to shift after statehood. While Germans had an early presence in Ste. Genevieve, their population increased in the 1840s, the result of a larger wave of German immigration into Missouri. Some residents eschewed the practice of enslavement, and antislavery sentiment in the area was linked to their presence. By 1860, Germans supplanted the French as the dominant ethnic group in the area.
The village of Ste. Genevieve exemplified French settlements along the Mississippi River in the Illinois Country. By extension, Ste. Genevieve highlights the rich legacy and importance of the French colonization of North America, often neglected in general histories of the United States. Due to its remote distance from the mother country and the multicultural influences of American Indians, Africans, the Spanish, and later, Anglo-Americans, the region developed a hybrid and unique culture. The remaining vestiges of that culture, including the astounding number of preserved vertical log vernacular structures, provide an unsurpassed backdrop for interpreting the French cultural legacy and its effects upon what is now the United States.
The purpose statement identifies the specific reason(s) for establishment of a particular park. The purpose statement for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park was drafted through a careful analysis of its enabling legislation and the legislative history that influenced its development. The park was established when the enabling legislation adopted by Congress was signed into law on October 30, 2020 (see appendix A for enabling legislation). The purpose statement lays the foundation for understanding what is most important about the park.
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park preserves and interprets French culture and colonialism and its impacts on North America during a time when Spanish, British, and other nations and empires competed for economic, religious, and political dominance in North America.
Significance statements express why a park’s resources and values are important enough to merit designation as a unit of the national park system. These statements are linked to the purpose of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Statements of significance describe the distinctive nature of the park and why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. They focus on the most important resources and values that will assist in park planning and management.
The following significance statements have been identified for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. (Please note that the sequence of the statements does not reflect the level of significance.)
- Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park and its partners preserve the largest assemblage of extant French vernacular vertical log structures in the United States. This form of architecture combines French architectural traditions and various influences from around the world, including Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean.
- Ste. Genevieve and the surrounding historic district’s rich cultural landscape reflects the influence of indigenous and French people in ways distinct to the mid-Mississippi River Valley area. Largely distinguished by Common Fields and a compact village, Le Grand Champ (also known as Common Fields) remains the largest extant agricultural long lots in the United States and can be viewed from park sites.
- Ste. Genevieve, a colonial settlement established by the French, was important to the development of the region and the nation. The village serves as a backdrop to examine the impact of European exploration and settlement on local indigenous populations and the migration patterns of subsequent groups.
- The Mid-Mississippi Valley region’s distinct Creolized culture and traditions were influenced by race and ethnicity, gender, class, religion, and labor (both free and enslaved) from the colonial to the post-Louisiana Purchase periods.
- Ste. Genevieve’s French settlers played a pioneering role in expanding global trade in the 18th century by developing close but often exploitative relationships with several indigenous nations and people of African and European descent. Successful production and movement of wheat, furs, salt, and lead, as well as internationally manufactured goods, both on water and across longstanding networks of native trails, connected regional markets in the Mississippi River Valley to the rest of the world.
- Ste. Genevieve provides a rare opportunity to interpret the lasting impact of French colonialism and culture in North America, even when faced with shifting demographics that marginalized French influences.
Fundamental resources and values (FRVs) are those features, systems, processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes determined to warrant primary consideration during planning and management processes because they are essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. Fundamental resources and values are closely related to a park’s legislative purpose and are more specific than significance statements.
Fundamental resources and values help focus planning and management efforts on what is truly significant about the park. One of the most important responsibilities of NPS managers is to ensure the conservation and public enjoyment of those qualities that are essential (fundamental) to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. If fundamental resources and values are allowed to deteriorate, the park purpose and/or significance could be jeopardized.
The following fundamental resources and values have been identified for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park:
- Historic Structures. Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures include rare, intact vertical log structures from the 18th and early 19th centuries, including the Jean Baptiste Vallé House, Bauvais-Amoureux House, Green Tree Tavern, and Delassus-Kern House. Each of these four structures demonstrates the different socioeconomic status of their inhabitants. The Jean Baptiste Vallé House has a vertical timber core structure from 1793 and has been updated with time. The Bauvais-Amoureux House is a post-in-earth (Poteaux en terre) structure originally built in 1792 by Jean Baptiste St. Gemme Bauvais and represents the residents of a wealthier class in the community. The Bauvais-Amoureux House was intentionally placed near Le Grand Champ and was later the home of Pélagie Amoureux, a free woman of color before the Civil War. The Delassus-Kern House has French colonial vertical log walls with a second-floor addition constructed by a German family in the late 1800s. The Green Tree Tavern is a large and well-preserved example of poteaux-sur-sole construction. The building has the least-altered interior of any French vernacular house in Ste. Genevieve, has been extensively documented, and retains a high degree of historic integrity.
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park’s historic structures are contributing resources of the larger Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District, which was established in 1960 and is among the first national historic landmark districts established in the United States. This landmark district is nationally significant because it possesses the greatest concentration of such vertical log buildings in North America, according to the park’s 2016 special resource study. The park’s historic structures’ placement within the town reflects the status and trades of the residents who occupied them historically. As a result, the spatial relationships between Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures are an important character-defining feature of the historic district. In addition, the park has a growing collection of historic building components.
-Views of Le Grand Champ. Early French Canadians were drawn to Ste. Genevieve for its rich agricultural land, which they organized as Le Grand Champ (translates to “The Big Field”), also known as the Common Field. An integral relationship between Le Grand Champ and the historic buildings in Ste. Genevieve is preserved in the views between them. The National Park Service-owned Bauvais-Amoureux House and Delassus-Kern House retain the historic views of Le Grand Champ that the houses located on St. Marys Road had. Lots in Le Grand Champ were individually owned, and land became communal after the annual harvest for pasturing, according to the park’s 2016 special resource study. Le Grand Champ is about 7,000 acres, and its viewshed is protected in part by its floodplain, which constrains and generally prevents development efforts. Resources that are significant to local indigenous communities are also present within this viewshed.
- Cultural Landscapes. The lands that the National Park Service manages in Ste. Genevieve are portions of the preserved cultural landscapes of the city of Ste. Genevieve and its surroundings. Cultural landscapes at the park exist within the city’s intact original street grid, which was laid out after its 1785 flooding event. The city plan evolved as the settlements in the new town expanded along the two Gabouri Creeks and their combined flow northward to the Mississippi River. Cultural landscapes managed by the park and its partners contain American Indian trails that have been identified by members of the Osage Nation. These landscapes contain a high potential for archeological resources.
- Archeology. Archeological sites within these areas provide the material evidence of the diverse cultural peoples and activities of those who lived and worked in the city during its long period of significance from the mid-18th century through the mid-19th century (national historic landmark district) and until the mid-20th century (National Register of Historic Places historic district). Sites identified to date also contain evidence and artifacts associated with enslaved people from African descent in Ste. Genevieve. Archeological collections, including significant records and artifacts, may grow over
time as items are donated to the park.
