17033 Church Road

Westland Acres, once known as “The Hill,” is a historic African American community that straddles Chesterfield and unincorporated St. Louis County. Established in 1868 by William West, a formerly enslaved man, and his wife Polly, the couple purchased approximately 343 acres from pioneer settler North Long, after whom Long Road is named. The community was later named in honor of William West, whose descendants still live on the land. Today, more than 50 members of the West family continue to reside in Westland Acres, which now spans 141 acres.

A central institution in the community is Union Baptist Church, a family church rebuilt in 1984 after the original 1921 structure was destroyed by fire in 1977. Nearby is the John W. West Cemetery, originally known as West Gumbo Cemetery, which holds around 30 graves from multiple generations of the West family.

Education was a major pillar of the community. A one-room schoolhouse, once operated by the Rockwood School District for Black children, still stands in Westland Acres. In 1952, a larger two-room facility with a kitchen and playroom was constructed nearby in anticipation of continued segregation. However, after the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, plans to expand the facility were halted. Black children in the area continued to attend the school until 1963, when Westland Acres parents successfully petitioned the district to close the segregated school and integrate their children into nearby public schools.

The community’s roots stretch back further, shaped by migration and transformation after the Civil War. In 1797, Daniel Boone brought around fifty families to the area. While most settled in what is now St. Charles County, Lawrence Long settled near Bonhomme Creek, within what is now Westland Acres. Long, along with other settlers like the Long and Frazier families (not to be confused with current Westland Acres residents of the same surname), were white enslavers. William West and Polly Ellis were among those they enslaved.

In a significant and relatively rare act for the time, two Black men, James Ellis and Philip Winston, purchased 88½ acres of land in 1868 from Andrew Stevens, a former slaveowner. Polly, who was enslaved by Stevens, later married James Ellis. These men later sold or donated a portion of their land for use as a burial ground for formerly enslaved individuals and their families, since many Black residents could no longer be buried on the plantations where they had once lived and worked.

William West expanded the community by purchasing an additional 133 acres in 1879 from John Long and Joel Frazier. He and his wife Matilda Webster (formerly enslaved by the Coleman family) settled on the land, raised five children together—plus two from William’s earlier marriage—and donated part of their property for a new burial ground. The West family land bordered the area previously transferred to what was then known as the Colored African Baptist Church, the predecessor of Union Baptist Church.

The first church in the community was a one-room log cabin, which also served as a schoolhouse and community hall. This early place of worship, possibly known informally as “Orrville Church,” evolved over time into what became the Union Baptist Church. Members of the now-defunct Mt. Pleasant Colored Baptist Church—a congregation formed by formerly enslaved members of the Coleman and Tyler plantations—eventually migrated to Union Baptist, helping solidify it as the heart of the Westland Acres community.

Despite challenges, including the devastating church fire in 1977, the community persevered. Led by figures like Clifford Frazier, a descendant of the original families, Union Baptist Church was rebuilt by 1984 and continues to serve the community.

The name “Westland Acres” became widely used in the early 1990s as part of efforts by local residents, including Clifford Frazier, to preserve and recognize the community’s heritage during municipal planning discussions with the newly formed City of Chesterfield and St. Louis County. Since the incorporation of the City of Wildwood in 1995, Westland Acres has been shared between the two municipalities. In 2005, it was officially designated as a Wildwood Historic District.

Westland Acres stands today not only as a place of residence, but as a symbol of resilience, heritage, and community, its foundations laid by formerly enslaved individuals who transformed land and legacy into a thriving, intergenerational neighborhood.