Midtown St. Louis
Encyclopedia
Midtown St. Louis is three miles west of the St. Louis, Missouri
riverfront at the crossroads of Grand Boulevard
and Lindell Boulevard. It includes the campus of Saint Louis University
and the Grand Center arts district.
by the National Park Service
, United States Department of the Interior
in 1979.
at 3534 Washington Ave. built during the first phase of Midtown development to flamboyant early Twentieth Century commercial buildings like the Art Deco
Continental-Life Building
, 3615 Olive Street and the "Siamese Byzantine" Fox Theatre
, 527 N. Grand Blvd. Buildings in the district were designed by notable architects including Henry Hobson Richardson
, Eames and Young
, William B. Ittner
, Preston J. Bradshaw
, C. Howard Crane
, Brad Cloepfil
and Tadao Ando
. From a distance the Midtown skyline asserts a strong node like St. Louis's "second downtown". Most of Midtown’s surviving historic structures have been restored and adapted for new uses.
, Powell Symphony Hall
, 718 N. Grand Blvd. is the sumptuous, Neo-classical
acoustically vibrant home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and another is a thriving live performance venue, (the Fox Theatre
). Buildings designed for worship are performing arts centers (Sheldon Concert Hall and the Grandel Theatre). The Continental-Life Building
and the University Club Building that originally housed offices are now apartment buildings. Single family residences have been converted into elegant professional offices (City House in Grand Center, 3534 Washington Ave. and the Lionberger House, 3630 Grandel Square). Former clubhouse buildings serve as art centers: The St. Louis Club Building, 3663 Lindell Blvd., is now the Saint Louis University Museum of Art
and The Knights of Columbus Building, 3547 Olive Street, is the Centene Center for the Arts, housing the St. Louis Arts and Education Council and numerous arts agencies.
, 3716 Washington Ave.) were built and the 1998 Dana Brown Communications Center, home of KETC
, 3655 Olive Street, has become a focal point for public broadcasting and new media.
battle in St. Louis, the Camp Jackson Affair, took place on May 10, 1861 when Union military forces
clashed with civilians after capturing the Confederate Missouri Volunteer Militia
commanded by General Daniel M. Frost
. The Militia had been dispatched to St. Louis by Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson
to seize the St. Louis Arsenal
, and secure 40,000 rifles and muskets for the Confederacy. It camped outside St. Louis at Lindell's Grove which was renamed "Camp Jackson" by the militiamen. The site of Camp Jackson is on the campus of St. Louis University commemorated by a historical marker near the university's Busch Student Center. United States (Union
) Army Captain, later General, Nathaniel Lyon
marched from the Arsenal on the St. Louis riverfront to the rural site of Camp Jackson with a mixed force of 6,000 Regular Army troops and Home Guard volunteers. Frost surrendered to Lyon without a fight. However, after capturing Camp Jackson, Union Forces clashed with civilian bystanders resulting in the deaths of at least 28 people including Captain Constantin Blandowski, the first Union officer killed in the Civil War.
Residential and commercial development of Midtown followed the Civil War as St. Louis expanded west in the 1870s. By the 1920s Midtown was a bustling district akin to New York City’s Times Square
. Midtown deteriorated rapidly after World War II
. However, in the 1970s, Father Paul C. Reinert
, President of Saint Louis University
inspired the urban renewal
effort to rehabilitate the neighborhood and make use of its surviving buildings that continues in the Twenty First Century.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
riverfront at the crossroads of Grand Boulevard
Grand Boulevard (St. Louis)
Grand Boulevard is a major, seven to five lane wide, north-south thoroughfare running through the center of St. Louis, Missouri. Grand runs north through Carondolet Park in the south of St. Louis to the Mississippi River north of McKinley Bridge, about midway between Forest Park and the Mississippi...
and Lindell Boulevard. It includes the campus of Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
and the Grand Center arts district.
Historic status
The Midtown Historic District of St. Louis was placed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, United States Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
in 1979.
Architecture
A remarkable collection of eclectic structures built between 1874 and 1930 range from Midtown's oldest building, a classic Second Empire style townhouseTownhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
at 3534 Washington Ave. built during the first phase of Midtown development to flamboyant early Twentieth Century commercial buildings like the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Continental-Life Building
Continental-Life Building
The Continental-Life Building, also known as the Continental Building, is an Art Deco skyscraper in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, which was completed in 1930. The building is located in Grand Center in St...
, 3615 Olive Street and the "Siamese Byzantine" Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (St. Louis)
The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts center located at 527 N. Grand Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri. Also known as "The Fabulous Fox", it is situated in the arts district of the Grand Center area in Midtown St. Louis, one block north of Saint Louis University...
, 527 N. Grand Blvd. Buildings in the district were designed by notable architects including Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
, Eames and Young
Eames and Young
Eames and Young, American architecture firm based in St. Louis, Missouri, active nationally, and responsible for several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.- History :...
, William B. Ittner
William B. Ittner
William Butts Ittner was an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. He designed many school buildings in Missouri and other areas, was president of the St...
, Preston J. Bradshaw
Preston J. Bradshaw
Preston J. Bradshaw was one of the most eminent architects of St. Louis, Missouri, during the 1920s. Among his numerous commissions as an architect, he is best known for designing hotels and automobile dealerships in the region...
, C. Howard Crane
C. Howard Crane
Charles Howard Crane was an American architect.Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Crane established a practice in Detroit, Michigan early in the 20th Century. Like Thomas W. Lamb and John Eberson, Crane specialized in the design of movie palaces in North American...