-Living Cultures and Traditions. Ste. Genevieve is a living community that continues to evolve and is ever mindful of preservation of traditions and practices from the past. The multicultural diversity of Ste. Genevieve contributes to the dynamic evolution of its living cultures and traditions. These cultural traditions, although modernized to a certain degree, continue to this day, as evidence by the large number of local and regional events, community cooperation, and outreach to share and celebrate public and oral histories.
Related resources are not owned by the park. They may be part of the broader context or setting in which park resources exist, represent a thematic connection that would enhance the experience of visitors, or have close association with park fundamental resources and the purpose of the park. The related resource represents a connection with the park that often reflects an area of mutual benefit or interest, and collaboration, between the park and owner/stakeholder.
The following related resources have been identified for Ste. Genevieve National
Historical Park:
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Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District. Designated in 1960, Ste. Genevieve was among the first areas in the nation to be designated a national historic landmark district. The district’s period of significance begins with the founding of the first community known as Ste. Genevieve in about 1750 and ending in 1846—the construction date of the last French vertical log house in “new” Ste. Genevieve, the town that replaced the first French village after a disastrous flood. These dates encompass archeological sites that predate the founding of present-day Ste. Genevieve, as well as all the known French vertical log houses and significant buildings representing British American and German American settlement in the town in the first half of the 19th century. The designated national historic landmark district covers 4,200 acres, which encompass much of the city of Ste. Genevieve and the Common Field agricultural area between the Mississippi River and US Route 61 south of the city. While the original Common Field was about 7,000 acres of open agricultural land, the Common Field of today (also called the Big Field) is approximately 2,600 acres and includes the addition of houses and flood levees. Most of the national historic landmark district’s 45 contributing historic structures are in private ownership. The majority of resources within Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District are cared for by owners and protected by City of Ste. Genevieve historic preservation ordinances.
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Ste. Genevieve National Register of Historic Places Historic District. In addition to the national historic landmark district, Ste. Genevieve is also home to a larger National Register of Historic Places historic district, listed in 2002 under national register criteria A, C, and D, with a period of significance from 1790 to 1951. The district is roughly bounded by Main Street and St. Marys Road, Seventh Street, and Seraphin Street and encompasses 824 buildings. Of these, 676 buildings contribute to the district and 148 are noncontributing. While some of these properties are nationally significant because the national historic landmark district overlaps a portion of the national register district, most are significant at the state and local level.
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Archeological Sites. The prehistoric archeological site Common Field is near Ste. Genevieve and contains the remains of American Indian mounds that are sacred to the Osage Nation. This site is part of the Ste. Genevieve National Register of Historic Places Historic District and is also designated individually in the national register. The Old Ste. Genevieve Town archeological site is within the Common Field area. Included within the park boundary but not directly managed by the National Park Service is the Bushnell Cave, a petroglyph site inside the mouth of a small cave within a half-day’s walk of the Common Field Mound site.
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Historic Resources Owned and Managed by Felix Vallé House State Historic Site. The Felix Vallé House State Historic Site is owned and managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The site includes the Felix Vallé house within the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District. The Felix Vallé house is an American Federal-style dwelling built in 1818. Open for visitation, the building is furnished in the style of the 1830s with a host of artifacts that show the American influence on the French community of Ste. Genevieve after the Louisiana Purchase.
- Historic Resources Owned and Managed by the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve. The Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 with the expressed purpose of promoting the preservation and restoration of historic structures and other properties that illustrate Ste. Genevieve’s early history and culture. The foundation maintains and presents the 1806 Jacques Guibourd Historic House, the 1813 Kiel-Schwent historic house, and the Mecker Research Library. The foundation also manages the restoration and maintenance of Ste. Genevieve’s Memorial Cemetery in partnership with the City of Ste. Genevieve. The foundation organizes public tours and events and provides guidance and assistance to individuals, organizations, and governments desiring to preserve and restore Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures.
- Historic Resources Owned and Managed by French Colonial America. French Colonial American is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) Missouri public charity corporation. The organization preserves and promotes the French and Creole culture and history of the Mississippi Valley during the early Colonial period. Today, French Colonial American operates a museum campus, the Centre for French Colonial Life, which includes a museum, four historic structures, and period gardens. In addition to maintaining and preserving these four 18th- and early 19th-century historic properties, French Colonial American offers public programming that illustrates the history of the region during the Franco-Spanish colonial era and examines the unique Creole culture and identity that developed in Upper Louisiana during that period.
- Fort Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, and Prairie du Rocher in Illinois. Ste. Genevieve’s history and development are directly connected with the contemporaneous 18th-century town and fortifications of Fort Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, and the village of Prairie du Rocher. These three historic places are located on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what is today the state of Illinois. Private, state, and municipal ownership and management of these sites complement the preservation efforts of the National Park Service and Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park’s partners.
- Historical Records. A large body of existing historical records dating from the late 1750s through 1850 exists in the Ste. Genevieve archives; the records of the Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church; Spanish official records currently housed in Seville; Spain; many civil records housed locally in the Ste. Genevieve courthouse; as well as written descriptions of the area, its inhabitants, and visitors to the area. Many more records relevant to Ste. Genevieve are housed throughout United States and internationally.
Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes are derived from, and should reflect, park purpose, significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore and relate to all park significance statements and fundamental resources and values.
Interpretive themes are an organizational tool that reveal and clarify meaning, concepts, contexts, and values represented by park resources. Sound themes are accurate and reflect current scholarship and science. They encourage exploration of the context in which events or natural processes occurred and the effects of those events and processes. Interpretive themes go beyond a mere description of the event or process to foster multiple opportunities to experience and consider the park and its resources. These themes help explain why a park story is relevant to people who may otherwise be unaware of connections they have to an event, time, or place associated with the park.
The following interpretive themes have been identified for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park:
Architecture
- The blending of building traditions exemplified by Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures represents a distinctive architectural style once common across colonial Louisiana and reflects the negotiation of identity and struggle for unity within an international community.
Cultural Landscape
- Ste. Genevieve’s rich natural qualities and advantageous geography were attractive for indigenous nations and later people of European and African descent. The cultural landscape was shaped and reshaped as each migration brought different relationships between community and the land they relied on.
Migration/Colonization
- Ste. Genevieve exemplifies how human migration is a process of ebb and flow. Each decision to move creates a current of change that touches both individuals and widespread communities, reverberating through their experiences, ideologies, and traditions.
- While British colonialism dominates American history, Ste. Genevieve provides a rare opportunity to interpret the lasting impact of French colonialism and culture in North America, even when faced with shifting demographic and political landscapes that diminished French dominance.
Diverse Cultures
- Influenced by indigenous, European, and African people, creolized culture as it developed in the Mid-Mississippi Valley region is an opportunity to explore the evolution of culture, identity, and the reciprocal relationship between individuals and their communities.
Economy
- Ste. Genevieve participated in an emerging system of global trade and exemplified the opportunities and inequalities of an economy based on colonialism, the institution of enslavement, and relationships with indigenous peoples.
The dynamic components of a foundation document include special mandates and administrative commitments and an assessment of planning and data needs. These components are dynamic because they will change over time. New special mandates can be established and new administrative commitments made. As conditions and trends of fundamental resources and values change over time, the analysis of planning and data needs will need to be revisited and revised, along with key issues. Therefore, this part of the foundation document will be updated accordingly.
