Mr C.E. Champ, founder of Champ Spring Company in St. Louis originally bought the *Goodwood farm and began Champ Dairy as a hobby. After his death in 1933, his Son, Norman Champ became a prominent citizen and one of Berkeley's first Alderman.
The original home contained many beautiful furnishings, antiques and souvenirs collected while traveling around the world. Sadly, this beautiful home burned to the ground in 1917. Norman Champ rebuilt the 20 room home we remember to replace the home that burned. The elder Mr. Champ put up the money to connect a road from Natural Bridge road to St. Charles Rock Road known as Brown Road. He also paid to have water piped from Carsonville to use at his dairy operation. He allowed local residents to attach to this water line so they could have "city water". I had the honor of visiting this beautiful home several times with my father when they had city business to discuss.
Many of us have fond memories of "skinny dipping", fishing and ice skating on Camps Pond. Mr. Champ never chased us while using his pond and it was just a place we felt we were welcome to use. Some times we had to nudge a few cows out of the way and hope the Ol' Bull wouldn't get bent out of shape and chase us away at full speed. It was a great time and town to grow up with the laid back country living atmosphere we now treasure.
And how many remember the "Double Curve" in front of the Champ Home? It was local sport to see how fast you could drive your car around this double curve without rolling over. More than one didn't make the right speed calculation and ended up with four wheels in the air. (My personal speed record was 35 MPH while remaining on all four wheels.) The other favorite spots for attempting to defy the laws of gravity were Long Road in Bridgeton and later the "Hump" on Airport road shortly before it was closed for the airport expansion. A BHS daredevil named Biff Bell decided during one lunch hour to see how high he could fly his fathers new car on this "Hump" and several of my classmates accompanied him on this ill fated world record and luckily came out with just a few bumps and bruises. Biff Bell never made Guinness's book of records that day but I'm sure his father wasn't a very happy camper when he saw what his son had done to his new auto.
*The name "Goodwood" came from an English Manor House the Champs encountered in their travels.
Freida Patterson and Elaine Combs were about to trip the "Light Fantastic" on Champs pond in 1949. It was later reported that they only "tripped"!
Very nice! I remember those curves on Country Day Lane.
ReplyDeleteI was one year old when my family moved to the dairy farm in 1945 my father was hired to run the day to day operation and my mother cooked for the farm hands. I would sure to know where I can go to get pictures of the farm as it was in 1945 and up to the day that the farm was moved to Elsberry. ervanddeb@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThis site became Holiday Hill amusement park about 1955. The Mansion became the park office and pool building. The mansion stood till the Breckenridge hotel chain bought the land and built the big black hotel which is sitting on that site
ReplyDeleteThe Mansion was located where the last eastward expansion of the air port runways. While I my family lived there Brown Rd. was moved three times, before the Air port finally paid the price that Norman Champ wanted. The house on the hill by the swimming pool was where my uncle lived, and was part of the Dairy Farm, before Holliday Hill bought the property and turned it into the amusement park office. The mansion was taken down brick by brick and moved to Elsberry Mo. where it was rebuilt on the land that the Air Port bought as part of the purchase price of the Dairy farm property in Berkley Mo.
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