The Foundation for the Restoration of Ste. Genevieve will host its annual Ste. Genevieve History Conference on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The Conference will bring together historians, researchers and preservationists for a day devoted to the people, places and events that shaped Ste. Genevieve and the mid-Mississippi Valley. This year’s conference will feature five presentations exploring subjects ranging from the Revolutionary War and early American settlement to historic preservation, regional industry, colonial-era cartography and one of Ste. Genevieve’s most significant surviving French colonial homes.
William R. “Bill” Eddleman, Regional Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Cape Girardeau Research Center, will present “The Role of the Revolutionary War and its Veterans in American Settlement of Southeast Missouri.” Eddleman will examine how the American Revolution and its aftermath influenced settlement west of the Mississippi River, including the arrival of American settlers in the Ste. Genevieve District during the Spanish colonial period and the Revolutionary War service of some of the region’s early American residents.
Melissa Gengler of Historic Resources Group, Inc. will present “Bauvais-Amoureux House: A Biography of Its Occupants and History.” Gengler was part of the multidisciplinary team contracted by the National Park Service to prepare historic structures reports for four Ste. Genevieve properties. Her presentation will trace the complicated ownership and occupancy of the Bauvais-Amoureux House from its construction in 1792 to the present, while exploring the families associated with this rare poteaux-en-terre structure.
Dr. Ryan Johnston, president of the St. Francois County Historical Society and a member of Farmington’s Historic Preservation Commission, will present “The Long Tannery.” Using recently discovered materials, including an 1836 family letter and the Long Tannery business ledger from 1856 to 1860, Johnston will explore the tannery’s operation, the Long family and the business’s connections to the Ste. Genevieve–Iron Mountain Plank Road and the economic development of the region.
James Baker, retired administrator of the Felix Vallé House State Historic Site, will present “Charles E. Peterson and the Historic American Buildings Survey in Ste. Genevieve.” Baker will discuss preservation pioneer Charles E. Peterson, his early research in Ste. Genevieve during the 1930s and the important role the community played in Peterson’s landmark 1933 proposal that led to the creation of the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Robert “Bob” Mueller, an independent researcher, genealogist, writer, reenactor and longtime Foundation volunteer, will present “Before Google Maps: Mapping the Illinois Country before 1804.” The presentation will examine maps of the Illinois Country from the era of Père Marquette through the Louisiana Purchase, the cartographers who created them and what these maps reveal about how Ste. Genevieve and the middle Mississippi Valley were understood during the French and Spanish colonial periods.
Together, the five programs demonstrate the many ways Ste. Genevieve’s history is connected to the broader story of the mid-Mississippi Valley—from colonial settlement and trade to transportation, architecture and the development of historic preservation itself.
The 2026 Ste. Genevieve History Conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, September 19, at the American Legion Hall, 2 Park Drive, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. The all-day conference focuses on the history and culture of the mid-Mississippi Valley.
Advance registration is available online through the Foundation for the Restoration of Ste. Genevieve. Register for the 2026 Ste. Genevieve History Conference at https://givebutter.com/fall-history-conference.
The annual History Conference is presented by the Foundation for the Restoration of Ste. Genevieve, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the unique history and cultural heritage of Ste. Genevieve.