A digital map shows unknown towns in the St. Louis region that Black people settled

Before and after the Emancipation Proclamation, formerly enslaved and free Black people built towns across the nation. A national research project shows that African Americans settled five little-known towns in the St. Louis region, and one of those cities — Kinloch — still exists.

Robertson, Kinloch, North Webster and Meacham Park can be located on the Black Towns & Settlements digital mapping tool created by Cymone Davis and Atyia Martin. The town of Brooklyn in St. Clair County is also on the map.

St. Louis has an interesting group of Black towns that is not really seen elsewhere, said Davis, CEO of Black Towns Municipal Management, a consulting firm that helps redevelop Black townships.

“St. Louis has around four or five in the proximity of one another, and I'm curious to know how did one start versus the other,” she said. “But what I liked the most about St. Louis [is its] economic development and Black-owned businesses.”