Many management decisions for a park unit are directed or influenced by special mandates and administrative commitments with other federal agencies, state and local governments, utility companies, partnering organizations, and other entities. Special mandates are requirements specific to a park that must be fulfilled. Mandates can be expressed in enabling legislation, in separate legislation following the establishment of the park, or through a judicial process. They may expand on park purpose or introduce elements unrelated to the purpose of the park. Administrative commitments are, in general, agreements that have been reached through formal, documented processes, often through memorandums of agreement. Examples include easements, rights-of-way, arrangements for emergency service responses, etc. Special mandates and administrative commitments can support, in many cases, a network of partnerships that help fulfill the objectives of the park and facilitate working relationships with other organizations. They are an essential component of managing and planning for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park.
- Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park’s 2018 enabling legislation (appendix A) includes a special authority that allows park staff to provide interpretative tours and educational programs at related historic and cultural sites within the historic district associated with the purposes for which the park is established.
- The park’s enabling legislation allows the National Park Service to provide technical assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with the owner of a nationally significant property within the park boundary or the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District to identify, mark, interpret, improve, and restore the property. In such cases, the National Park Service has the right of access at all reasonable times to all public portions of the property covered by the cooperative agreement for the purposes of conducting visitors through the property and interpreting the property for the public. The federal share of the total cost of any activity carried out under a cooperative agreement shall be not more than 50%, and no changes or alterations shall be made to any property or project covered by a cooperative agreement (see appendix A for full text).
- The National Park Service currently has two administrative commitments with the with City of Ste. Genevieve: a general agreement and a cooperative agreement. These agreements set the terms for the joint operation of the welcome center with a term of five years. This term may be terminated earlier by the complete donation and transfer of the welcome center to the National Park Service.
Once the core components of part 1 of the foundation document have been identified, it is important to gather and evaluate existing information about the park’s fundamental resources and values and develop a full assessment of the park’s planning and data needs. This section presents planning issues, the planning projects that will address these issues, and the associated information requirements for planning, such as resource inventories and data collection, including GIS data.
The assessment of planning and data needs section includes three sections:
1. analysis of fundamental resources and values
2. identification of key issues and associated planning and data needs
3. identification of planning and data needs (including spatial mapping activities or GIS maps)
The analysis of fundamental resources and values and identification of key issues leads up to and supports the identification of planning and data collection needs.
The fundamental resource or value analysis table includes current conditions, potential threats and opportunities,
planning and data needs, and selected laws and NPS policies related to management of the identified resource or value
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Fundamental Resource or Value
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Historic Structures
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Related Signifcance Statements
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All significance statements
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Current Conditions and Trends
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Conditions
• National Park Service-managed historic structures (Bauvais-Amoureux House, the Green Tree Tavern, Delassus-Kern House, and Jean-Baptiste Vallé House) are in relatively good condition for their ages. A historic structure report was completed for the Bauvais-Amoureux House in 2021.
• The National Park Service is currently learning about each building’s condition. A structure and envelope assessment for the Kern House and a historic structure report for the Jean Baptiste Vallé House are expected in 2022. A historic structure report for the Green Tree Tavern is expected in 2023.
• Repairs and maintenance to the park’s historic structures require specialized knowledge and expertise of historic vertical log structures, timber roof truss framing, stone masonry, and other related assemblies.
• Structural components, such as log sills and vertical posts that are in direct contact with soils, exhibit rot and deterioration, requiring regular monitoring, maintenance, and repair.
Trends
• The park’s historic structures are deteriorating due to aging and weatherization from the elements and exposure and require continued maintenance.
• Work on historic structures is expected to establish a collection of historic building materials over time.
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Threats and Opportunities
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Threats
• Historic preservation specialists with the needed knowledge to work on the park’s historic structures are essential. The nature of historic vertical log construction and timber roof truss framing require specialized expertise, which is difficult to find.
• Climate change (storms of increasing intensity) are a continual threat to structures. Increased storm water will require improved drainage around building perimeters. Note that excavations for site improvements would require archeological compliance and clearance.
• Vandalism, in general, was identified as a threat in an earlier assessment conducted by the state. Building security to prevent possible break-ins or exterior damage is a concern for NPS facilities.
• Past flooding events, including in 1993, caused the Mississippi River to inundate Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures.
Opportunities
• Seek technical assistance related to building repair and maintenance from sources that include architectural/engineering services through the Midwest Region Cultural Resources Indefinite Quantities contracts; Midwest Region Facilities, Planning, and Infrastructure; and the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center.
• Grow the park’s structural elements collection of period replacement materials as repairs occur. Conduct research on this collection’s provenance.
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Related Resources and Values
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• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District
• Historic resources owned and managed by Felix Vallé State Historic Site
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Foundation for Restoration of
Ste. Genevieve
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Centre for French Colonial Life
• Fort Kaskasia, Fort de Chartres, and Prairie du Rocher in Illinois
• Living cultural traditions and events in Ste. Genevieve
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Existing Data and Plans Related to the FRV
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• Ste. Genevieve Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment, Missouri (2016)
• “Recommendations For Preservation and Management of The Delassus-Kern House A Historical Resource Component of the Felix Vallé State Historic Site Ste Genevieve, Missouri” (2012) (https://missouriparksassociation.org/Portals/0/Documents/ KernHouseReport.pdf)
• Historic American building survey documentation for the Bauvais-Amoureux House (HABS MO-1113)
• Historic American building survey documentation for Jean Baptiste Vallé House (HABS MO-1113)
• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District nomination (1960)
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Data and/or GIS Needs
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• Accessibility assessments for all NPS-owned buildings
• Historic resources study
• National historic landmark district nomination update
• Visitor survey and study (underway)
• GIS for building footprints and associated features
• Traditional lidar (light detection and ranging) and ground-penetrating radar to
document buildings
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Planning Needs
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• Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Vallé House
• Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Delassus-Kern House
• Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Green Tree Tavern
• Cyclical historic preservation maintenance plan for historic structures
• Visitor use management plan
• Strategic facilities investment plan
• Safety plan
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| Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV and NPS Policy-Level Guidance |
Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV
• The Antiquities Act of 1906
• Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act of 1935
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 USC 470)
• Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974
• Executive Order 11593, “Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment”
• “Protection of Historic Properties” (36 CFR 800)
NPS Policy-Level Guidance (NPS Management Policies 2006 and Director’s Orders)
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (chapter 5) “Cultural Resource Management”
• Director’s Order 28: Cultural Resource Management (1998)
• The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation
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Fundamental Resource or Values
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Views of Le Grand Champ
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Related Signifcance Statements
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All significance statements
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Current Conditions and Trends
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Conditions
• Views from Bauvais-Amoureux House to Le Grand Champ (the Big Field are in fair condition because they are partly obstructed by a boat shed located across from the Bauvais-Amoureux House.
• The fact that the Le Grand Champ continues its historic use as an agricultural field supports the integrity of this view. The field is planted with modern crops, but it retains its form as a long field (the long lot). The historic field is approximately 7,000 acres.
• Le Grand Champ is located in an alluvial flood plain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency/Army Corps of Engineers has a flood mitigation plan that impacts this area.
