| During the World War I Draft registration, each man of
draft age, not already in the military, had to register at his local
draft board. Based on population, the City of St. Louis had 28 draft
boards and St. Louis County had 3 draft boards. Each man's address
determined at which draft board he registered.
If a man was out-of-town on the day of registration, he went to the
local draft board, wherever he was in the United States, and registered.
His draft registration card was then sent to his draft board as
determined by his permanent residence. Any notations about an
out-of-town registration would appear on the back of the registration
card and can provide further genealogical clues.
Step 1: Find the 1917–1918 Street Address
To search for a St. Louis resident's World War I draft card, locate the
person's address for the 1917-1918 time period. Frequently used
resources that provide 1917-1918 street addresses in the city or county
of St. Louis include: St. Louis City directories (available on microfilm
in film cabinet drawer #6) St. Louis County directories (available on
microfilm in film cabinet drawer #7) 1910 Missouri Soundex and federal
census 1920 Missouri Soundex and federal census
Step 2: Determine the Draft Board
For a COUNTY address:
There is no map showing the boundaries between the three St. Louis
County draft boards, but the diverse location of the three boards makes
it possible to figure which should be checked.
- St. Louis County Draft Board #1 was in Clayton, Mo. (Estimate: Covered
central portion of the county and possibly some towards the northwest
and southwest.)
- St. Louis County Draft Board #2 was in Ferguson, Mo. (Estimate: Covered
north and possibly northwest portion of the county.)
- St. Louis County Draft Board #3 was in Kirkwood, Mo. (Estimate: Covered
south and southwest portion of the county.)
For a CITY address:
Use the
Street Guide to WWI Draft Boards in St. Louis. To use the Street
Guide: Click on the first letter of the street name to go to the streets
beginning with that letter. Scroll down within that letter to find the
exact street name. Check the range of house numbers listed in the second
column. A street could pass through the boundaries of several different
draft boards so if a street has several listings, be sure to choose the
one with the correct range of house numbers. Also, houses on opposite
sides of a street could be in different draft boards because the center
of the street was the dividing line. Record the draft board number from
column 3.
When using the
Street Guide to WWI Draft Boards in St. Louis, please
remember: The street guide has been transcribed (typed exactly from a
photocopy of the original) and therefore includes all the list's errors
and misspellings. Look for a street name under variant spellings as
misspellings have not been corrected; when checking for Utah St., check
also under No. Utah St. and So. Utah St. The original guide states "An *
before the range of house numbers means the street is in two draft
boards." However, the second listing for that range of house numbers is
not always given. Information in italics has been added by a St. Louis
County Library staff member.
Step 3: Select the Microfilm
Choose the microfilm based on the draft board number copied from the
street guide or estimated by the draft board nearest the place of
residence in the county.
Return to main
World War I Draft Registration Cards links.
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