urbanSTL

I didn't even know this was a thread.

I'm Jason, The Mayor is a SimCity 4 thing for those that don't know. No, I'm not Lyda, as at least one member here once accused lol. Born and bred in St. Louis County, lived in KC for close to 12 years now. Got hooked on St. Louis City by my dad's parents, his dad grew up in Chouteau's Landing by St. Mary's of Victories, and his mom in Dogtown (met on a streetcar) and both were very sure I got the history as I grew up. I love all things St. Louis and have been following STL development pretty much since I left and I do have plans to return soon as my corporate office is located there.

I really got into St. Louis history and architecture when I discovered www.builtstlouis.net (an amazing resource!) and I really started following St. Louis development on NextSTL. But it's really slowed down over there lately (and the comment sections are damn near stltoday-lite) so I decided to finally join up here. Just thought I'd pop in and say how much I love this community. So much great information and knowledge. Everyone is very civil and well spoken. Just an all around great group, even if we sometimes disagree...looking at that Metro City thread . Anyway, appreciate all of you welcoming me to the discussion.

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Mar 13, 2019

Glad to have you here. On all the threads. And I look forward to more about your dad growing up in Chouteau's landing. I didn't realize people had lived there since the nineteenth century! Okay, maybe you're dad is/was rather older than I might have guessed. There were certainly houses there once. But wow, it's been a long time. Anyway . . . welcome! (Even though you've been here a while.)

Thanks! And it was my granddad not my dad. However, my dad was born on the second floor of a corner grocery somewhere in South St. Louis and 2 years later they moved to North County. Anyway, and I don't want to get too far off topic here but I do love telling this story, my grandfather and his other 5 brothers and sisters were born in the city and spent their formative years at the corner of 3rd and Gratiot. The nuns from St. Mary of Victories used to pull my grandpa and his brothers out of bed to serve mass way back in the day. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but eventually the home was demolished and they moved out. Then up at the corner of 4th and Gratiot, my grandfathers grandfather owned a barber shop in the corner building. That building does still survive today and I believe it's some sort of a bar...which is fitting if you knew my family's history . I attached a few pics if you're interested in seeing the building before it was demoed.

Here it is during the construction of the 3rd Street Viaduct, the building is to the right of the entrance to the church. The statute of Mary on the facade is now on a pedestal on the corner of 3rd and Gratiot.


Here's a view looking south down 3rd:


And then this is the old barber shop at 4th and Gratiot (red brick building on the right edge), I actually stood in the middle of 4th Street while grandpa stood on the sidewalk and watched for traffic while I took this one lol:


Anyway that's a brief history of my dad's side of the family's early days in the City. My grandfather passed away last year sadly, but his life and memories will always live on in the City. In fact, to this day, much of the sidewalk around St. Mary's is aggregate material but there is one old concrete square left...and on it you can find my grandpa's initials he scratched in there over 50 years ago.

^ Welcome!  It's great to have you.  And I totally agree with your last statement!