, Brad Cloepfil
Brad Cloepfil
Brad Cloepfil is an American architect, educator and principal of Allied Works Architecture of Portland, Oregon and New York City. His first major project was an adaptive reuse of a Portland warehouse for the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy...
and Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando
is a Japanese architect whose approach to architecture was once categorized by Francesco Dal Co as critical regionalism. Ando has led a storied life, working as a truck driver and boxer prior to settling on the profession of architecture, despite never having taken formal training in the field...
. From a distance the Midtown skyline asserts a strong node like St. Louis's "second downtown". Most of Midtown’s surviving historic structures have been restored and adapted for new uses.
Adaptive reuse of historic structures
A once dilapidated movie palaceMovie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
, Powell Symphony Hall
Powell Symphony Hall
Powell Symphony Hall is the home of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. It was named after Walter S. Powell, a local St. Louis businessman, whose widow donated $1 million towards the purchase and use of this hall by the symphony...
, 718 N. Grand Blvd. is the sumptuous, Neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
acoustically vibrant home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and another is a thriving live performance venue, (the Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (St. Louis)
The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts center located at 527 N. Grand Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri. Also known as "The Fabulous Fox", it is situated in the arts district of the Grand Center area in Midtown St. Louis, one block north of Saint Louis University...
). Buildings designed for worship are performing arts centers (Sheldon Concert Hall and the Grandel Theatre). The Continental-Life Building
Continental-Life Building
The Continental-Life Building, also known as the Continental Building, is an Art Deco skyscraper in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, which was completed in 1930. The building is located in Grand Center in St...
and the University Club Building that originally housed offices are now apartment buildings. Single family residences have been converted into elegant professional offices (City House in Grand Center, 3534 Washington Ave. and the Lionberger House, 3630 Grandel Square). Former clubhouse buildings serve as art centers: The St. Louis Club Building, 3663 Lindell Blvd., is now the Saint Louis University Museum of Art
Saint Louis University Museum of Art
The Saint Louis University Museum of Art is the formal art museum for Saint Louis University. It is located at 3663 Lindell Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri and is also known as O'Donnell Hall.-The building:...
and The Knights of Columbus Building, 3547 Olive Street, is the Centene Center for the Arts, housing the St. Louis Arts and Education Council and numerous arts agencies.
New construction
As Midtown revived, new art museums (Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, 3750 Washington Ave. and the Pulitzer Foundation for the ArtsThe Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri opened in 2001 with a building designed by internationally renowned architect, Tadao Ando. The Pulitzer is located at 3716 Washington Boulevard ....
, 3716 Washington Ave.) were built and the 1998 Dana Brown Communications Center, home of KETC
KETC
KETC is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by St. Louis Regional Public Media, the call letters KETC represent the St. Louis Educational Television Comission, the former name of the organization responsible for bringing public television...
, 3655 Olive Street, has become a focal point for public broadcasting and new media.
History
The only American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battle in St. Louis, the Camp Jackson Affair, took place on May 10, 1861 when Union military forces
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
clashed with civilians after capturing the Confederate Missouri Volunteer Militia
Missouri State Militia (pre-Missouri State Guard)
The Missouri Volunteer Militia was the state militia organization of Missouri prior to the Missouri State Guard in the American Civil War.Prior to the Civil War, Missouri had an informal state militia that could be called up by the governor for emergencies or annual drill "in accordance with the...
commanded by General Daniel M. Frost
Daniel M. Frost
Daniel Marsh Frost was an antebellum officer in the United States Army and then a brigadier general in the Missouri Volunteer Militia and the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
. The Militia had been dispatched to St. Louis by Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson
Claiborne Fox Jackson
Claiborne Fox Jackson was a lawyer, soldier, and Democratic politician from Missouri. He was the 15th Governor of Missouri in 1861, then governor-in-exile for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
to seize the St. Louis Arsenal
St. Louis Arsenal
The St. Louis Arsenal is a large complex of military weapons and ammunition storage buildings owned by the United States Army in St. Louis, Missouri. During the American Civil War, the St...
, and secure 40,000 rifles and muskets for the Confederacy. It camped outside St. Louis at Lindell's Grove which was renamed "Camp Jackson" by the militiamen. The site of Camp Jackson is on the campus of St. Louis University commemorated by a historical marker near the university's Busch Student Center. United States (Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
) Army Captain, later General, Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War and is noted for his actions in the state of Missouri at the beginning of the conflict....
marched from the Arsenal on the St. Louis riverfront to the rural site of Camp Jackson with a mixed force of 6,000 Regular Army troops and Home Guard volunteers. Frost surrendered to Lyon without a fight. However, after capturing Camp Jackson, Union Forces clashed with civilian bystanders resulting in the deaths of at least 28 people including Captain Constantin Blandowski, the first Union officer killed in the Civil War.
Residential and commercial development of Midtown followed the Civil War as St. Louis expanded west in the 1870s. By the 1920s Midtown was a bustling district akin to New York City’s Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
. Midtown deteriorated rapidly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. However, in the 1970s, Father Paul C. Reinert
Paul C. Reinert
Rev. Paul Clare Reinert, S.J., was the president of Saint Louis University and a community leader in St. Louis, Missouri....
, President of Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
inspired the urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
effort to rehabilitate the neighborhood and make use of its surviving buildings that continues in the Twenty First Century.
Gallery
See also
- Grand Center
- Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis UniversitySaint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
- Architecture of St. LouisArchitecture of St. LouisThe architecture of St. Louis exhibits a variety of commercial, residential, and monumental architecture. St. Louis is known for the Gateway Arch, the tallest monument constructed in the USA. Architectural influences reflected in the area include French Colonial, German, early American, and modern...
- Neighborhoods of St. LouisNeighborhoods of St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri, is divided into 79 neighborhoods. Census data is collected for each neighborhood, as well as crime data, historic property data, and dining establishment health ratings. National historic neighborhoods are identified by the official neighborhood to which they belong.Also,...