Southwest Garden, St. Louis

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Southwest Garden
Southwest Gardens.JPG
Southwest Garden Neighborhood sign at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer Avenue, March 2011
STL Neighborhood Map 13.PNG
Location (red) of Southwest Garden within St. Louis
Country United States
State Missouri
City St. Louis
Wards 8, 10, 24
Area
  Total0.86 sq mi (2.2 km2)
Population
 (2020) [1]
  Total5,245
  Density6,100/sq mi (2,400/km2)
ZIP code(s)
Parts of 63110, 63139
Area code(s) 314
Website stlouis-mo.gov

Southwest Garden is a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, located south of The Hill and Forest Park Southeast, west of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, east of Lindenwood Park and Clifton Heights, and north of North Hampton.

Contents

Bisected by Kingshighway Boulevard, one of St. Louis’s major arterial roads, Southwest Garden is named for its proximity to the Botanical Garden. The neighborhood is notable for its architectural heritage, containing two National Historic Landmark Districts:

1920s "American Movements"-style duplexes on Shenandoah Avenue in the Shaw's Garden National Historic Landmark District. Duplexes on Shenandoah Avenue in Southwest Garden, St. Louis.jpg
1920s “American Movements”-style duplexes on Shenandoah Avenue in the Shaw’s Garden National Historic Landmark District.

In addition to the Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, other notable locations within the neighborhood include:

The neighborhood is covered by St. Louis Board of Aldermen wards 8, 10 and 24.

History

Shaw’s Garden

In 1769, Illinois Country French settlers established the first European settlement in modern-day Southwest Garden with the creation of the Prairie des Noyers Commons, a large tract of agricultural land between Grand Avenue and Kingshighway Boulevard. In the 19th century, this communal land on the fringe of a growing St. Louis was gradually sold off to private landowners, including Henry Shaw. Shaw’s holdings came to encompass the modern-day Botanical Garden and most of the land between modern-day Tower Grove Park and Vandeventer Avenue. [2]

Inspired by the gardens of Chatsworth House in England, Shaw created the Missouri Botanical Garden, which opened in 1859, and bequeathed the land for Tower Grove Park to the City of St. Louis in 1868. This spurred the subdivision of several nearby tracts, including Tower Grove Place between Kingshighway and Alfred Avenue in 1870. The “Tower Grove Park Addition” was developed slowly over the following three decades due to poor access to the streetcar system; the nearest line was across Tower Grove Park on Arsenal Street. In 1897, the Missouri Street Railroad Company constructed a new streetcar line to Southampton extending down Vandeventer Avenue and Kingshighway, increasing the viability of residential development in the area. [2]

In the 1910s, under the direction of director George T. Moore and chief landscape architect John Noyes, the Botanical Garden began planning to subdivide its land holdings north and west of its modern boundaries, seeking to establish neighborhoods that would complement the Garden’s aesthetic. The first plat, the “Shaw’s Vandeventer Avenue Addition” north of the Garden (along present-day Interstate 44), was completed in 1916. The Garden generated substantial revenue from selling the land to developers, who constructed a variety of multi-family buildings over the following decade. [2]

The larger trapezoidal tract of land west of the Garden required more substantial planning. Following the subdivision planning principles of renowned landscape architect Henry Wright, Noyes designed a curved street grid that conformed to the tract’s irregular borders. The “Shaw’s Garden Subdivision” was fully developed by third-party builders by the end of the 1920s. [2]

Two private places, Gurney Court and Heger Court, were established by independent developers in the early 1920s along Magnolia Avenue, south of the “Tower Grove Park Addition” and north of Tower Grove Park. These small subdivisions each contain single-family homes centered around a landscaped court. [2]

West of Kingshighway

Southwest Garden west of Kingshighway has a history similar to its neighbor The Hill. After the "Great Fire" of 1848 destroyed large parts of St. Louis, an ordinance banning frame construction put a premium on brick construction. The demand for brick spurred the mining of clay deposits that had been found west of Kingshighway in the 1830s. As the mines attracted immigrant miners, they began to settle nearby areas. [7]

The establishment of St. Aloysius Gonzaga parish in 1892 helped further spur settlement. As a historically German parish, St. Aloysius Gonzaga represented and attracted more Germans. The parish was located at Magnolia and January Avenues. It was razed in 2006. [8]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1990 5,203
2000 5,74810.5%
2010 4,885−15.0%
2020 5,2457.4%
Sources: [9] [10]

In 2020, Southwest Garden’s racial makeup was 73.8% White, 13.1% Black, 0.2% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 6.5% Two or More Races, and 1.8% Some Other Race. 4.5% of the people were of Hispanic or Latino origin. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Botanical Garden</span> Botanical garden in the United States

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind that of the New York Botanical Garden. The Index Herbariorum code assigned to the herbarium is MO and it is used when citing housed specimens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower Grove Park</span> United States historic place

Tower Grove Park is a municipal park in St. Louis, Missouri. Located on the south side of the city, the elongated 289-acre (117 ha) park extends 1.6 miles (2.6 km) from Kingshighway Boulevard east to Grand Boulevard. The park’s predominately residential surroundings include the neighborhoods of Southwest Garden, Shaw, Tower Grove East, and Tower Grove South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Shaw (philanthropist)</span> American philanthropist

Henry Shaw was a businessman, amateur botanist, and slave owner in St. Louis, MO when it was a gateway city to the West. His businesses supplied residents, pioneers and others. Having made his fortune, he was able to retire at age 40, pursue his interest in botany, and used much of his fortune in philanthropy. He is best known as the founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden, but he also donated the land to the city for Tower Grove Park and oversaw its development. He donated funds to several other city institutions as well.

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Southampton is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. Located in the southwestern reaches of the city, its borders are Chippewa Street on the north, Hampton Avenue on the west, Eichelberger Street on the south, and South Kingshighway Boulevard on the east.

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Forest Park Southeast (FPSE) is a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. It is bordered by Interstate 64 (U.S. Route 40) to the north, Vandeventer Avenue to the east, Interstate 44 to the south, and Kingshighway Boulevard and Forest Park to the west. Adjoining neighborhoods include Kings Oak and The Hill to the west, Southwest Garden to the south, Botanical Heights to the southeast, Midtown to the east, and the Central West End to the north.

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References

  1. 2020 Census Neighborhood Results
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Shaw's Garden Historic District" (PDF). Missouri State Parks. 2012-02-12. pp. 174–184. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Reber Place" (PDF). Missouri State Parks. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  4. "St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center". University of Missouri–St. Louis – St. Louis Psychology Internship Consortium. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  5. 1 2 Schremp Hahn, Valerie (2019-04-14). "150 years: From Lunatic Asylum to St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . pp. B1.
  6. "Women in Health Sciences". Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. 2009. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  7. "SWGNA".
  8. http://www.southwestgarden.org/?page_id=6
  9. "Southwest Garden Neighborhood Statistics". St Louis, MO. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  10. "Neighborhood Census Data". City of St. Louis. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  11. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/research/documents/upload/Total-Population-by-Neighborhood-Census-2020-Redistricting-Release-2.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]

38°36′28″N90°16′25″W / 38.6078°N 90.2735°W / 38.6078; -90.2735