St. Louis Place Historic District
Architecture, Aristocrats, Enslavers
St. Louis Place Neighborhood
St. Louis PLace Map
The history of the St. Louis Place Neighborhood speaks to the city's unique architectural charm, historic linear park, and strong cultural heritage. Its main street, often referred to as ‘Millionaires’ Row,’ speaks to the proliferation of elite residents who lived on St. Louis Avenue and profited from the dismal, yet lucrative, institution of slavery. The St. Louis Place Neighborhood is generally bordered on the north by Farrar Street, Natural Bridge Avenue, and Palm, on the east, N. Florissant Avenue, Cass Avenue on the south, and N. Jefferson Avenue on the west, with St. Louis Avenue and St. Louis Place Park sitting in the middle. St. Louis Place Park is the first linear park in the city, predating many beloved green spaces including Lafayette Square, Hyde Park, and Tower Grove Park.
In the 1700s and early 1800s, French settlers in St. Louis Place grew wheat and similar crops, using the free labor of enslaved Africans. Something about the period between 1800-1870s. The neighborhood saw its first big wave of development in the 1870s when wealthy German and Irish immigrants seeking homes farther from downtown built large ornate homes with strong architectural features that reflected their ethnic heritage. Improvements continued as Polish and Jewish immigrants arrived. In addition to their architectural contributions, these immigrants established churches, schools, and businesses, and laid the foundation for the neighborhood’s growth. At its peak in the early 20th century, it was a dense residential neighborhood of wealthy self-made businessmen and industrialist families.
The Sheehan family arrived in 1849 and settled around St. Louis Avenue and N. 23rd. Street. Twins, John and Patrick Sheehan made a fortune in the 1860s from stone quarries between St. Louis Avenue and University Street. They donated land for the Most Sacred Heart Catholic Church on the Northeast corner of University and North 25th. It moved several times before settling into the former Reservoir Market on 2516 N. 22nd Street in 1881. In partnership with fellow Irishman John Loler, Sheehan and Loler contractors built some of the more lavish homes in the neighborhood at a time when the neighborhood’s infrastructure was also rapidly improving. A seven-mile Mound City Railway horse car connected weekend sightseers from downtown west to Fairgrounds Park. It also made the commute home from downtown easier for St. Louis Place residents.
John O'Fallon
Clemens Mansion
Historic row houses
In 1850, John O'Fallon, a former military officer turned successful businessman, and other prominent citizens, plotted out the Union Addition to preserve green space for a park. By 1887, the city had drained the reservoir and increased the original two-block area to six, resulting in a fifteen-acre park described in real estate ads and auctions as “prime real estate facing St. Louis Place.” Forty-six parcels donated by O'Fallon were divided into 25-foot plots and sold to new residents. The proceeds were donated to the O'Fallon dispensary to help provide free medical care.
O’Fallon made substantial contributions to the establishment of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the Polytechnic Institute of Washington University. He founded and helped establish railroads, banks, universities, medical schools, and other enterprises. His former North St. Louis estate, Athalone, is currently the home of O'Fallon Park. O'Fallon, Illinois, O’Fallon, Missouri, the former O’Fallon High School, are named for him.
John O'Fallon built his wealth and prominence from the slavery business. He was the largest slaveholder in St. Louis at the time, owned over 77 black people, and actively supported the institution of slavery and white racial dominance. He was a member of the Grand Jury that refused to indict the white men who lynched Francis McIntosh in 1836.
Members of the Blair Family were prominent residents of St. Louis Place. As postmaster general under President Abraham Lincoln, Montgomery Blair influenced the president's decisions on the border states, emancipation, and compensation for loyal slaveholders. The esteemed Blair House in Washington, D.C., the official guest residence for the government, is named in his honor. His father, Francis P. Blair, was a member of President Andrew Jackson’s Kitchen Cabinet.
During the Civil War, he was a brigadier general and a Missouri congressman who diligently worked to prevent Missouri from joining the Confederacy. Post-war, he served in the U.S. Senate. Despite his staunch opposition to slavery and his efforts to maintain the Union, Francis P. Blair believed that Missouri's primary responsibility was to advance the interest of white people and that the resolution of racial injustices against Black people was unachievable. He suggested that a colony be established in South America where free and formerly enslaved Black people could be sent to live. Blair School and Blair Street in St. Louis are named in his honor.
