Rosalie Tilles Park

Rosalie Tilles Park was established in 1932 in Ladue, a small city within St. Louis County. The park was created with land donated by “Captain” Andrew Tilles, who put in his will that these 68.62 acres should be used as a park for children and named after his mother Rosalie. The park was designed by architect Louis Baylor Pendleton who studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology before moving to St. Louis. In 1904, Pendleton was the supervising architect of the Division of Exhibits at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and later became the senior architect of St. Louis. Today, Pendleton is remembered for designing Missouri’s capitol building.

“Captain” Andrew Tilles was born in November of 1865 to Louis Tilles, a Polish immigrant, and Rosalie Peck Tilles, a German immigrant. He had two older brothers, George and Emmanuel. Louis served as a Union soldier during the Civil War and was stationed in Fort Smith, Arkansas. During his time there, he got the impression that Fort Smith was a good place for business, so the family moved there following the war so he could expand his merchant business. This was where Tilles earned the nickname “Captain” or “Cap” because he operated a ferry across a river. Louis’ business prospered but the family suffered when Rosalie died in August of 1872 of congestion. Louis remarried shortly after but died in 1875. The children, now orphans, were separated and made to live with different relatives or friends. Tilles and his brother Emmanuel were both adopted by the Berman family, but Emmanuel died at the age of 19 of Tuberculosis. Following this tragedy, Tilles was adopted by Josephine Adler, the mother of his close friend and future business partner Sam Adler.

Tilles remained in Fort Smith through high school and then briefly attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He eventually moved back to St. Louis with Sam Adler where they opened the Missouri Cigar and Tobacco Company. Another friend of theirs, Louis A. Cella, joined their business ventures and the partnership became known as C.A.T. for Cella, Adler, and Tilles. The three of them found success in horse racing in the 1890’s when they bought the South Side racetrack, which was also the first electric light track in the United States. Along with that track, they also reopened the Madison Track in Illinois, founded the hugely successful Delmar Track, and opened twenty-five tracks total across the country. Tilles had married Cora Lee Eddington, a socialite, on October 17th, 1901 but she later revealed she only married him for his money and filed for divorce. That same year, C.A.T. took hold of the Delmar Investment Company in 1901, which included among its holdings a bucket shop. Bucket shops were businesses that allowed a form of gambling in which the operators would secretly hold out on their customers in order to buy or sell their stock or commodity at a higher price later on. These were outlawed by the Anti-Bucket Shop Act of Congress in the early 1900s and Tilles, along with his partners, were arrested in 1910 as a result of the Western Union bucket shop scandal. After a federal raid, it was revealed that Western Union was running an illegal telegraph and ticker service for bucket shops. In the 1890s, it was estimated that they’d made a million dollars a year off of just seven bucket shops in Chicago. However, the Anti-Bucket Shop Act of Congress was declared unconstitutional in 1911, and Tilles was extradited to Washington, D.C.

In 1905, racetrack gambling had been outlawed which put an end to C.A.T.’s horse racing business ventures. However, by that time Tilles was serving as the president of the Delmar Investment Company and continued to enjoy financial success and prosperity. In 1912, he purchased 68.62 acres from Walter Bliss Woodward. It is speculated that he originally purchased the land for a racetrack, but soon began developing a home on the property which would become known as Resthaven. He used the rest of the land as a park, which was completed in October 1938 and opened to the public in 1939. Events were held there such as the Annual Good Neighbor Picnic, which celebrated immigrants in the area, and boy scout camporees. It was a popular retreat from the city, providing places for people to swim and play sports like Tennis and Baseball. He also became involved in philanthropy throughout the 1910s and 1920s. In 1926, he established the Rosalie Tilles Non-Sectarian Charity Fund (now known as the Tilles Foundation) which worked for the betterment of orphans in St. Louis using his personal fortune.

Tilles died on December 13, 1951 on his property at Resthaven. He left his residential property to his close friend Jeannette Windegger, who was known for supporting various charities and organizations. In the 1950s, she helped the St. Louis Society for Crippled Children build a summer camp in St. Charles County. She was also responsible for the establishment of a library at St. Louis University. In his will, he donated the land to the city to be used as a park for children. However, just a few years after his death, the city wanted to get rid of the park despite its popularity amongst the citizens. Some became concerned that the land would be split up into residential subdivisions, but it was saved from that fate in 1957 when St. Louis County bought it from St. Louis City. In honoring Tilles’ will, the park was named Rosalie Tilles Park after his mother. The park saw changes in the 1970’s after Windegger relinquished her property in 1974, which allowed the park to be expanded. Tilles’ property on Resthaven was torn down, the lake was expanded by 1/3rd, and a metal sculpture from the St. Louis County Art Association called “Dancing Figures” was added. More changes came in the early 2000’s when a children’s fountain and two playgrounds were added between 2006 and 2008. Most of the remaining historical structures on the site still retain their integrity.

National Register of Historic Buildings Nomination Form, MO State Parks. Accessed October 12th, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Tilles%2C%20Rosalie%2C%20Park.pdf.

History, The Tilles Foundation. Accessed October 12th, 2022. https://www.thetillesfoundation.org/history.

"Western Union Indicted." New York Tribune (New York City) June 11th, 1910. .

Bucket Shop, Britannica. Accessed October 12th, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/bucket-shop.

Rosalie Tilles Park, St. Louis County, MO. Accessed October 12th, 2022. https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/about/park-history-documents/tilles-history/.

Hochfelder, David. "Where the Common People Could Speculate": The Ticker, Bucket Shops, and the Origins of Popular Participation in Financial Markets, 1880-1920, The Journal of American History. September 1st, 2006. Accessed October 12th, 2022. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4486233?seq=12#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Carver, Nancy Ellen. Talk with Tilles: Selling Life in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Bloomington, Indiana. Xlibris, 2002.