Old North St. Louis
Encyclopedia
Old North St. Louis is a neighborhood just north and very slightly west of the downtown area
of St. Louis
, Missouri
. Known for the landmark Crown Candy Kitchen
, historic 19th century brick
homes, and its award-winning community gardens, Old North St. Louis is home to a diverse and active community. The neighborhood now known as Old North St. Louis was established as the independent village
of North St. Louis in 1816 and was annexed by the City of St. Louis in 1841. After many generations as a very densely populated neighborhood, Old North St. Louis experienced several decades of population losses and deterioration of the community's housing stock. Over the past several years, however, the community has started to experience a dramatic revitalization led by the community-based Old North St. Louis Restoration Group http://www.ONSL.org, a non-profit organization
. ONSLRG pursues a mission of revitalizing the physical and social dimensions of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood in a manner that respects the neighborhood's historic, cultural and urban
character.
Three separate National Register Historic Districts are located within the boundaries of Old North St. Louis. In the portion of the neighborhood north of St. Louis Avenue, dozens of homes have been rehabbed by individuals and families over the past 25 years. Along North Market Street and one block to the south along Monroe Avenue, new homes have been built and large, formerly crumbling historic buildings have been rehabbed as affordable apartments. In this area, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and its development partner, the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA)http://www.rhcda.com, have been coordinating a 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) redevelopment that eventually will include more than 100 new, historically sensitive homes, alongside dozens of rehabilitated historic buildings http://www.crownvillagestl.com/northmarket/. A few blocks to the north, the same partnership of ONSLRG and RHCDA is completing a 27 building, $35 million redevelopment of the former 14th Street pedestrian mall. This project, known as Crown Square, is bringing a mix of commercial and residential uses back to what recently was a large swath of abandoned and deteriorating buildings near the intersection of St. Louis Avenue and N. 14th Street http://www.crownvillagestl.com/crownsquare/.
The neighborhood is also home to several churches, such as Saints Cyril & Methodius Polish National Catholic Church, Fourth Baptist Church, Greater Leonard Missionary Baptist, True Gospel Temple, Revival Center Church of God in Christ, and Parrish Temple CME; and schools, including Ames Visual and Performing Arts magnet school
, and Confluence Academy charter school
; non-profit agencies such as the 100+ year old Grace Hill Settlement House http://www.gracehill.org, The Haven of Grace, the Urban Studio http://www.theurbanstudio.org, Places for People, and Stepping Into the Light; and a variety of businesses, including the 130-year-old Marx Hardware, one of the oldest family-owned hardware stores in the U.S.
Among the neighborhood's landmark structures is the "Mullanphy Emigrant Home" building, constructed in 1867 to provide temporary shelter and supportive services to the thousands of immigrants who settled in St. Louis during the years following the Civil War. In the late 19th/early 20th centuries, part of Old North St. Louis was predominantly Irish in population; that section was known as "Kerry Patch".
Downtown St. Louis
Downtown St. Louis is the central business district of St. Louis, Missouri, the hub of tourism and entertainment, and the anchor of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The downtown is bounded by Cole Street to the north, the river front to the east, Chouteau Avenue to the south, and Jefferson Avenue...
of St. Louis
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...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Known for the landmark Crown Candy Kitchen
Crown Candy Kitchen
Crown Candy Kitchen, is a restaurant located on St. Louis Avenue in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The restaurant was founded in 1913 by two Macedonian immigrants, and is still run by the three grandsons of Harry Karandzieff, Andy, Tommy, and Mike...
, historic 19th century brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
homes, and its award-winning community gardens, Old North St. Louis is home to a diverse and active community. The neighborhood now known as Old North St. Louis was established as the independent village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of North St. Louis in 1816 and was annexed by the City of St. Louis in 1841. After many generations as a very densely populated neighborhood, Old North St. Louis experienced several decades of population losses and deterioration of the community's housing stock. Over the past several years, however, the community has started to experience a dramatic revitalization led by the community-based Old North St. Louis Restoration Group http://www.ONSL.org, a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
. ONSLRG pursues a mission of revitalizing the physical and social dimensions of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood in a manner that respects the neighborhood's historic, cultural and urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
character.
Three separate National Register Historic Districts are located within the boundaries of Old North St. Louis. In the portion of the neighborhood north of St. Louis Avenue, dozens of homes have been rehabbed by individuals and families over the past 25 years. Along North Market Street and one block to the south along Monroe Avenue, new homes have been built and large, formerly crumbling historic buildings have been rehabbed as affordable apartments. In this area, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and its development partner, the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA)http://www.rhcda.com, have been coordinating a 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) redevelopment that eventually will include more than 100 new, historically sensitive homes, alongside dozens of rehabilitated historic buildings http://www.crownvillagestl.com/northmarket/. A few blocks to the north, the same partnership of ONSLRG and RHCDA is completing a 27 building, $35 million redevelopment of the former 14th Street pedestrian mall. This project, known as Crown Square, is bringing a mix of commercial and residential uses back to what recently was a large swath of abandoned and deteriorating buildings near the intersection of St. Louis Avenue and N. 14th Street http://www.crownvillagestl.com/crownsquare/.
The neighborhood is also home to several churches, such as Saints Cyril & Methodius Polish National Catholic Church, Fourth Baptist Church, Greater Leonard Missionary Baptist, True Gospel Temple, Revival Center Church of God in Christ, and Parrish Temple CME; and schools, including Ames Visual and Performing Arts magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
, and Confluence Academy charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
; non-profit agencies such as the 100+ year old Grace Hill Settlement House http://www.gracehill.org, The Haven of Grace, the Urban Studio http://www.theurbanstudio.org, Places for People, and Stepping Into the Light; and a variety of businesses, including the 130-year-old Marx Hardware, one of the oldest family-owned hardware stores in the U.S.
Among the neighborhood's landmark structures is the "Mullanphy Emigrant Home" building, constructed in 1867 to provide temporary shelter and supportive services to the thousands of immigrants who settled in St. Louis during the years following the Civil War. In the late 19th/early 20th centuries, part of Old North St. Louis was predominantly Irish in population; that section was known as "Kerry Patch".