Trends
• The views toward Le Grand Champ are stable and remain unchanged.
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Threats and Opportunities
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Threats
• Future development or additional visual obstacles could obscure the view to Le Grand Champ.
• The fields are subject to flooding During past flooding events, the Mississippi River completely inundated Ste. Genevieve’s historic structures (1993). The public has little awareness of sites that could have been severely damaged or destroyed due to past flooding events.
• The entire city of Ste. Genevieve was on the National Trust’s Most Endangered List of 11 Historic Places in 1993, possibly due to the floods that year.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency/Army Corps of Engineers has a flood mitigation plan that includes this area. Mitigation planning from this project could affect the views of Le Grand Champ.
Opportunities
• Work with the City of Ste. Genevieve to explore zoning restrictions to help preserve this view.
• Work with property owners to help preserve this view.
• Provide technical assistance to those who own and manage Le Grand Champ, since ownership is outside of the National Park Service.
• Contact the St. Louis office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency/Army Corps of Engineers to learn about overlapping interests, management, and future plans. Seek to gain an understanding of federal uses and potential restrictions due to the federal government’s investment.
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Related Resources and Values
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• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District
• Archeological sites
• Living cultural traditions and events in Ste. Genevieve
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Existing Data and Plans Related to the FRV
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• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District nomination (1960)
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Data and/or GIS Needs
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• Viewshed analysis
• National historic landmark district nomination update
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Planning Needs
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• None identified
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV and NPS Policy-Level Guidance
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV
• NPS Organic Act
• The Clean Air Act (42 USC 7401 et seq. ) gives federal land managers responsibility for protecting air quality and related values, including visibility, plants, animals, soils, water quality, cultural resources, and public health, from adverse air pollution impacts.
NPS Policy-Level Guidance (NPS Management Policies 2006 and Director’s Orders)
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 1.4) “Park Management”
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 1.6) “Cooperative Conservation Beyond Park Boundaries”
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 3.1) “General”
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 4.7) “Air Resource Management”
• NPS Natural Resource Management Reference Manual 77
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Fundamental Resource or Value
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Cultural Landscapes
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Related Signifcance Statements
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All significance statements
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Current Conditions and Trends
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Conditions
• The park-owned cultural landscapes appear to be in fair, stable condition, but park staff need more information to gain a baseline understanding of their current condition.
• Large-scale cultural landscapes, of which the NPS sites are a part, include privately owned lands that are not managed by the National Park Service.
• The community has a general awareness of the significance of Ste. Genevieve’s cultural landscapes.
• The community has a low awareness of indigenous landscapes and American Indian uses of areas within the park boundary.
• Most of the cultural landscape of slavery has been lost with the removal of slave cabins/quarters.
Trends
• The conditions of the National Park Service-managed cultural landscapes appear to be stable.
• An NPS presence is increasing the awareness of the value of cultural landscapes in Ste. Genevieve.
• Numerous groups and potential partners have a growing interest in collaborative efforts to address the preservation of cultural landscapes Awareness and interest with Illinois partnerships across the Mississippi River has increased.
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Threats and Opportunities
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Threats
• Active erosion and farming threaten the future integrity of the mounds in Le Grand Champ.
Opportunities
• Increase the public’s awareness of the value of cultural landscapes at Ste. Genevieve.
• Increase collaboration with partners, including Illinois partners across the Mississippi River such as the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail, could promote related preservation activities.
• Provide technical assistance to partners to improve the condition of the larger cultural landscape of Ste. Genevieve, of which the park is a part.
• Contribute to efforts to update the City of Ste. Genevieve’s master plan to prioritize preservation activities for all partners.
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Related Resources and Values
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• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District
• Historic resources owned and managed by Felix Vallé State Historic Site
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Foundation for Restoration of
Ste. Genevieve
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Centre for French Colonial Life
• Fort Kaskasia, Fort de Chartres, and Prairie du Rocher in Illinois
• Living cultural traditions and events in Ste. Genevieve
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Existing Data and Plans Related to the FRV
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• State research on this cultural landscape
• Community cultural landscape planning (1960s–1990s)
• Research related to the historic grid of the city plan
• Data and information on location of historic trails
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Data and/or GIS Needs
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• GIS survey
• National historic landmark district nomination update
• Visitor survey and study (underway)
• Ethnographic overview and assessment
• Ethnographic studies
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Planning Needs
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• Cultural landscape report
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV and NPS Policy-Level Guidance
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV
• The Antiquities Act of 1906
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 USC 470)
• Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974
• American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978
• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990
• Executive Order 11593, “Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment”
• Executive Order 13007, “Indian Sacred Sites”
• “Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archeological Collections” (36 CFR 79)
NPS Policy-Level Guidance (NPS Management Policies 2006 and Director’s Orders)
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (chapter 5) “Cultural Resource Management”
• Director’s Order 28: Cultural Resource Management (1998)
• The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic
Preservation
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Fundamental Resource or Value
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Archeology
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Related Signifcance Statements
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All significance statements
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Current Conditions and Trends
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Conditions
• Archeology within park properties is less known and understood; the knowledge base is poor.
• Large-scale archeology, of which the NPS sites are a part, includes privately owned lands that are not managed by the National Park Service.
Trends
• The conditions of the National Park Service-managed archeological sites appear to be stable.
• An NPS presence is increasing the awareness of the value of archeology in Ste. Genevieve.
• Numerous groups and potential partners have a growing interest in collaborative efforts to address the preservation archeology Awareness and interest with Illinois partnerships across the Mississippi River has increased.
• Archeological surveys will likely result in a collection of associated artifacts over time.
• Work on historic structures is expected to establish a collection of historic building materials over time.
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Threats and Opportunities
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Threats
• Active erosion and farming threaten the future integrity of the mounds in Le Grand Champ.
• Due to high degree of private ownership of archeological sites, the public has little awareness of the extent of archeological resources on this land.
Opportunities
• Increase the public’s awareness of the value of archeology at Ste. Genevieve.
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Related Resources and Values
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• Archeological sites
• Historic resources owned and managed by Felix Vallé State Historic Site
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Foundation for Restoration of
Ste. Genevieve
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Centre for French Colonial Life
• Fort Kaskasia, Fort de Chartres, and Prairie du Rocher in Illinois
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Existing Data and Plans Related to the FRV
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• Archeological Overview and Assessment, 2021
• Archeology field survey for current NPS lands/properties planned for summer 2022
• Potential archeological data from neighboring tribal communities
• Relevant archeological research by partners
• Scope of collections statement (highest priority
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Data and/or GIS Needs
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• GIS data migration
• Additional archeological studies
• Traditional lidar and ground-penetrating radar to document buildings and archeology
• Visitor survey and study (underway)
• Ethnographic overview and assessment
• Ethnographic studies
• Archeological overview and assessment (underway, prepared by the Midwest Archeological Center)
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Planning Needs
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• General archeological plan
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV and NPS Policy-Level Guidance
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV
• The Antiquities Act of 1906
• Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974
• American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978
• Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979
• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990
• Executive Order 11593, “Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment”
• Executive Order 13007, “Indian Sacred Sites”
• “Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archeological Collections” (36 CFR 79)
NPS Policy-Level Guidance (NPS Management Policies 2006 and Director’s Orders)
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (chapter 5) “Cultural Resource Management”
• Director’s Order 28: Cultural Resource Management (1998)
• Director’s Order 28A: Archeology (2004)
• The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation
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Fundamental Resource or Value
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Living Cultures and Traditions
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Related Signifcance Statements
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All significance statements
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Current Conditions and Trends
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Conditions
• French culture and traditions are in good condition because Ste Genevieve’s residents are continuing them.
