One of Loudoun’s largest freedmen’s villages, built by families who bought land after Emancipation.
History
St. Louis was founded in the 1870s by people freed from slavery, many of whom had been held by local landowner William Seaton. In 1876 members of the Howard family, along with Nancy Corbin and Edith Jackson, bought about 17.5 acres from him, and other early buyers included Wormley Hughes and Garner Peters. The land was wet and poorly drained, but it was theirs, and descendants of founding families such as the Howards, McQuays and Berrymans still live here.
Family tradition credits the name to Phil McQuay, who spent time in St. Louis, Missouri, and brought the name home. By 1900 about 100 people lived here, making it the county’s largest Black settlement at the time. Many men worked in the horse trade as grooms, jockeys and trainers, and a St. Louis colt show began in 1898.
Church and school anchored community life. Baptists began meeting in the 1880s, and Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Snake Hill Road was completed in 1893; after a fire, a new church was built in 1929. The old one-room St. Louis School still stands as a private home, and Banneker Elementary opened nearby in 1948.
Courses through St. Louis
Rides through St. Louis
- The pine tree rideApr 29, 2012 · 54.1 mi
- Amazing cross ride wandering around… Van Boogie can’t be stoppedJun 2, 2012 · 61.7 mi
- Windy Sunday Fall Gravel RideOct 8, 2023 · 25.5 mi
- It’s a traaapNov 7, 2024 · 31.2 mi
- Just right ride: too hard for an easy ride, too easy for a hard rideDec 25, 2025 · 16.6 mi
- Unison – LeithtownOct 5, 2026 · 18.7 mi
From our rides near St. Louis
Sources: Loudoun Historic Village Alliance – St. Louis · Wikipedia – Saint Louis, Virginia · Thomas Balch Library / loudounhistory.org – African American Communities · PEC – Historic Howard Property in St. Louis · PEC – Standing with St. Louis…And Now Aldie · Blue Ridge Leader – The developing tale of two villages · Virginia DHR – St. Louis HD Preliminary Information Form (2026) · Loudoun County – Rural Historic Villages Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Ride counts from our own Strava and Ride with GPS logs, 2009–2026.
