Des Peres (English: /dʌˈpɛər/) is a city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States.

[4] The first inhabitants of Des Peres were the Cahokia, the Kaskaskia, the Mitchigamea, the Moingona, and the Otoe peoples.

Des Peres is thought to be the oldest white settlement in Missouri, founded about December 3, 1700 by a group of Kaskaskia Native Americans and French who had left the camp of the confederated Illinois tribes on the Illinois River.

[6] People of European descent began settling in Des Peres in the 1800s.

Des Peres was mainly settled by German immigrants and southerners from Virginia and the Carolinas who were drawn to the area by the farmland sold off by the United States government in 80-to-160-acre (32 to 65 ha) tracts.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.32 square miles (11.19 km2), all land.

[8] The 2020 United States census[10] counted 9,193 people, 2,997 households, and 2,604 families in Des Peres.

The current head of the Des Peres government is Mayor Mark Becker.

Under this model the City Administrator serves as the Chief Administrative Officer and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the city, which may include dealing with financial, legislative, legal, or personnel matters as they arise.

St. Clement of Rome School is run by its adjoining church and parish under the direction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis.

[16] The international headquarters of Edward Jones Investments[17] is located in Des Peres.

West County Center, a shopping mall, was established here in 1969 The international headquarters of Redbird Engineering is located in Des Peres.

The City of Des Peres does not assess a real or personal property tax and has not since 1995: 67% School District; 13% Special Schools; 7% St. Louis County; 4% Community College; 4% Zoo/Museum District; 2% County Library; 2% MSD; 1% Sheltered Workshops.

Both designated "urban wildlife areas" are administered in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation and run adjacent to Dougherty Lake, one of the original residential developments in Des Peres.

Bittersweet Woods was donated by Des Peres residents Jean and Joan Goodson.

It is named after the Phantom comic strip, of which Ray Moore was the co-creator (with Lee Falk) and original illustrator.

On Interstate 270 outside of Des Peres, near the West County Center, is a jar of pickles on a highway guardrail.