• Other cultures and traditions (e.g., German, Spanish, African, English) are in poorer condition because they are less well-known and practiced Indigenous and African traditions have been overlooked. French-Creole culture has been assimilated into a larger American culture, including its language.
• Ste. Genevieve and the surrounding area was originally a melting pot with mixed families and many different races and ethnicities living together. While the area was a frontier at the time, the mixing of cultures is now reflected more through genealogy than through the living cultures and traditions practiced by people in Ste. Genevieve today.
Trends
• The community has shown an increased interest in identifying any lost cultural traditions that should be resurrected in Ste. Genevieve.
• The community has shown a growing interest in telling the story of the intersection and mixing of cultures beyond just the French culture and traditions.
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Threats and Opportunities
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Threats
• Partner or community interest in living cultures and traditions could potentially stagnate.
• The tourism industry could potentially inauthentically or incorrectly represent cultures and traditions.
• An ongoing loss of Ste. Genevieve’s distinct cultures is occurring through the continued assimilation into larger American culture over time.
Opportunities
• Reengage and reinvigorate residents’ and visitors’ interest in living cultures and traditions through storytelling.
• Expand Ste. Genevieve’s story beyond the history of French settlement by including other cultures and people that settled in this area.
• Engage with visitors who are interested in counterculture and learning about Ste. Genevieve’s history as a place where diverse, mixed cultures thrived.
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Related Resources and Values
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• Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District
• Archeological sites
• Historic resources owned and managed by Felix Vallé State Historic Site
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Foundation for Restoration of
Ste. Genevieve
• Historic resources owned and managed by the Centre for French Colonial Life
• Fort Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, and Prairie du Rocher in Illinois
• Living cultural traditions and events in Ste. Genevieve
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Existing Data and Plans Related to the FRV
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• Church records that document baptism, marriage, births
• Citizenship records
• Land deeds, wills, probate/court records
• Old newspapers
• Personal diaries and letters
• Records in Mecker Library
• Oral histories
• Historical atlases
• Sanborn maps
• Work Projects Administration Slave Narrative Collection
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Data and/or GIS Needs
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• Ethnographic overview and assessment
• Ethnographic studies
• Expanded oral history gathering/study
• Creation of historical atlases
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Planning Needs
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• Partnership/stakeholder strategy
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV and NPS Policy-Level Guidance
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Laws, Executive Orders, and Regulations That Apply to the FRV
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
• Executive Order 11593, “Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment”
• “Resource Protection, Public Use, and Recreation” (36 CFR 2)
• “Protection of Historic Properties” (36 CFR 800)
• Clean Air Act of 1977 (42 USC 7401 et seq. )
NPS Policy-Level Guidance (NPS Management Policies 2006 and Director’s Orders)
• Director’s Order 28: Cultural Resource Management
• Director’s Order 47: Soundscape Preservation and Noise Management
• Director’s Order 64: Commemorative Works and Plaques
• Director’s Order 7: Volunteers in Parks
• Director’s Order 21: Donations and Fundraising
• Director’s Order 32: Cooperating Associations
• Director’s Order 75A: Civic Engagement and Public Involvement
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 1.9.1.6) “Volunteers in the Parks”
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 4.1.4) “Partnerships”
• NPS Management Policies 2006 (section 7.6) “Interpretive and Educational Partnerships”
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This section considers key issues to be addressed in planning and management and therefore takes a broader view over the primary focus of part 1. A key issue focuses on a question that is important for a park. Key issues often raise questions regarding park purpose and significance and fundamental resources and values. For example, a key issue may pertain to the potential for a fundamental resource or value in a park to be detrimentally affected by discretionary management decisions. A key issue may also address crucial questions that are not directly related to purpose and significance, but which still affect them indirectly. Usually, a key issue is one that a future planning effort or data collection needs to address and requires a decision by NPS managers.
The following are key issues for Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park and the associated planning and data needs to address them:
- Deterioration of fundamental park resources (vertical log houses). The park’s historic structures are over 200 years old, and their post-and-earth building technique demands continued specialized maintenance. Maintaining these rare vernacular structures requires a high degree of skill and care among the public’s building trades. Securing the skilled craftspeople needed to maintain these historic resources may be a continual challenge.
Associated planning and data needs: Historic structure and adaptive reuse plans.
- Need for guidance for current and future facility investments. The establishment of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park as a new national park requires strategically investing limited resources to guide its development. The park lacks guidance for prioritizing current and future investments related to the preservation of historic structures, important facilities and maintenance needs, interpretation development, administration, and potential property acquisitions. This need will expand as more properties become available for NPS acquisition and are transferred into NPS ownership in the future.
Associated planning and data needs: Strategic facilities investment plan.
- Lack of baseline documentation for cultural resources. As a new park, Ste. Genevieve has an overall lack of baseline documentation for historic structures, cultural landscapes, archeology, ethnography, and collections. The park lacks current research and scholarship on its multifaceted history and diverse cultures, including underrepresented communities and their related resources within the park. The lack of baseline documentation impedes progress in interpretation development, maintenance, and preservation of fundamental resources and values and park operation.
Associated planning and data needs: Baseline studies and planning needs, as described in the FRV analysis tables.
- Need for outreach and communication to support and understand park
development. Strategic communication is essential to ensure sustainable, long-term relationships with the surrounding community. Key messages to share with the public include a need for patience while the park develops, the role of the park in education efforts in the community, and the limitations of what the National Park Service can do or accomplish alone. Opportunities for improved communication include attending monthly meetings with key stakeholders, embarking on a multiparty agreement among partners to delegate responsibilities, and capitalizing on collaborative partner efforts already underway. A collaborative outreach and communication strategy to develop these ideas is needed.
Associated planning and data needs: Parkwide partnership/stakeholder strategy (including tribal outreach); trail development plan (through the NPS River, Trails, and Conservation Assistance [NPS-RTCA] program), including a community outreach framework; long-range interpretive plan
- Lack of visitor information. Visitor information is needed to inform interpretive planning and to ensure that a wide audience is reached. Among visitors, the park needs to know why people are visiting, what their expectations are, where they are going, and what types of activities and programming they seek. Current efforts underway to address the lack of visitor information include the collection of visitor data and levels by the City of Ste. Genevieve and a visitor survey assessing visitor use and travel patterns. The visitor survey is supported by a partnership between the University of Missouri and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, and the data will be available in summer 2022.
