Buying a Home in Kirkwood, MO: The Depot the City Bought, Kirkwood Road, the Turkey Day Game and the Utilities the City Runs Itself

The first train arrived on May 11, 1853, for an auction of lots. The city's own history page calls the town that grew from that sale the first planned suburb west of the Mississippi, and the name honors James P. Kirkwood, the Pacific Railroad's chief engineer, who laid out the line. The railroad is still the middle of town. The Missouri Pacific built the stone depot in 1893, Amtrak's Missouri River Runner still stops there, and the city itself owns the building.

Kirkwood is a St. Louis County city of 29,461 people at the 2020 Census, with an 1893 train depot at Argonne Drive and Kirkwood Road in the middle of its downtown. It is also the only city in the county that runs its own electric utility and its own water system. I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in Missouri through C2 Financial Corporation, and I've been in the mortgage business since 1996. If a Kirkwood address is on your list, this page goes further into the city than the St. Louis area guide can. That guide covers the county's dozens of separate municipalities, Missouri property tax, the recorded rules some subdivisions set for their homes, and earthquake coverage, so I won't repeat those here. Everything below comes from public sources I gathered on November 3, 2026.

The depot the city bought, and its restoration

Amtrak planned to close the Kirkwood station in 2002 to save money. The city bought the depot from Union Pacific instead, for close to a million dollars according to Great American Stations' account, and asked for volunteers to staff it. One hundred ninety-nine people came to the first meeting, and volunteers have staffed it since. The Romanesque Revival depot has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985.

The station closed on June 10, 2025 for a full restoration: a new slate roof, a geothermal heating and cooling system, new restrooms and new seating. The Webster-Kirkwood Times reported the work on track for a September 2026 reopening, and the transit group CMT covered the $1.5 million grant that went toward it. Great American Stations says the work ended with a ribbon-cutting that September. I didn't find the city's own report of the reopening, so please check the city's page for the depot's hours before you plan a trip around it.

Just east of the depot, at 150 East Argonne Drive, is the Kirkwood Farmers' Market. The Times reported when the 2026 season opened that the city started it in 1976 as a bicentennial project and that this is its 50th season. The city still owns the market, and the Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District runs it.

Kirkwood Road, the road the county could not rename

Lindbergh Boulevard, US 61 and 67, carries that name the length of St. Louis County until it reaches the Kirkwood city limits, where the signs read Kirkwood Road. Patch's history of the two names tells how it happened. The street inside the city was Webster Avenue until 1915, when Kirkwood renamed it for itself. In 1930 the county renamed Denny Road for Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight, "but Kirkwood stood firm." AARoads dates the road's dedication as a Route 66 bypass to December 13, 1930. So if you hear a local call it either name, it's the same road, and the addresses along it inside the city use Kirkwood Road.

The Magic House is at 516 South Kirkwood Road, about a mile north of I-44. It opened as a children's museum in 1979, inside a Victorian house, according to Wikipedia's article on the museum. Further south, Mercy's page for the location lists imaging, primary care and heart and vascular clinics at 1001 South Kirkwood Road. I didn't find a hospital inside the city limits, and the area guide names the hospitals in the south part of the county.

Thanksgiving morning since 1907

Kirkwood High and Webster Groves High have played football on Thanksgiving morning since 1907, and the winner keeps the Frisco Bell. Wikipedia's article on the game lists four years without one. There was no game in 1914. The 1918 game was called off because of the flu, and the 2020 game because of COVID-19. In 1975 the game was called off when the St. Louis football Cardinals played on Thanksgiving.

A 1988 rule called the Turkey Day Agreement sends the junior varsity squads out if a varsity team has a playoff game the week before. That rule kicked in again in 2025, and Kirkwood's JV won 45 to 14, according to the Webster-Kirkwood Times' history of the series. In 2016 Kirkwood won the state title and the Turkey Day game in the same season, a double Webster had managed in 1979. If you'd like to go this year, the game is on Thanksgiving, November 26.

