TIMES BEACH • In 1925, the old St. Louis Times newspaper offered clubhouse sites along the Meramec River for a "popular new summer resort." Fifty years later, it was a countryfied outer suburb for people of modest means.
Built on bottomland east of Eureka, Times Beach was vulnerable to the periodic rages of the Meramec, a river that drains a wide area of wooded hills. Renowned for its winding miles of rewarding scenery, the Meramec also is a treacherous rain ditch.
Times Beach residents knew how to let the floods pass and get by with ragtag repairs.
An aerial view of Times Beach taken in 1971, with Interstate 44 to the right, and the Meramec River along the east of the town at the top of the picture. Post-Dispatch file photo
In November 1982, they learned that oil used to spray the town's many dirt lanes had been laced with dioxin, a toxin deadly to animals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began taking samples.
"People want their peace of mind," said resident Lane Jumper.
As they awaited results, the river changed everything. On Dec. 2, with the temperature a record 74, rain began falling steadily, then in torrents - 5 inches near St. Louis, accompanied by tornadoes that heavily damaged New Baden, Ill. Parts of eastern Missouri, including some of the Meramec watershed, had more than 10 inches over four days.
The first big flooding was along the Cuivre River, chasing people from Old Monroe. Overflow rushed over the Lake Saint Louis dam. Even the Mississippi River rose nine feet.
The Mississippi River rises onto the Arch grounds on Dec. 5, 1982, swollen by torrential rains that dumped more than 10 inches of rain in some parts of Missouri and Illinois. The river crested downtown nine feet over flood stage -- noteworthy, but nothing like the record set 11 years later on Aug. 1, 1993, when the river reached almost 20 feet over flood downtown. The big news in December 1982 was along the tributaries, such as the Cuivre River north of St. Louis and the Black River in southern Missouri. Along the Meramec River, a record crest swamped parts of Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park and Arnold, and helped bring about the end of Times Beach, a bottomland town downriver from Eureka that was founded in the 1920s by the former St. Louis Times newspaper as a weekend retreat of cottages. (Larry Williams/Post-Dispatch)
Almost 4,000 people already were homeless in Missouri and Illinois as the Meramec's swollen tributaries converged. People along the lower Meramec were warned of a crest almost 20 feet over flood stage at Valley Park.
"These people are used to it," said St. Louis County emergency director Jim White as residents of Pacific, Times Beach and other river towns began packing their pickups.
They weren't used to the inundation that rushed into their homes Dec. 5, 1982, with 5 more feet of water than expected. Rescue workers gingerly powered johnboats amid swamped homes to find people on roofs and in upper-story windows. Many of Times Beach's 2,500 residents slogged through the dangerous current to the soggy grass shoulders of Interstate 44.
"There are people here who have virtually nothing left," said Alderman Sid Hammer.
The falling river revealed ravaged homes filled with mud or dashed on bridge piers. Almost 18,000 people were homeless. Parts of Pacific, Valley Park and Arnold never were occupied again, but the towns survived.
Not Times Beach. With confirmation of dioxin, the one-two punch was too much. The last residents were moved by the federal environmental Superfund in 1985.
City attorney Thad F. Niemira, right, reading the ordinance that dissolved the city in April 1985. The Board of Aldermen members listening are (from left) Seymour C. Loucks, Candice MacGill, Harold Goddman, Mayor Marilyn Leistner and (hidden from view) Larry Curtis. Post-Dispatch file photo
The former town became a state park. The crest of Dec. 6, 1982, almost 24 feet over flood stage, stood as a record flood until 2015, when a flood in late December beat it by four feet. That record fell in May 2017 when the river hit 46.11 feet.
