Four generations of descendants of the West and Frazier families gather around Doris Frazier, 94, front center, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025 on Church Road, the only road leading up "the Hill" into Westland Acres. The extended family members hope to sell the land behind them to a developer who wants to build new homes there. The road borders Chesterfield, to the right, and Wildwood to the left.
WEST ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 On a dead-end road straddling Chesterfield and Wildwood, tucked behind mansions and cul-de-sacs, there are more than 120 acres of hilly woods.
A historical marker telling the story of Westland Acres is seen on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025 where Strecker Road meets Church Road, the only way up "the Hill" into Westland Acres, which lies in both Chesterfield and Wildwood.聽
Mrs. Henry Frazier and her son Harold stand at the gate of their home in April 1966, in Westland Acres. The community was named for Mrs. Frazier's grandfather, William West, a slave who bought over 130 acres of land after he was emancipated. Nearly 100 hundred years later, in 1966, the land had been divided into small tracts on which 109 people lived.
Kristie Frazier Murdock and her mother Doris Frazier sing during choir practice at Union Baptist Church on Aug. 25, 2015. The church is located in an area known as "Westland Acres," purchased by freed slave William West in 1879. Once home to more than 50 families (mostly descendants of West) only 10 families are left on the 133 acres remaining from West's original purchase.
Documents from a Dec. 1, 2025 City of Chesterfield planning committee meeting show a preliminary plan for rezoning 56 acres of the Westland Acres site, north of Strecker Road and east of Church Road,聽where a developer wants to build 50 single-family homes.
Depriving the public of an opportunity to weigh in on spending is bad policy, said one expert. "You just want to lose your mind because you kn…
Four generations of descendants of the West and Frazier families gather around Doris Frazier, 94, front center, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025 on Church Road, the only road leading up "the Hill" into Westland Acres. The extended family members hope to sell the land behind them to a developer who wants to build new homes there. The road borders Chesterfield, to the right, and Wildwood to the left.
A historical marker telling the story of Westland Acres is seen on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025 where Strecker Road meets Church Road, the only way up "the Hill" into Westland Acres, which lies in both Chesterfield and Wildwood.聽
Mrs. Henry Frazier and her son Harold stand at the gate of their home in April 1966, in Westland Acres. The community was named for Mrs. Frazier's grandfather, William West, a slave who bought over 130 acres of land after he was emancipated. Nearly 100 hundred years later, in 1966, the land had been divided into small tracts on which 109 people lived.
Kristie Frazier Murdock and her mother Doris Frazier sing during choir practice at Union Baptist Church on Aug. 25, 2015. The church is located in an area known as "Westland Acres," purchased by freed slave William West in 1879. Once home to more than 50 families (mostly descendants of West) only 10 families are left on the 133 acres remaining from West's original purchase.
Documents from a Dec. 1, 2025 City of Chesterfield planning committee meeting show a preliminary plan for rezoning 56 acres of the Westland Acres site, north of Strecker Road and east of Church Road,聽where a developer wants to build 50 single-family homes.