Associated planning and data needs: Baseline visitor information; visitor survey and study (underway); accessibility, self-evaluation, and transition plan; visitor use management plan; long-range interpretive plan
To maintain connection to the core elements of the foundation and the importance of these core foundation elements, the planning and data needs listed here are directly related to protecting fundamental resources and values, park significance, and park purpose, as well as addressing key issues. To successfully undertake a planning effort, information from sources such as inventories, studies, research activities, and analyses may be required to provide adequate knowledge of park resources and visitor information. Such information sources have been identified as data needs. Geospatial mapping tasks and products are included in data needs.
Items considered of the utmost importance were identified as high priority, and other items identified, but not rising to the level of high priority, were listed as either medium- or low-priority needs. These priorities inform park management efforts to secure funding and support for planning projects.
| Planning Needs – Where a Decision-Making Process Is Needed |
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Related to FRV, OIRV, or Parkwide Issue?
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Data and GIS Needs
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Priority (H,M,L)
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Notes
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FRV
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Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plan for Bauvais-Amoureux House (underway)
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H
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This report includes and accessibility assessment and an engineering assessement.
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FRV
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Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Vallé House
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H
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This report should include an acessibility assessment. It qualifies for Civil Rights Initiative funding.
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FRV
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Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Green Tree Tavern
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H
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This report should include an acessibility assessment. It qualifies for Civil Rights Initiative funding.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Strategic facilities investment plan
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H
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This plan is an NPS requirement for lands and facility purchases, leases, and uses for new parks. This plan should include a cyclical historic preservation maintenance plan for park-owned historic structures.
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FRV
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Cultural Landscape Report
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H
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This report will include research and treatment recommendations. A parkwide cultural landscape report is scheduled to begin in 2023 (except for the Green Tree Tavern).
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Partnership/stakeholder strategey
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H
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This strategy would include partnership, stakeholder, and tribal outreach. Complete the strategy concurrently with the NPS-RTCA trail development plan.
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Parkwide Issue
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Ste. Genevieve trail development pan (underway)
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H
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The strategy is through NPS River, Trails, and Conservations Assisstance program and includes two summer workshops engaging stakeholders and developing a community outreach framework. Complete concurrent with partnership/stakeholder strategy.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Accessibility self-evaluation, and transition plan
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H
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This plan addresses physical and programmatic accessibility and identifies requirements for meeting the Architectural Barriers Act.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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General Management Plan
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H
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This plan would establish desired conditions for fundamental resources and values, historic structures, sensitive and fragile cultural landscape features, archeology, tribal needs and access, and the condition of the historic structures. Visitor opportunities and access would be evaluated and would include visitor capacities for historic structures.
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FRV
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Fire Suppression Plan
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M
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This plan would include all NPS buildings and collection locations and would be sequenced after the historic structures reports.
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FRV
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Long-range interpretive plan
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M
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This plan would include visitor use data and visitor survey information being collected by the University of Southern Missouri. The park has a funded interpretive strategic plan that is currently underway in fiscal year 2023. This plan will guide interpretation at the park until the long-range interpretive plan is completed (set for a fiscal year 2026 start).
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FRV
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Cultural landscape report for Green Tree Tavern
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M
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This report is scheduled for 2023–2024 (under the Civil Rights Initiative)
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OIRV
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Collections management plan
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M
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This plan will provide guidance for managing all park collections If the park establishes a museum in the future, this plan would become a museum collections plan. This plan would tier from the Midwest Region Regional Collections Management Plan.
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OIRV
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Accession plan
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L
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This plan provides guidance on managing, record-keeping, and cataloguing collections.
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OIRV
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Archives plan
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L
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This plan provides guidance for storing archives and determing what is archivable.
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FRV
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Document management plan/retention plan
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L
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This plan provides guidance for document management and retention.
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OIRV
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Integrated pest mangagement plan
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L
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This plan specifically addresses pest impacts to collections.
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FRV
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Historic structure report and adaptive reuse plans for Delassus-Kern House
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L
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This report should include an accessibility assessment (qualifies for Civil Rights initiative funding).
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Parkwide Issue
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Visitor experience and wayside plan
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L
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This plan will be informed by the long-range interpretive plan.
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Data Needs – Where Information Is Needed before Decisions Can Be Made
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Related to an FRV, OIRV, or Parkwide Issue?
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Data and GIS Needs
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Priority (H,M,L)
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Notes
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FRV
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Historic resources study
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H
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This parkwide study would include resources such as the social history of the building’s historical occupants and property uses. The current historical scholarship on park needs research and updating. This information will support resource stewardship and interpretation.
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FRV
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Ethnographic overview and survey
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H
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This need is a baseline assessment. The park needs to start with this overview and assessment, which will identify needs and priorities for future studies and information.
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FRV
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Cultural affiliation report
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H
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This report is related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, section 106 compliance.
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OIRV
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Scope of collection statement
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H
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This statement defines and describes the type of objects in the collection and those that will be accepted into the collection in the future.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Visitor study and survey (underway)
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H
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This ongoing effort of the NPS River, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program and the University of Southern Missouri supports both the town and the park. The final report is due fall of 2023. The park could consider repeating this study every five years.
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FRV
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Lidar and ground-penetrating radar
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H/M
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This data would document buildings and archeology. Lidar documentation of the
building would allow for rebuilding if buildings were unexpectedly destroyed. Ground-penetrating radar could also document outbuilding locations that no longer exist, particularly those that were inhabited by enslaved people.
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FRV
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Ste. Genevieve National Historic Landmark District nomination update
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M
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This nomination update would include new scholarship, including the African American history of Ste. Genevieve, and document existing contributing views or viewsheds. Although the historic district includes areas outside of the park boundary, the NPS national historic landmark program could lead this effort, if funding is available.
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FRV
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Viewshed analysis
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M
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This analysis is needed to further understand important views, such as the views from the Bauvais-Amoureux House to Le Grand Champ. This analysis could be a technical assistance request from the NPS Air Resources Division.
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FRV
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Expanded oral history gathering/study
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M
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Use the maps to re-georeference areas to support oral history interviews.
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FRV
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Recreate and research historical atlases
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M
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Research, document, and recreate changes in the town over time using historical atlases. A similar project is underway for the park’s Unigrid.
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FRV
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Ethnographic studies
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M
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These studies would be informed by the ethnographic overview and assessment.
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FRV
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Adminstrative history of the park
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M/L
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Document actions of all previous owners before park acquisition. Work with partners to complete.
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FRV
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GIS data migration
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L
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This work is needed to document the location of archeological sites, building footprints, and landscape features. This mapping data can also help inform fire management/suppression. Data migration would come from baseline documentation efforts.
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FRV
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Historic materials report
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L
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This report will help ensure that the park has period-appropriate collections on display in the houses.
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OIRV
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Natural resource collections inventory
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L
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This inventory may include a seed bank for Le Grand Champ. The park has a historic rose garden.
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FRV
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Flood risk assessment for collections
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L
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The assessment could include collections currently housed in second floor of Vallé House. The location may change in the future.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Baseline visitor information
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L
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The park lacks baseline information on its visitors, which is needed to inform interpretive programming and park operations. The NPS-RTCA visitor study and survey study could contribute to this effort.
