Description
Two hills in the northeastern part of St. Charles Township, east of St. Charles, at the termination of the bluffs of the Missouri and the Mississippi. The early French settlers so named it for a fancy resemblance to "les mamelles," "the breasts." McDermott says that in the Mississippi Valley French the term "mamelle" was frequently used for hills that possessed a particular grouping and shape. The mamelles in St. Charles County are from 80 to 100 ft. high. The phonetic spelling "Mau Melles" is given in Williams. (Wetmore; COUNTY ATLAS 1875, 12; Williams, N.E. MISSOURI I, 553; McDermott) Harrison, Eugenia L. "Place Names Of Four River Counties In Eastern Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri Columbia, 1943.