In a move local historians are calling “the most St. Louis County thing ever,” residents of a 14-home subdivision in Winchester voted Tuesday night to secede from the City of Winchester and form their own municipality: New Winchester.
The vote passed unanimously after residents complained that Winchester, a municipality with only 1,939 inhabitants squeezed between Manchester and Ballwin, Mo., no longer reflected the values upon which Winchester was founded nearly a century ago.
“We just don’t recognize Winchester anymore,” said New Winchester Mayor-Elect Steve Patterson, standing beneath a hastily erected city sign made from a recycled Schnucks shopping cart and two campaign yard signs. “Taxes are too high, city hall is too far away, and frankly, we feel ignored by Winchester’s political elite.”
The newly independent municipality occupies approximately 2.7 acres and includes:
- 14 homes
- 23 registered voters
- 31 vehicles in varying states of repair
- One above-ground pool
- And a territorial dispute involving a mailbox cluster near the subdivision entrance.
Residents say the breakaway movement gained momentum after a heated disagreement with Winchester’s City Hall regarding the placement of a neighborhood “Little Free Library”.
“That was our Boston Tea Party,” explained one resident.
Under the proposed city charter, New Winchester will feature:
- One Mayor and a two-member Board of Aldermen
- A Department of Public Works consisting of whoever owns a pickup truck
- A municipal court held every third Thursday in Gary’s garage
- And a comprehensive foreign policy directed at neighboring Winchester.
Officials in Winchester expressed disappointment but acknowledged the secession was consistent with the long-standing St. Louis County tradition of “hyper-local” governance.
The movement has already inspired copycat efforts throughout St. Louis County.
Residents of a condominium complex in Town and Country have reportedly begun exploring independence, while a group of Sunset Hills homeowners announced plans to form the “Sovereign Republic of Four Adjacent Lots”.
At press time, leaders of New Winchester were reportedly considering whether a faction within the city should be allowed to secede and form West New Winchester, citing irreconcilable differences over holiday decoration standards.
