St. Louis Native Celebrated 105th Birthday

Recently I went to Tower Grove Manor on South Grand for Margaret Kohlhauff’s 105th birthday party. There I met the sweet  little old birthday girl, born in St. Louis in 1906. To me she could have been a grandmother.  To many of you out there you are thinking great grandmother or even great great grandmother.

My paternal grandmother was born the year before in 1905, and my maternal grandmother was born in 1902. They’ve both been gone for many years now, so this was nice for me. Same generation.

What interested me in going was the fact she lived in St. Louis her entire life. She did travel extensively throughout her long life, but St. Louis was always home.

The house where Margaret lived for more than 50 years would have been about 35 years old when she bought it. An Aunt lived with Margaret, she never married or had children. Margaret has now lived at Tower Grove Manor for 30+ years.

Margaret only had one job, a bookkeeper for St. Louis Commission, a fur trading company. The original location not longer exists, was where I-70 cuts off downtown from the Arch grounds. She would take the streetcar to work.

I showed her my copy of Streets & Streetcars of St. Louis: A Sentimental Journey, and her face lit up. The pictures in the book brought back many memories for her.

Neither of my grandmothers ever learned to drive a car. Margaret, however, did, but later in life.  In her 40s, I believe. She drove a Buick last.

Advertising and old photos in common areas at Tower Grove Manor show the Marmaduke was a modern apartment building in 1923.

– Steve Patterson