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FRV, Parkwide Issue
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Visitor use study
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L
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The park identified a need to collect visitor data in five years. This study could be a repeat of the current study with NPS River, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program and the University of Missouri to understand how visitor perceptions and preferences are changing. This study would be best conducted in 2026 or later.
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Claire Casey, Park Ranger
Chris Collins, Superintendent, Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
Josh Hepler, Maintenance Worker
Jana Irving, Park Guide
Jeff Kulp, Park Guide
Alex Moyer, Park Guide
David Newmann, Program Manager for Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers
Tokey Boswell, Associate Regional Director, Facilities Planning and Infrastructure
Mark Buechel, Historical Architect
Natalie Franz, Planner (former)
Christine Gabriel, Acting Chief of Planning (former)
Deanda Johnson, Civil Rights Historian
Leigh Johnson, Community Planner (former)
James Lange, Planning and Compliance Program Manager
Albert LeBeau, Acting Program Manager, Regional Office of American Indian Affairs; Cultural Resources Manager, Effigy Mounds National Monument
Jennifer McMahon, Chief of Partnerships
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program
Aleks Pitt, Planning Portfolio Manager
Tom Richter, Interpretation Division Manager
Tim Schilling, Archeologist, Historic Preservation Partnerships
Mike Ward, Deputy Regional Director for Operations and Facilities
Tarona Armstrong, Deputy Superintendent, Gateway Arch National Park
Laura Babcock, GIS Specialist, Denver Service Center – Planning Division
Tessa Buono, Natural Resource Specialist, Denver Service Center – Planning Division
Suzanne Digre, Editor, Denver Service Center – Planning Division
Claire Finn, Visitor Use Management Specialist (detail), Denver Service Center - Planning Division
Danielle Hernandez, Visual Information Specialist, Denver Service Center - Planning Division
Arlene Jackson, Chief of Interpretation, Colorado National Monument
Sharon Kim, Visitor Use Management Specialist (detail), Denver Service Center - Planning Division
Carrie Miller, Cultural Resource Specialist and Project Manager, Denver Service Center – Planning Division
Julie Northrip, Program Manager for Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Elizabeth Oliphant, Visitor Use Management Specialist, Denver Service Center – Planning Division
Tara Rath, Community Outreach, Gateway Arch National Park
Pam Sanfilippo, Museum Services and Interpretation, Gateway Arch National Park
Monica Vigil, Visitor Use Management Specialist, Denver Service Center - Planning Division
James Baker, Foundation for Restoration of Ste Genevieve
Toby Carrig, Director of Tourism, City of Ste. Genevieve
Carl Ekberg, Professor Emeritus of History at Illinois State University
Geoff Giglierano, Executive Director, French Colonial America
John Karel, Foundation for Restoration of Ste Genevieve
Robert Moore, National Park Service Historian (retired)
Robert Mueller, Foundation for Restoration of Ste Genevieve
Sarah O’Donnell, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Coordinator, Osage Nation
Donna Rausch, State of Missouri, Department of Natural Resources
Don Strand, descendent of Pélagie Vital Amoureux, AmoureuxHouse.org
Skip Weiler, President, Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve
Balesi, Charles J.
1992 The Time of the French in the Heart of North America, 1673–1818. Chicago, IL: Alliance Françoise.
Belting, Natalia Marie
1948 Kaskaskia Under the French Regime. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Boyle, S. C.
1987 “Did She Generally Decide? Women in Ste. Genevieve, 1750–1805.” The William and Mary Quarterly 44(4): 775–789.
Cobb, Charles R., and Brian M. Butler
2002 “The Vacant Quarter Revisited: Late Mississippian Abandonment of the Lower Ohio Valley.” American Antiquity 67(2): 625–41.
Edwards, Jay D.
2006 “Creole Architecture: A Comparative Analysis of Upper and Lower Louisiana and Saint Domingue.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 10.3: 241–271.
Ekberg, Carl J.
1996 Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier, 2nd edition. Carbondale, IL: Shawnee Books.
1998 French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times. Urbana and Champaign, IL: University of Illinois.
2002 Francois Vallé and His World: Upper Louisiana Before Lewis and Clark. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
2007 Stealing Indian Women: Native Slavery in the Illinois Country. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Gitlin, Jay
2009 The Bourgeois Frontier: French Towns, French Traders, and American Expansion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Ingersoll, T. N.
1996 “The Slave Trade and the Ethnic Diversity of Louisiana’s Slave Community.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 37(2): 133–161.
Kornwolf, James D.
2002 Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America (3 volume set). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Milner, George
1998 The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Chiefdom. University of Florida Press.
Moore, Robert J., Jr.
2010 “Determine L’Effacement: The French Creole Cultural Zone in the American Heartland.” Gateway 30: 20–21.
National Park Service (NPS)
1960 “French Exploration and Settlement: The National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings.” Theme study. 8–9, 15–16, 21, 23–24.
2016 Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park Special Resource Study. 3–5, 7 –8, 10, 21.
O’Brien, Michael J., and W. Raymond Wood
1998 The Prehistory of Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Peterson, Charles E.
1947 “Colonial St. Louis.” Missouri Historical Society Bulletin. Part 1, April 1947, 94–111; Part 2, July 1947, 133–149; Part 3, October 1947, 11–30.
Schroeder, Walter A.
2002 Opening the Ozarks: Historical Geography of Missouri’s Ste. Genevieve District, 1760–1830. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
Stepenoff, Bonnie
2006 From French Community to Missouri Town: Ste. Genevieve in the Nineteenth Century. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
2014 “Faire Une Maison: Carpenters in Ste. Genevieve, 1750–1850.” Confluence, 31.
US Census
2005 Population of State and Counties of the United States, 1790–1990. Historical Census Population Totals, 1790 to 1990 for Large Cities.
Vehik, Susan C.
1993 “Dhegiha Origins and Plains Archaeology.” Plains Anthropologist 38(146): 231–252.
Webre, S.
1984 “The Problem of Indian Slavery in Spanish Louisiana, 1769-1803.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 25(2): 117, 135.
White, A., S. Munoz, S. Schroeder, and L. Stevens
2020 “After Cahokia: Indigenous Repopulation and Depopulation of the Horseshoe Lake Watershed AD 1400–1900.” American Antiquity 85(2): 263–278.
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
Legislation: Page 786 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Part of DIVISION G—DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018)
“INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
SEC. 121.
(a) The following provisions of S. 1460 (Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017) of the 115th Congress, as placed on the calendar of the Senate on June 29, 2017, are hereby enacted into law:
(1) Section 7130 (Modification of the Second Division Memorial).
(2) Section 7134 (Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park).
(b) H.R. 1281 as introduced in the 115th Congress (A bill to extend the authorization of the Highlands Conservation Act) and H.R. 4134 as introduced in the 115th Congress (Cecil D. Andrus-White Clouds Wilderness Re-designation Act) are hereby enacted into law.
(c) In publishing this Act in slip form and in the United States Statutes at large pursuant to section 112 of title 1, United States Code, the Archivist of the United States shall include after the date of approval at the end an appendix setting forth the text of the sections of the bill and the bills referred to in subsections (a) and (b), respectively.”
