Des Peres The population was 8,592 at the 2000 census.
The first inhabitants of Des Peres (French: Des Pères), Missouri were the Cahokia, the Kaskaskia, the Michigamea, the Moingwena, and the Tamaora Native American Tribes. The Osage Tribe was the living in the area around Des Peres. The Osage were members of the Dhegiha Sioux group of tribes. This group also included the Ponca tribe, Quapaw tribe, Kansas tribe, and Omaha tribe.
People of European descent began settling in Des Peres in the 1800´s. By 1850, there were 75,000 people living in St. Louis. Des Peres was mainly settled by German immigrants and southerners from Virginia and the Carolinas who where drawn to the area by the farmland sold off by the United States Government in 80 to 160-acre (0.65 km2) tracts.
Des Peres got its name from River Des Peres whose tributaries, Deer Creek and Two Mile Creek, ran through the town. The name Des Peres is a French term which means "of the Fathers."
In 1834 a small church, The Des Peres Presbyterian Church, now known as St. Paul's Lutheran of Des Peres, was built on Maddoy Road now known as Ballas Road.
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,592 people, 3,004 households, and 2,532 families residing in the city. The population density was 754.0/km² (1,954.3/mi²). There were 3,071 housing units at an average density of 269.5/km² (698.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.55% White, 0.79% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.83% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.83% of the population.
There were 3,004 households out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.2% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.7% were non-families. 13.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 30.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $96,433, and the median income for a family was $106,195. Males had a median income of $79,465 versus $40,563 for females. The per capita income for the city was $40,916. About 0.8% of families and 1.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 0.4% of those age 65 or over.
The public schools serving Des Peres are Parkway School District and Kirkwood R-7 School District. Private schools of Des Peres are St. Clement of Rome School and St. Paul's Lutheran School.
The United States headquarters of Edward Jones Investments and Scottrade are located in Des Peres.
Des Peres maintains six separate parks: Des Peres Park, Harwood Park, Pioneer Park, Sugar Creek Park, the newly opened Phantom Forest and Bittersweet woods.