Vandeventer is a near north St. Louis neighborhood bound by Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to the north, Delmar Boulevard to the south, Vandeventer Avenue to the east and Newstead Avenue to the west:
You gotta love that street grid, no? A true rectilinear beauty.
The 2000 census counted 2,209 residents (40% decline from 1990) of whom 97% were black, 1% white. There were 1,183 housing units that were 71% occupied, split 50%/50% owner/renter.
40% loss of residents....wow. That sucks. And it doesn't get much better based on the additional loss of 24% from 2000-2010. Black people are voting with their feet and leaving in droves.
The 2010 Census data showed a drop in total housing units from 1,183 to 959, of which 680 were occupied (71%). It was a brutal 30 years.
But wait, let’s take a look at the 2020 Census:
2,041 total citizens (18% increase)
1,1815 Black (89%) - 11% decrease from 2010
98 white (5%) - 79% increase from 2010
38 Hispanic/Latino - 47% increase from 2010
11 Asian-American - 91% increase from 2010
1,130 total housing units - 15% increase from 2010
966 occupied units - 85% occupancy rate
164 vacant units - 15% vacancy rate
So in summary, Vandeventer over the last 10 years has become more racially diverse, added 171 housing units, had a significant drop in vacancies (likely due to demos outpacing new rehabs/builds) and is finally trending toward something we all want: more people.
From the neighborhood website:
Vandeventer residents strive to improve the area and reverse the current deterioration trend. They participate in various organizations to build a better and stronger community. Some of the organizations are: Citizens for a Better Community, Block Units, Urban League, SLACO, Neighbor to Neighbor, Americorps, Weed 'n Seed, and a Community Council. More resident participation is needed.
I like the honesty about more resident participation being needed.
Here's a snippet from the Wikipedia page:
Founder, Peter Lewis Vandeventer, came to St. Louis in the 1860's. He, along with his brothers, William and Henry Barnum Vandeventer, bought large parcels of land in Missouri for development.
A private place in the neighborhood, Vandeventer Place, was a gated, luxury complex with large mansions and a beautiful fountain as its centerpiece. The fountain and front gates survive in Forest Park.
Peter Lewis Vandeventer and Henry Barnum Vandeventer were Wall Street stock brokers with a firm located at 6 Wall St., New York City. They made their money from selling stocks and took the train west to St. Louis and invested it in land.
Peter Lewis Vandeventer died in 1879, during the development of Vandeventer Place. His Missouri estate was managed by several corrupt lawyers, who stole much of the money from the sale of the lots at Vandeventer Place. His family remained in St. Louis for some time after his death, living at Vandeventer Place in a large mansion.
Another quote from wikipedia on the "obliterated" Vandeventer Place:
Vandeventer Place, opened in 1870 and included a house design by H.H. Richardson. Vandeventer Place has been completely obliterated, with the exception of the east gate, which was removed to Forest Park.
These gates are visible today right by the Jewel Box in Forest Park. They were moved there in 1950. There's a nice write up of the gates at the St. Louis Patina blog:
before (source)
after (source)
And another great picture here:
after (source)
We've picniced here many times over the years, and my kids love climbing all over these gates. I always naively assumed they were relics from the World's Fair and framed some exhibit; they just seem so out of place. I'm glad they were saved because not much else from Vandeventer Place remains.
More on the history of Vandeventer Place:
Although preceded by such havens for abodes of the affluent as Lucas and Grand Prairie Places, the St. Louis private street concept reached its initial grandeur in Vandeventer Place, designed by Julius Pitzman in 1870. It was named for Peter L. Vandeventer, who owned the tract bounded by Grand, Bell, Enright and Vandeventer Avenues, where it was developed. Vandeventer Place was conceived by Charles H. Peck, Napoleon Mulliken and John McCune. It was to be a most fashionable private street with stringent restrictions relating to its occupants and exclusiveness in prohibiting any kind of noxious intrusion. It was administered by an association of all of its property owners, ever alert to maintain the Place's air of genteel elegance.
The first houses to be erected were those of the street's founders in 1871. They were all situated near the Grand Avenue entrance, which was guarded by a huge iron gate. This gate was later replaced by a monumental limestone entrance structure, with a circular pool and a fountain in the nearby central parkway. The eastern one of these entrance porticoes, which were at both ends of the Place, is now located near the Jewel Box in Forest Park.
Vandeventer Place reached the pinnacle of its glory in the 1890's, when it contained the luxurious mansions of the City's wealthiest citizens. Among these were David R. Franci former mayor, governor, and later president of the World's Fair and H. Clay Pierce, an oil magnate whose home was-said to have cost $800,000 in the days of low construction costs.
Architecturally notable was the John R. Lionberger house at 27 Vandeventer Place, designed by the famed Boston architect, Henry H. Richarason, in 1886. The J.G. Chapman residence at Number 46 was the work of the St. Louis firm of Eames and Young in 1892. Its last occupant was John L. Mauran, the well-known St. Louis architect.
