Library Works To Build Chesterfield 'Family History Center'

, a project of the St. Louis County Library Foundation, is midway toward its fundraising goal of $18 million to begin building in Chesterfield.

"The Center is being built to house the genealogy collection of St. Louis County Library," according to Barbara Turkington, the Assistant Director for Advancement for St. Louis County Library. The collection has more than 80,000 items.

The facility, in an rendering shown here, is planned for 57,000 square feet in size, and include a garden, 350-seat auditorium, venue for smaller gatherings, and a "Hall of Families" that would display the spirit and legend of companies and individuals throughout the Midwest.

Sachs Properties, the founder of modern Chesterfield, provided six acres near the corner of Baxter and Wild Horse Creek roads.

St. Louis County Library's collection of genealogical resources includes over 100 rare Yizkor books memorializing destroyed Jewish communities in Europe, a list of Holocaust victims, the Julius K. Hunter African American Research Collection, and the St. Louis Genealogy Society collection.

The Center for Family History is a project of the Foundation, entirely funded by private contributions. For more information visit the St. Louis County Library Foundation website.