In January 1961, Ellis Ellerman and Ira Nathan begin developing plans for a private resort community, a popular concept in the 1960s in the St. Louis region.

Ellerman and Nathan lacked adequate financing and business experience, and they soon found themselves in over their heads on the project.

R. T. Crow felt the location of "Lake St. Louis" (indicating a change of ownership and the "planned community" concept), between two major highways, I-70 and Rt.

61, and the westward growth of St. Louis justified building a new town, rather than just the weekend community envisioned by Ellerman and Nathan.

The first residents of Lake St. Louis were the Neal family, who moved to an existing home on the property in January, 1968.

Gene Neal later became a vice president of one of Crow's companies, his wife Hazel managed the Lake St. Louis Country Club.

Son Mike played the "boy" of various mythical families in the development's television and print advertising, and later was a founding member of the community's water ski club.

It was completed in 1972, and Crow filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 1974 - an action brought on in part by the energy crisis.

Residents voted in 1977 to change the name to Lake St. Louis and become a 4th Class City under the Revised Statutes of Missouri.

The LSLCA was formed to maintain and administer the Lake St. Louis amenities and provide services for the recreation-oriented community.

Since the lakes, as well as a country club, marinas, and several park areas, are private property of the community association, they are not available for use by non-members.

In addition to the Schnucks development, the National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) also announced plans to build its $18 million 135,000-square-foot headquarters near the same intersection in 2004.

Residents of the lakeside community traveled to nearby Wentzville or O'Fallon for most shopping, dining, and other service needs that were not previously available in the city.

The development was spurred by the new $26 million Hwy N overpass completed in October 2005, which eventually became part of the Page Avenue extension.

The development was the largest retail project in St. Charles County at the time of its construction, and it opened in January 2006.

The Hawk Ridge development is anchored by several big box and numerous smaller retailers and restaurants.

Some businesses were forced to abandon their standard store designs and color schemes in order to comply with style elements of the development.

Opened in August 2008, the Meadows is an open-air shopping district geared toward the community's affluent residents.

It features two landscaped boulevards in a downtown street grid, surrounded by 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) of restaurants and a variety of specialty retail stores.

Kansas City-based Ferguson Properties also plans to build a 110- to 120-room Marriott or Hilton branded hotel geared toward business travelers as part of the lifestyle center.