The statue of Friedrich Schiller
St. Liborius Church
By 1868, paved roads replaced carriageways. Natural landscapes, a fountain, extended pedestrian pathways, and a statue of German General Friedrich Schiller were added to Rauschenbach Park (now Rauschenbach Ave. and N. 21st Street). Brothers Francis and Frederick Peters were prominent dry goods merchants. Francis and his son Henry built homes at 2236 and 2232 St. Louis Avenue. In 1880, Colonel Charles G. Stifel, owner of City Brewery, built his mansion at 2013 St. Louis Avenue for $20,000.
The statue of Friedrich Schiller that he donated to St. Louis Place Park was directly across from his mansion, where it stood until 1975. German architect, Charles F. May built his Romanesque mansion at 2002 St. Louis Avenue around 1882 as well as many of the homes that were occupied by working-class residents. He created many of the homes which in 2024 can still be seen in St. Louis Place.
Into the early 20th century, large community gathering spaces started to appear: The Polish Falcon House. The Polish Falcon House was a meeting place and cultural center. The St. Louis region’s all-male, Nest #45, was created on August 15, 1905, under Vincent Imbierowicz, Stan Lewandowski and Gabriel Jegierski. The Polish American Hall at 1940 Cass Avenue opened in 1907 offering calisthenics and marching classes. In 1908, Women's Nest #104 was founded. A year later the men’s and women’s nests merged into Nest #45.
During WW I, as many Nests were dissolved, six St. Louis Falcons continued to pay monthly national dues to sustain their existence. Memberships grew after the War and sports teams competed with other clubs. The women’s gymnastics team won first prize at the Chicago Polish Falcon Alliance National Meet, where over 800 women participated! By 1930 rising support of events at the Falcon House continued, including a two-day festival in 1931. That year, the Falcon house moved to 2013 St. Louis Avenue.
During and after World War II, memberships began to dwindle again as men were drafted. Many people credit the Falcon Nest for early childhood memories, including former Cardinals player Stan Musial who recalls the many summers he spent there participating in gymnastics and baseball! Regular events were held in the Falcon house until 2019, when it was sold to the Roberts Brothers realty group.
Griot Museum of Black History
In 1916, The Archdioceses of St. Louis hired Frein Masonry and Concrete Company to build the Most Sacred Heart School at 2505 St. Louis Avenue. The two-story faced Venetian brick and white stone, building contained eight classrooms and an auditorium. The school closed in 1968, and later under the Johnson Administration’s Model Cities Program, housed the Montgomery-Hyde Park Community Health Center, KBDY community radio station, and a preschool, before being abandoned in the late 1980s.
Since 1997 it has been the home of the City’s first museum of African American history, The Griot Museum of Black History. Price Motor, directly across from The Griot Museum, is the oldest running business in St. Louis Place. Fred Price purchased what was the Northwestern Motor Company in 1927. The parcel included a bowling alley, a gas station, and a car dealership that sold the Challenger 6 Series. Though folks can no longer pump gas, bowl, or buy a car at Price Motors, Fred's grandson, ‘Butch’ Price, continues the family legacy with a reputation of high-quality car repair service one the “old fashioned way”!
St. Liborius Parish Complex
Charles F.May Mansion
Since its establishment in 1850, St. Louis Place Neighborhood has experienced numerous changes. By the 1930s, many of the older businesses in the community had moved or, like Blair School which closed in 1981, have been repurposed into residential housing. Towards the middle of the twentieth century, the German and Irish residents began to leave the neighborhood and move west – a consistent trend throughout the City – paving the way for residents who had been displaced by the failed Pruitt-Igoe and other public housing projects. By 1955, the demographic change in the community was visibly noticeable.
For the past 30 years, St. Louis Place Neighborhood has witnessed a revitalization of St. Louis Avenue and other streets under the watchful eye of several neighborhood organizations and block units. Private owners have rehabbed and are moving into some of the historic homes. New energy efficient in-fill homes have been developed and purchased.
Several cultural institutions have located to St. Louis Avenue, beginning with the Griot Museum of Black History, followed by The George B Vashon Museum and Research Center, Frederick Douglass Museum of African American Vernacular Images, and Rudo’s Art Studio. Interspersed among the iconic architectural structures they provide strong institutional anchors. While population and economic decline, selective land clearance and urban renewal projects - Model Cities, Northside Regeneration, NGA West - continues to empty the neighborhood, sometimes through eminent domain, strong and persistent community activism guided by The St. Louis Place Community Association and other community-driven initiatives, strives to retain and revitalize the neighborhood.
St. Louis Place Park, the remaining built environment, and the street names continue to honor the early European settlers and the history of the people who once called it home. In recognition of its historic contribution to German American life dating back to the 1800s, St. Louis Place Park and several blocks along St. Louis Avenue formed the St. Louis Place Historic District and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.