The land which became Shrewsbury originally belonged to Gregorie Sarpy[5] and Charles Gratiot Sr.;[6] by 1890, it was divided into farms and sold to families.

Shrewsbury was incorporated and became a village in 1913; shortly thereafter a sanitation system was established, reducing water-borne diseases prevalent at the time.

The early 1950s were marked by the expansion of the public bus routes to connect Shrewsbury to St. Louis.

The 1960s and '70s were times of great community growth, noted by the construction of city parks, a municipal pool, and Interstate 44.

The 1980s and '90s saw increased development of new homes, condominiums, apartments, shopping areas, and a new and improved City Center, which opened May 8, 1993, to coincide with Shrewsbury's 80th year of incorporation.

[7] Construction finished in 2006 on the Shrewsbury–Lansdowne Interstate 44 St. Louis MetroLink station on the eastern edge of the city, at Lansdowne Avenue and River Des Peres Boulevard.

The Shrewsbury City Council in fall 2010 was expected to consider a plan to turn Kenrick Plaza, which has several open storefronts, into a Walmart store.

[1] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.43 square miles (3.70 km2), all land.

[8] The city is roughly bounded by St. Louis to the east, Webster Groves to the north, Marlborough to the west and Mackenzie and Affton to the south.

Shrewsbury is served by the Blue Line of the St. Louis region's MetroLink light rail system.