William Hibler acquired the property later called Longview Farm, once encompassing over 350 acres, directly from the United States government in the 1820's. The Hibler homestead was not on this location. Upon Hibler's death, 160 acres of the property was deeded to daughter Susanna. It was immediately sold to a neighbor, James McKenney who resold the property in 1854 to Henry Niebruegge for $4,232.

Henry and Clara Niebruegge added another 80 acres to their original 160 in 1856. The 1878 atlas shows a house in the approximate location of the present house. As you enter the old basement you can see the hand-hewn logs that were part of the substructure. This would have been the storm cellar and jelly cellar.

Original Barn

The original part of the barn is approximately 120 years old. The logs on the side of the barn are remarkable. They are big old timbers that were hand-hewn by the Native Americans. Wooden pegs hold the logs together and some square headed nails are used throughout.

Native American History

The Niebruegge family used Illini Native Americans to help take care of the property before the turn of the century.

Folklore has it that the Native Americans wanted to be buried next to the homestead so they were buried on the east side of the house where the vegetable garden was later located. No bones or artifacts were ever found, but the legend lives on.

After Henry's death, son John, improved the farm and increased its productiveness and value until it became one of the model farms of the county.

Selling the Farm

Edward Noland purchased 75 acres of the property in the early 30's and named it Longview Farm because of the distant view it provided of downtown St. Louis. The farm was used as a weekend and summer getaway until 1940 when a permanent move was made. Butch Heintz, a local farmer in the Town and Country area for a number of years, farmed it. The Heintz family lived on Mason Ridge Road adjacent to the farm.

After the Nolands died, the parcel was deeded to the 2 daughters, Florence Noland Baur and Betty Noland Cole. Florence kept the house with about 28 acres and the balance went to Betty who later sold it to Les Grotpeter who built Wheatfield Subdivision in the 1970s. The county assessor dates the present house from 1940, so it must have been rebuilt or substantially altered at that time.

Creating the Park

Florence and Andrew Baur occupied the property and sold it to the Zinsmeyers in 1977. Andrew and Jean Zinsmeyer sold the property to The City of Town and Country in 2000 for use as a park.