Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,999, A Mississippian site, dated to around the year 1000, containing the remains of what have been identified as a market and ceremonial center, is also located in modern Chesterfield.
Incorporation as Chesterfield
The name "Chesterfield" was given by landowner Justus Post who arrived in Missouri in 1815 and began amassing an estate in the location of the present-day city. Post had grown up in Vermont, not far from the town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which sits on the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. Although Post eventually left Missouri and moved to Illinois, his chosen placename of "Chesterfield" stuck.
For many years, "Chesterfield" was an all-inclusive place-name for a vast, unincorporated sub-region of western St. Louis County (called "West County" by metro area residents) containing the unincorporated historical communities listed above, plus areas now incorporated as cities of their own (e.g., Ballwin). Police and fire protection in the community were fragmented and sporadic, the former provided by St. Louis County. As the population grew, Chesterfield Mall and other retail and commercial real estate developments sprang up; however, many residents were concerned about the lack of quality public services, and that the municipal sales tax benefited the county instead of the community.
An organization was formed calling itself the "Chesterfield Incorporation Study Committee." Headed by its president, John A. Nuetzel (himself a former president of the River Bend Association, a zoning watchdog group), the members "passed the hat" at neighborhood meetings, engaged legal help, drew up metes and bounds, and forced several failed public votes for incorporation. After a number of years, in 1988, The City of Chesterfield was finally established by its residents and their families, and has thrived as perhaps West County's premier residential, business, retail, and transportation center.
thumb|Satellite image of the Missouri River during the Great Flood of 1993.
Flood of 1993
On July 30, 1993, the levee that protected Gumbo Flats (now known as the Chesterfield Valley) from the Missouri River failed. This was the first time the levee had failed since 1935. The town was told to evacuate, and the whole area of Gumbo Flats was flooded by feet of water. Today, the area has become the Chesterfield Commons retail area.
Portions of Chesterfield are located in the floodplain of the Missouri River, now known as Chesterfield Valley, formerly as Gumbo Flats. Here several small creeks empty into the Missouri River (Caulks Creek and Bonhomme Creek). This area was submerged during the Great Flood of 1993; higher levees built since then have led to extensive commercial development in the valley. Chesterfield Valley is the location of Spirit of St. Louis Airport, used for corporate aviation, as well as the longest outdoor strip mall in America.