In its early years, the town was primarily a summer resort, but the Great Depression combined with gasoline rationing during World War II reduced the feasibility of summer homes.
A purchase of a 20 × 100 ft (6 by 30 m) lot for $67.50 included a six-month newspaper subscription. Times Beach was founded in 1925 on the flood plain of the Meramec River, southwest of the river, in a promotion by the now-defunct St. In 2001, the EPA removed Times Beach from its Superfund list. Route 66-the famous highway that stretched from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, and passed by the community on its southern end-as well as the history of the Times Beach area. The site of Times Beach now houses a 419-acre (170 ha) state park commemorating U.S. In 1985, the State of Missouri officially disincorporated the city of Times Beach. Once home to more than two thousand people, the town was completely evacuated early in 1983 due to TCDD (a type of dioxin) contamination, formerly the largest civilian exposure to the compound in the history of the United States. Louis County, Missouri, United States, 17 miles (27 km) southwest of St.