The other date on the Kirkwood calendar is the Greentree Festival at Kirkwood Park, 111 South Geyer Road. The city's festival page says this year's ran September 18 to 20, its 65th, with free admission, a Friday night Party in the Park and a Saturday parade.

Kirkwood Park, the rink and the performing arts center

Kirkwood Park is the city's original park, and it holds the community center, the aquatic center and the ice rink. The 1999 rink brought in more money than any other city recreation facility. The city is replacing it as the last step of an $11 million upgrade to the community center. The old rink's last day was February 26, 2026, and the city planned to open the new one on August 1, according to the Times' report on the project. If you'd like to skate there, please check with Kirkwood Parks and Recreation on where the new rink stands.

The Kirkwood Performing Arts Center opened in July 2021, nearly a year late because of COVID-19, according to Ladue News' look inside it. The city owns it, the same way it owns the parks and the depot. It's next to the former public works yard, where the housing plan I describe below is proposed.

Emmenegger Nature Park covers 93 acres of Meramec River bluffs that were once part of Edwin Lemp's Cragwold estate. Rock from the I-44 bridge project went to shore up the park's eroding riverbank, the Times reported. If you walk or ride, Grant's Trail ends at its Holmes Avenue and Leffingwell Avenue trailhead in Kirkwood, about 12 miles from the River des Peres Greenway.

More than 80 landmarks, and the cottages left from a resort

In August 1986 Kirkwood became the first community in Missouri named a Certified Local Government, the title the state gives a city that runs its own historic preservation program. The state's report on the program records that date. The city's Landmarks Commission page now counts 85 designated landmarks and nine local historic districts.

Mudd's Grove, the Greek Revival home at 302 West Argonne Drive, was built around 1859 to 1864. It is named for its second owner, Henry Mudd. The Kirkwood Historical Society owns it now, and the society's 1992 purchase price was $195,000. The society has been run by volunteers since 1961, the Times wrote on the society's 60th year. It keeps its library and archive at Mudd's Grove, and both are open to the public. Its tour of historic homes each holiday season is the main fundraiser.

Along the Meramec, the Highlands Inn was an 1890s resort hotel that burned in 1926. At least a dozen of its cottages are still here as private homes inside the Meramec Highlands Historic District, according to Legends of America's history of the Meramec resorts. The Times reports that the resort's 1891 store is a city landmark in the same district. If a home you like is a local landmark or in one of the local historic districts, please ask the city whether your project needs its review first.

The city also spent part of 2026 rewriting its rules on cutting down trees. At work sessions on February 19 and March 5, the council went over changes to how the city defines clearcutting and to its Tree Clearing Permit. A draft ordinance was set for March 19. The Times reported that builders may need to preserve or replant trees, and that a developer needs a permit before clearcutting. A revised tree code passed in April, but I didn't read the adopted text. If you're thinking about a teardown or an addition, please ask Kirkwood's Building Division about its rules on removing trees and on building a new home on an existing lot.

What is being built in Kirkwood

The largest housing plan I found in Kirkwood is on land the city owns. It's the former public works yard, 5.9 acres between Taylor and Fillmore avenues next to the performing arts center. The city asked developers for proposals, and on October 31, 2025 the city announced it had chosen Double Eagle Development. The Times described the plan as six four-story buildings with about 202 homes, roughly 275,000 square feet in all, with no commercial space. At the hearings, residents raised concerns about stormwater drainage. In the reporting I found, the council still had to vote on a zoning change and on letting Double Eagle move ahead with a detailed plan. If you're looking at a home near Taylor and Fillmore avenues, the council's agendas will show you where those votes stand.

Downtown, the council gave final approval in early January 2026 to Pitman Place, First Alert 4 reported. It's 60 apartments over first-floor shops on a vacant 1.44-acre lot at 300 North Kirkwood Road. The developer reworked the design after hearing from residents, partly in reaction to The James, an earlier downtown apartment building. Construction was expected to start in spring or summer 2026.

