On August 20, 1948, the City of Kinloch was incorporated using a land purchase model whereby a realty corporation would sell parcels of land to white people at regular prices for the purpose of selling the land to Black families for more than double the purchase price because it was illegal to sell Kinloch homes to non-white individuals.
Originally named Kinloch Park, the City of Kinloch was originally developed in the 1890s as an affluent white suburb of St. Louis County. Kinloch soon became a self-contained and thriving community that established an all-Black city government and school board, the city had confectionaries, stores, churches, restaurants, libraries, theaters, and parks. Kinloch initiated several public projects to upgrade and revitalize the community.
Unfortunately, the City of Kinloch was an extremely segregated area from its inception, with the Black population being restricted to the southern part of the city. Since the white majority was resistant to integration, Black children were not permitted to attend the neighborhood school. Instead, Black families were initially forced to send their children to the nearby City of Ferguson.
In 1913, the first school for Black children in Kinloch opened: Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary. The elementary school was followed by Vernon School in 1927, Kinloch High School in 1936, and Our Lady of Angeles Elementary in 1952. These schools allowed Black children to attend school in their neighborhoods. Although the US had ordered desegregation in 1954, the schools in Kinloch remained segregated.
Between 1920 and 1937, the Black population growth outpaced white residents. Because of these circumstances, the white residents of North Kinlock Park created a new municipality, Berkeley, MO, which also included splitting the school district apart. As a result, Kinloch struggled financially after the separation.
Even though the Kinloch schools remained segregated, the Kinloch students took part in a court-ordered busing program to desegregate other school districts.
The city of Kinloch began to decline in the 1980s when Lambert St. Louis International Airport began to buy property for a proposed expansion. Because of these buyouts, between 1990 and 2000, Kinloch lost more than 80% of its population, and became an increasingly violent and dangerous area. Ultimately, the expansion never occurred, and the acquired properties stood empty and undeveloped. The airport buyout, which took most of the private homes, was a social and economic disaster for the Kinloch community. To this day, Kinloch continues to face problems of crime, neglect, and illegal waste dumping.
The damaging effects of buyouts and disinvestment in Kinloch are a stark reminder of the way Black communities have been impacted by prejudice and institutional racism. Despite adversities, Kinloch will always be remembered as Missouri’s first Black city.
Famous Black Missourians from Kinloch
- Dick Gregory – Activist
- Jenifer Lewis – Actress
- Maxine Waters – Congresswoman
- Ann Peebles – Recording Artist
- Huey – Recording Artist
Historical facts contained in this article were obtained from the Missouri Historical Society.