Travels with Ch - Day 2

This was a planned travel day but we needed a break from the car, so we stopped at Meramec Springs Park off Hwy 8 between St. James & Steeleville. This is a lovely park where the children can run and play. There is a fish hatchery for Rainbow Trout and lots of hiking paths. This was the site of the Meramec Iron Works. It began operations in 1829 and continued until 1878. They produced cast iron implements and household goods that contributed to the civilization and industrialization of the western frontier. During the Civil War, they supplied Union Armies with cannon balls and iron plate for the gunboats on the Mississippi.






















These days, it is a nice shady picnic spot with a playground, shade, and a lot of room to work out the kinks in your legs.