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Dennis Ensz (left), of Crawford, Miss., and Stanley Unruh of Brookville, Miss., work on a damaged home in Times Beach on Dec. 22. They were members of Christian Disaster Relief. But after the federal government confirmed that Times Beach's dirt lanes had been sprayed with oil contaminated by dioxin, the government eventually bought all the properties of the town. It now is a state park. (Robert Larouche/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Volunteers fill sandbags on Dec. 4, 1982, on Virginia Avenue in the city's Cardonelet neighborhood. The rising Mississippi was backing into the River Des Peres and threatening homes along its banks. After the 1993 flood, the River Des Peres levees were improved and some low-lying homes in Carondelet and Lemay were bought out. (Larry Williams/Post-Dispatch
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
The Mississippi River rises onto the Arch grounds on Dec. 5, 1982, swollen by torrential rains that dumped more than 10 inches of rain in some parts of Missouri and Illinois. The river crested downtown nine feet over flood stage -- noteworthy, but nothing like the record set 11 years later on Aug. 1, 1993, when the river reached almost 20 feet over flood downtown. The big news in December 1982 was along the tributaries, such as the Cuivre River north of St. Louis and the Black River in southern Missouri. Along the Meramec River, a record crest swamped parts of Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park and Arnold, and helped bring about the end of Times Beach, a bottomland town downriver from Eureka that was founded in the 1920s by the former St. Louis Times newspaper as a weekend retreat of cottages. (Larry Williams/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Water pours over the dam at Lake Saint Louis on Dec. 4, 1982. Many parts of eastern Missouri received five to 10 or more inches of rain over five days. (Karen Elshout/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Flooding in Valley Park on Dec. 6, 1982, the day of the record crest there at 39.73 feet, or almost 24 feet over flood stage. Rescue workers in boats worked amidst flooded homes the night before to rescue stranded people. The flood wiped out some neighborhoods close to the river, and Valley Park eventually won federal approval for a new levee protecting it from the river's periodic rages. (Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Pacific, Mo., on Dec. 6, 1982, the day of the Meramec's record crest there as well. The river reached 18.6 feet over flood stage and covered almost all of the town south of the Burlington Northern line to Springfield, Mo. (Gary Bohn/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Coast Guard personnel and volunteer helpers rescue a woman by boat from the second floor of her home in Valley Park on Dec. 6. (Ted Dargan/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Curtains billow from Bolt's IGA Supermarket in Valley Park on Dec. 6. Workers had stacked wares on high shelves, but the water reached them. (Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Rescuers search for stranded people in Valley Park on Dec. 6. (Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
A woman peers from her second-floor window in Valley Park on Dec. 6. She decided to stay in her home. (Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Becky Dyle, 8, of Times Beach, picks out a toy during a Christmas party for flood victims on Dec. 22 at the Times Beach city hall, one of the few buildings that could be used after the flood. (Gary Bohn/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Bob Taylor visits the remains of his parents' home on Aspen Drive in Times Beach on Dec. 22. The flood pushed the home from its foundations. The river also pushed Taylor's pickup truck filled with tools against a tree behind him. His auto-repair business in town also was damaged. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch)
Look Back: Demise of Times Beach
Billy Jo Adams and her son, Cam, both of Times Beach, at the camper trailer they still were living on the edge of town in May 1983. (Ted Dargan/Post-Dispatch)
Times Beach file photo
Environmental Protection Agency technicians, wearing protective clothing, taking earth samples along a road in Times Beach in December 1982 in search of possible dioxin contamination. Post-Dispatch file photo
Times Beach
Times Beach Deputy Marshal Pete Barteau (at right in group) talking to people trying to enter the town at a barricade on Lewis Road at the bridge across the Meramec River in May 1983. Access to the town was being limited becuase of flooding and dioxin contamination. Post-Dispatch file photo
Times Beach
City attorney Thad F. Niemira, right, reading the ordinance that dissolved the city in April 1985. The Board of Aldermen members listening are (from left) Seymour C. Loucks, Candice MacGill, Harold Goddman, Mayor Marilyn Leistner and (hidden from view) Larry Curtis. Post-Dispatch file photo
Times Beach
The last occupied house in Times Beach was at 8 Elm Street, where George and Ida Lorene Klein lived in November 1985. They were hoping for a higher buy-out offer. The Klein's had lived in Times Beach for 43 years. Post-Dispatch file photo
Times Beach
An aerial view of Times Beach taken in 1971, with Interstate 44 to the right, and the Meramec River along the east of the town at the top of the picture. Post-Dispatch file photo
This article was first published in 2010; it has been updated.