Reference: Section 7134 of S.1460 Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017
SEC. 7134. STE. GENEVIEVE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) HISTORIC DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘Historic District’’ means the Ste. Genevieve Historic District National Historic Landmark, as generally depicted on the Map.
(2) HISTORICAL PARK.—The term ‘‘Historical Park’’ means the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park established by subsection (b).
(3) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park Proposed Boundary’’, numbered 571/132,626, and dated May 2016.
(4) SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.—The term ‘‘special resource study’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Ste. Genevieve Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment, Missouri’’ and dated May 2016.
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Missouri.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), there is established the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park in the State as a unit of the National Park System to preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit of present and future generations the themes of French settlement, vernacular architecture, and community form and farming on the frontier associated with Ste. Genevieve.
2) CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Historical Park shall not be established until the date on which the Secretary determines that—
(A) sufficient land has been acquired for the Historical Park to constitute a manageable unit; and
(B) the Secretary has entered into a written agreement providing that land owned by the State, the City of Ste. Genevieve, or other entity within the Historic District shall be managed consistent with the purposes of this section.
(c) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the Historical Park shall be the boundaries generally depicted on the Map.
(d) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.
(e) ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire any land or interest in land located within the boundary of the Historical Park or any nationally significant property identified in the special resource study within the Historic District by—
(A) donation;
(B) purchase with donated or appropriated funds; or
(C) exchange.
2) BOUNDARY REVISION.—On the acquisition of any property within the Historic District under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall revise the boundary of the Historical Park to include the property.
(f) ADMINISTRATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer the Historical Park in accordance with—
(A) this section; and
(B) the laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including— (i) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, United States Code; and (ii) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States Code.
(2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to prepare a general management plan for the Historical Park, the Secretary shall prepare the general management plan in accordance with section 100502 of title 54, United States Code.
(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—On completion of the general management plan under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate the general management plan.
(3) RELATED SITES.—The Secretary may provide interpretative tours and educational programs at related historic and cultural sites within the Historic District associated with the purposes for which the Historical Park is established.
(g) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide technical assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with the owner of a nationally significant property within the Historical Park or the Historic District, to identify, mark, interpret, improve, and restore the property.
(2) RIGHT OF ACCESS.—A cooperative agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall provide that the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, shall have the right of access at all reasonable times to all public portions of the property covered by the agreement for the purposes of—
(A) conducting visitors through the property; and
(B) interpreting the property for the public.
(3) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—
(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the total cost of any activity carried out under a cooperative agreement entered into under this subsection shall be not more than 50 percent.
(B) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share of an activity carried out under a cooperative agreement entered into under this subsection may be in the form of donated property, goods, or services fairly valued.
(4) CHANGES OR ALTERATIONS.—No changes or alterations shall be made to any property or project covered by a cooperative agreement entered into under paragraph (1) unless the Secretary and the other party to the agreement agree to the changes or alterations.
(5) CONVERSION, USE, OR DISPOSAL.—Any payment by the Secretary under this subsection shall be subject to an agreement that the conversion, use, or disposal of a property or project for purposes contrary to the purposes of this section, as determined by the Secretary, shall entitle the United States to reimbursement in any amount equal to the greater of—
(A) the amounts made available to the property or project by the United States; or
(B) the portion of the increased value of the property or project attributable to the amounts made available under this subsection, as determined at the time of the conversion, use, or disposal.
(h) LIMITED ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary to assume overall financial responsibility for the operation, maintenance, or management of the Historic District.
SEC. 617. STE. GENEVIEVE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK BOUNDARY REVISION.
(a) Definitions.--Section 7134(a) of the Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017 (as enacted into law by section 121(a)(2) of division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141; 16 U.S.C. 410xxx(a)(3))) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``numbered 571/149,942, and dated December 2018’’ and inserting ``numbered 571/177,464, and dated September 2021’’;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary’ means the Secretary of the Interior.’’.
(b) Authority To Correct Errors in Map.--Section 7134(d) of the Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017 (as enacted into law by section 121(a)(2) of division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141; 16 U.S.C. 410xxx(d))) is amended--
(1) by striking ``The Map’’ and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Map’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Authority to correct errors.--The Secretary may correct any clerical or typographical errors in the Map.’’.
(c) Visitor Center and Administrative Facilities.--Section 7134(e) of the Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017 (as enacted into law by section 121(a)(2) of division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141; 16 U.S.C. 410xxx(e))) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Visitor center.--The Secretary--
``(A) may acquire, by donation, the land (including any improvements to the land) owned by the city of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, and used as the visitor center for the Historical Park, as generally depicted on the Map as `Proposed Boundary Addition’; and
``(B) on acquisition of the land described in subparagraph
(A), shall revise the boundary of the Historical Park to include the acquired land.
``(4) Administrative facilities.--The Secretary may acquire, by purchase from a willing seller or by donation, not more than 20 acres of land in the vicinity of the Historical Park for administrative facilities for the Historical Park.’’.
Code Noir - Dating from 1685 and instituted in French Louisiana in 1724, regulating the practice of enslavement. The decree contained 55 articles governing the relationships between enslaved individuals and their enslavers. (Merriam-Webster’s definition: “any of several law codes regulating free or enslaved Africans, or persons of African descent, in French Caribbean colonies and Louisiana”)
The Commons - Beyond the bounds of the village streets were lands where residents grazed their livestock and cut wood
Common Fields - Long, narrow strips of open agricultural lands that village residents tended
Coutume de Paris - Custom of Paris: ancient French customary laws used in St Genevieve that provided women significant rights, including the independent right to buy, sell, and inherit property; lend or borrow; marry or separate; bring a lawsuit or be sued; and engage in commerce or even use their maiden names
Creole - A person descended from early French or Spanish settlers of the US Gulf states. The term was adopted from the Spanish word criollo, meaning any French, Spanish, Black, or mixed-raced settler born in North America. (Merriam-Webster’s definition: “1) a person of European descent born especially in the West Indies or Spanish America; 2) A white person descended from early French or Spanish settlers of the U.S. Gulf states and preserving their speech and culture; 3) a person of mixed French or Spanish and Black descent speaking a dialect of French or Spanish”)
Habitants - Farmers or residents of French colonies
Manumission - The individual act of legally freeing someone who is enslaved
Mississippian - An American Indian civilization that was part of a widespread
cultural and religious movement and which encompassed most of what is now the Southeast, East, and Midwest portions of the United States from approximately 800 CE to 1000 CE
Poteaux-en-terre - An architectural term, which translates to “post-in-the-ground,” to describe building construction whereby vertical logs that form the exterior building walls are inserted directly into the ground’s soil without a foundation wall or a sill
Poteaux-sur-sole - An architectural term, which translates to “post-on-sill,” to describe vertical log walls mounted on a wood sill atop a stone foundation underneath them. Less common in Ste. Genevieve but endured longer than some other styles
Seigneuries - Agricultural land where resident farmers lived on their farm fields
Vernacular - Architecture concerned with domestic and functional buildings rather than public or monumental buildings
Absentee Shawnee Tribe
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma
Cherokee Nation
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Osage Nation
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
The Shawnee Tribe
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
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