About Soulard
Read this brief historic overview of the neighborhood presented by resident and local historian Jay Gibbs.
About 1840, the growing city of St. Louis reached south into the "Frenchtown" area, a mix of common fields and French-owned farms. With urbanization encroaching, various Frenchtown landowners hired surveyors to stake out streets, alleys and sellable lots, continuing the traditional urban grid. One landowner, Julia Soulard, donated land for, and established a public market in the midst of her newly platted block.
From the 1830s to the 1920s, European immigrants poured into America in successive waves; St. Louis burgeoned. Immigrants constructed Soulard's buildings on European-style narrow lots using Americanized architectural styles including Federal, Italianate and Second Empire, all wrought in ubiquitous red brick. The constantly shifting, diverse population shared the same streets, stores, schools and churches. Following WWII, suburban flight began, then accelerated. Those of means fled crowded old city neighborhoods; by 1970 Soulard was a bona fide slum.
At that nadir, social activists and urban pioneers began Soulard's renaissance by organizing its designation as a Federal and Local Historic District. Rehabbers began saving buildings. By the 1980s the neighborhood stirred back to life. That same decade birthed two major street festivals: Mardi Gras in winter, Bastille Days in summer. Today Soulard is again a thriving neighborhood, still anchored by its namesake farmer's market, still rich in architectural charm, and still socially and economically diverse.
More information and photos of historic Soulard:
Soulard Fruit & Produce, 1700 South Ninth
1896 Cyclone Damage story and photos