The Kirkwood School District, and the eight communities it covers

The district's boundary page says Kirkwood School District R-7 covers about 15 square miles. It includes all or parts of eight communities: Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Kirkwood, Oakland, Town and Country and Warson Woods. That means a home can be in the district without being in the city of Kirkwood, and the district says its online map is only a guide. For any address you're serious about, you can confirm the attendance boundary by calling the district at (314) 213-6100. The district's property tax rate is in the tax section below.

The bills that come from City Hall

The City of Kirkwood runs its own electric utility, its own water system and its own trash service, so up to three of the bills on a Kirkwood home come from City Hall. A lender doesn't count any of them in the monthly payment you qualify on, so I like to add them to your budget before we settle on a price.

Kirkwood Electric, or Ameren

The Times' history of the utility says voters approved bonds for a generating plant in 1900, and Kirkwood Electric has served homes since 1901. It is the only city-owned electric utility in St. Louis County, and it serves about two-thirds of the city, with Ameren Missouri serving the rest. That means two homes in Kirkwood can have different electric companies. I didn't find a published map of which streets each one serves, so please ask which one serves the address you're considering.

The rates changed recently, so please ask the seller for copies of the last twelve months of electric bills for the home. STLPR reported that Kirkwood Electric's rates went up an average of 14.8% on November 1, 2025. It was the first increase since 2016, and it came after a 12-year modernization of the system. Two residents have since sued the city, arguing that the increase is a new tax or fee under the Missouri Constitution's Hancock Amendment. STLPR reported the lawsuit on October 28, 2026, and I didn't find an outcome.

Kirkwood water, and the question of selling it

Kirkwood is the only city in St. Louis County still running its own water system. It buys the water wholesale from Missouri American Water, the company that serves the rest of the county. The city's Water Rates page carries the current rates, and new rates took effect on April 1, 2025. The council is also deciding the system's future. In March 2026 Missouri American offered the city about $27.5 million for it, First Alert 4 reported in June. In July the council heard a plan to raise water rates about 40% through 2037, and some council members want a public vote on any sale. I didn't find any news after July, so the council's agendas will show you where it stands while you work out your budget.

Trash, and the sewer question

City sanitation picks up trash every week and recycling at the curb, and the city's Sanitation and Trash page lists the cart sizes and the monthly charge for each. I couldn't confirm who bills sewer service in Kirkwood, so please ask the seller for a copy of the most recent sewer bill for the home.

The occupancy permit before the utilities switch over

The city's occupancy page says a seller of residential property must get an occupancy permit, which includes an inspection, through the Kirkwood Public Portal. The seller has to apply before the utilities can be transferred. The city's finance department handles that transfer, and it accepts the Certificate of Occupancy that comes out of the inspection. A new permit isn't needed if one was already issued and the property passed. The city runs the water, the trash and most of the electric service, so this certificate is what lets those accounts move into your name. I'd put it on your closing timeline. I didn't find the fee or how long it takes, so please ask the Building Division.

The tax rates in Kirkwood

St. Louis County sends the property tax bill. The area guide explains how Missouri taxes a home on 19% of its market value, called its assessed value. It also covers how often the county reassesses and when you can appeal. The city's tax rates page lists a city residential rate of $0.4580 for every $100 of assessed value and a library district rate of $0.2150. Counting every rate on the bill, the page puts the total residential rate at $6.2237 per $100. Those may be an earlier year's figures. The Times reported proposed 2025 rates of $0.402 for the city and $0.189 for the library, so please check which year the city's table shows.

The Kirkwood School District's residential rate for 2025-26 is $3.0507 per $100. Of that, $2.7807 pays for operations and $0.2700 goes to debt service, which is the money for paying off the district's bonds. The district says it is the lowest residential rate its board has approved in more than 30 years. If you'd like a rough yearly figure for a home you're considering, take 19% of its market value, divide that by 100, and multiply by the total rate. The county's actual bill for the address is still the number I'd rely on.

