Desloge is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri. The population was 5,054 at the 2010 census.HistoryThe city was founded by Firmin V. Desloge II, son of Firmin René Desloge, who migrated from France, settled in Potosi, and began the Desloge Family in America. Firmin V. Desloge II learned about mining from his father and acquired many claims in the area of what is today Desloge and Bonne Terre. A Desloge developed one of his claims just north of Bonne Terre and built a concentrating plant there. After the plant was destroyed by fire in 1883, Desloge explored his properties in the present area of Desloge and consolidated several local mining companies which became known as the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company. In 1887, the land was cleared and company houses for his staff were constructed in an area referred to as "Desloge Town", just west of the present-day railroad tracks. Here, Desloge sank a shaft and built a concentrating plant which began operations in 1892. Desloge Missouri and the regional Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District became one of the principal lead mining centers in the US. In 1929, the family sold the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company to the St. Joe Lead Company.Firmin Desloge II, who died in 1930, willed to his family the original 47acre of the hand-dug pits of the original lead mining operations and the deeply rutted wagon tracks on a property. The family then donated this land for a park, today named Firmin Desloge Park, and dedicated it to the mining families in the area.
