Old Mines Area Historical Society Inc

About Old Mines Area Historical Society

The Old Mines Area Historical Society, Inc. (OMAHS) is a not-for-profit organization founded in the fall of 1977. Its purpose is the preservation and promotion of the cultural and historical heritage of the early French in North America, mainly throughout the Mississippi Valley corridor. Old Mines, Missouri is the first settlement in the state and in 1836 the original land grants claimed by 31 of the early settlers were approved by the U.S. Government and deeded to those families. This grant became known as "The Old Mines Concession." This was the territory awarded to Philip Francois Renault from the French Government, then transferred to Spain, then to France and sold to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1804.  They farmed, mined, raised their families, built a brick church in 1828 which still serves 350 families today. After the Civil War, rich deposits of barite, locally called “tiff” were discovered in Washington County and surface mined for 100 years.  Descendents of these same settlers continue to own some of the land and live there preserving the Missouri French dialect and culture in spite of a changing and growing population.