Flood and stormwater

The city's floodplain page says about 1,133 properties in Kirkwood, around 10.6%, face flood risk over a 30-year period. It names the Lower Meramec Basin and the area near Sugar Creek. A city presentation puts the mapped floodplain mainly along Leffingwell and along Grand up to Avery Court. The city's Citywide Stormwater Master Plan, dated August 18, 2025, covers the land that drains to Grand Glaize Creek, Deer Creek, Gravois Creek and the Lower Meramec. It says basement backups are a sanitary sewer problem it doesn't address, and that MSD should be told when one happens. The city held a town hall on June 30, 2026 about changes to its stormwater rules. FEMA's flood map shows whether a specific address is in a high-risk flood zone. If it is, the lender will require flood insurance, and that premium is added to your monthly payment, which the area guide explains.

Kirkwood costs and your mortgage

The monthly payment a lender qualifies you on includes the county tax bill, your homeowners insurance and any flood insurance the home needs, but it leaves out the City Hall bills above. For 2026, St. Louis County has the same conforming limit as most of the country, and that limit is the largest loan Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy at their standard terms. The county's FHA limit, the most FHA will insure on a home here, is the lowest FHA sets anywhere. So if the loan you need is above the FHA limit, an FHA loan won't work for that home, and we would look at a conventional loan instead. The loan limits box on this page shows both figures.

Pre-approval in Missouri covers what goes into the letter. FHA loans in Missouri and VA loans in Missouri cover those two programs, self-employed mortgages in Missouri explains how we document business income, and the Missouri page covers the state's closing rules.

You can see your options for a Kirkwood purchase whenever you're ready, choose the rate option that works best for you, and change that selection later if your plans move. If you'd rather talk first, I'm glad to take your call.

Nothing here is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and it is not tax advice.

Common questions

Is Kirkwood, MO in St. Louis County?

Yes. Kirkwood is a home rule city in St. Louis County, which means it governs itself under its own city charter, and its first council under that charter was elected in April 1984. St. Louis County sends the property tax bill. The city sets its own tax rate, runs its own electric utility, water system and trash service, and issues the occupancy permit a seller needs before the utilities transfer.

Does Kirkwood have its own electric company?

Yes. Kirkwood Electric has served homes since 1901 and is the only city-owned electric utility in St. Louis County. It serves about two-thirds of the city, and Ameren Missouri serves the rest, so two homes in Kirkwood can have different electric companies. Please ask which one serves the address you're considering.

Is Kirkwood Road the same road as Lindbergh Boulevard?

Yes. Lindbergh Boulevard, US 61 and 67, runs the length of St. Louis County, and inside the Kirkwood city limits it is Kirkwood Road. The city renamed the street from Webster Avenue in 1915, and it kept that name when the county renamed the rest for Charles Lindbergh in 1930.

Do I need an occupancy permit to buy a home in Kirkwood?

The seller is the one who gets it. When residential property is sold, the city requires an occupancy permit, which includes an inspection, and the seller applies through the Kirkwood Public Portal. The application has to be in before the city's finance department will transfer the utilities, and the finance department accepts the Certificate of Occupancy. If a permit was already issued and the property passed, a new one isn't needed.

Which school district serves Kirkwood, MO?

Kirkwood School District R-7 serves the city, and it also covers all or parts of Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Oakland, Town and Country and Warson Woods. The district calls its online boundary map a guide only, so please confirm the attendance boundary for a specific address with the district at (314) 213-6100.

Does Amtrak stop in Kirkwood?

Yes. Amtrak's Missouri River Runner stops at the 1893 Kirkwood depot downtown, next to the farmers' market. The city bought the station from Union Pacific when Amtrak planned to close it, and volunteers staff it. It closed on June 10, 2025 for a restoration, with a reopening planned for September 2026, so please check the city's page for the depot's hours.