|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Saga Continues |
By 1872, the Trustees of Concord School decided to replace the one room log cabin school with a new one room school made of brick. The log cabin school was no longer needed. Peter Dietrich, who owned property in the neighborhood, moved the unwanted one room Concord School log cabin to his land located today at 10208 Concord School Road, two blocks east of the present day Concord School used by Affton-Lindbergh Early Childhood Education. Peter Dietrich and his wife Mary, built an addition onto the one room log cabin. It duplicated the exact same size and shape of the log cabin. The Peter Dietrich House now had two first floor rooms, each with a front door and a loft above. Peter and Mary Dietrich were of German descent and had nine children: Charles, Flora, Alvina, Ida, Bertha, Rose, Mathilda, Edward and Oscar. Upon his death in 1916, Peter left the Peter Dietrich House and property to his wife Mary, and then to his son Oscar. Oscar and his wife Augusta and their descendants lived in the house until 1959. August C. and Viola Hoeft purchased The Peter Dietrich House on May 30, 1959, the day before fire damaged the Concord Farmer's Club building to the east on May 31st. There they raised their four children David, Carl, Richard and Donald, while residing in it for 44 years until its sale in March, 2003. The new owner of the property now intended to demolish all of the buildings on the property and replace them with a new residential development. Local preservationists, concerned about saving the 1844 Concord School log cabin one room schoolhouse from destruction, developed a plan to extract the school from The Peter Dietrich House and relocate the log cabin to a safe, permanent site. They met with the Board of Education of Lindbergh School District who created a Site Committee made up of Board of Education members Mark Rudoff and Ken Fey. The Site Committee visited all possible future sites for the log cabin on any available District property. Using their recommendations, the Board of Education selected the Concord School property across the street from The Peter Dietrich House as the final, permanent site for the 1844 Concord School log cabin. In July, 2003, the new owner of The Peter Dietrich House and property decided to sell. Without the property ever appearing on the open real estate market a second time, a concerned buyer was found. Tom Batsch, a life-long resident of South St. Louis County, purchased The Peter Dietrich House with the 1844 Concord School log cabin within it and the property at 10208 Concord School Road on September 26, 2003. It is his intent to donate the historic site and buildings to the 1844 Concord School Historical Society to own, maintain and operate as a Historic Landmark in St. Louis County presenting a living history program and exhibit to the children and residents of the Community. |
||
n 1844, the first one room log cabin Concord School was built on the
site of the present day Concord School used by 