By 1910, the noise, smoke and dirt of the City had surrounded Vandeventer Place, which began a valiant ef fort to maintain its high standards . However, it proved to be a losing battle, culminating in surrender in 1947 when the Veterans' Administration acquired the eastern half of the Place as the site for its new hospital. The final blow came when the City acquired the western portion about ten years later as the site for a childrens detention home.
You know, it's easy to wax nostalgic for the days when America was a manufacturing super power, but the city must have been a pretty nasty place due to nearby mining, pollution and coal ash everywhere.
Some postcards from the glory days of Vandeventer Place:
Vandeventer is in a great location just north of the bustling Central West End:
And just west of the all important Covenant Blu/Grand Center with it's arts and theater district:
Sadly, in many ways Vandeventer is the end of the optimism that the central corridor has to offer. Vandeventer today is many years and many dollars away from being a contiguous neighborhood. There are many, many fallow fields where homes and buildings once stood.
Unfortunately, it's a study in slow decay.
Most businesses are long gone as well.
There are some businesses on Delmar, Page and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Here are a few:
Some local fare...who wants to go on a pic-a-nic?
There are quite a few of the former classics still standing in various states of repair that serve as a reminder that this was once a fantastic place.
Now you might look at all the falling structures and abandonment and say well, the former residents and the city gave up on this one. And they clearly have, as there is little evidence of physical property stabilization efforts, investment or otherwise. Heck, 40% of the residents left in a 10 year span from 1990-2000.
There are those with good intentions who are erecting suburban contemporary structures that make absolutely no attempt to fit in with the St. Louis classics and one made Vandeventer great. You could argue this construction is even a setback to progress. Is there no city code to prevent this kind of thing:
There are some more unique looking contemporary homes that exist as well, in fact I haven't seen any like this yet:
Check out the lack of curb cuts on these cooler looking modern homes on Delmar.
And of course strip malls:
This strip mall houses the Greater Ville Preservation Commission, which is located in Vandeventer, go figure.
My favorite building in Vandeventer is the Cole School:
And I love this stretch of buildings on Delmar:
And, probably my favorite home in Vandeventer:
I've noticed in my travels through the city that outside of fast food restaurants and drive through banks, contemporary churches have to be the worst anti-urban structures in North City. I know churches themselves are important to the community, it's the way they are built that is so thoughtless. Massive surface parking lots sometimes fenced in with a small church on a huge expanse of land. These rob the original urban fabric and design of the neighborhood.
Yet, there are other churches in Vandeventer that do indeed fit in with the remaining original fabric of the neighborhood:
The fact remains, Delmar is a psychological, economic and racial dividing line in our city. I'd like to hear all arguments to the contrary, but this just can't be a mistake. It's glaring. The Central West End is arguably St. Louis' premier, swankiest neighborhood, but cross Delmar and head north and you'd think you were in another world.
***In November, 2024 I revisited the neighborhood and the following includes updated commentary and photos.***
Misses On Original Tour
I missed some significant church buildings.
I did not acknowledge the unique West Fairfax Court which was a 1980s infill development that pointed the front doors inward toward a courtyard (West Fairfax) and the backyards facing the street grid. A very rare 80s example in St. Louis.
Also, I should mention that the Stevens Middle Community Center really disrupts the nearly perfect rectilinear street grid with it’s mid-20th Century design and cutting off of C.D. Banks. Stevens Middle School closed in the mid-2000’s reflecting the staggering losses of population in this area.
The closing of this school diverted many students to Cole School, the beauty just south of here. As a result, Cole School is a one of the schools that benefitted from a tax increase for modern updates.
And finally, I did not mention the Hodiamont Tracks alley/street that used to be a passage for the streetcars. It is now a problematic dumping area and has been this way for decades.
Noticeable Changes
The addition of the North Sarah, Finney Place and Vandeventer Place homes have noticeably changed the parts of the neighborhood they are in. Especially closest to Vandeventer, you will notice a stark contrast to the fallow fields and falling structures on the interior of the neighborhood. It looks like a real city with sidewalks, street trees, street lights and a recently revamped, curb bump outs, speed humps, rain swales and an upgraded Turner Park which looks absolutely fantastic. I’m thrilled with the park upgrades, what a difference the new playground equipment, shelter, trash cans, landscaping and picnic table areas made. Bravo!
The homes built over the last decade between Vandeventer, West Belle Place, Whittier and Finney are the best example of infill in the neighborhood. It looks solid and there is plenty of opportunity for more buildouts and there is still a lot of empty space and gaps to fill.
The Vandeventer Place senior apartments are a welcomed addition, but they come across to the neighborhood as a bit of a gated off fortress.
Another huge historic rehab save occurred with the Freedom Place Veteran apartments along Delmar, just west of Vandeventer. You can see it was abandoned and boarded up in the previous visit, great to see the 1920’s beauty saved from the landfill.
That’s where the good news ends. Depending on your perspective a vast amount of historic housing stock has been razed and sent to the landfill. Therefore there are even more vast swaths of nothingness. Fields of weeds are quite prominent and many crumbling buildings remain. Some are the last on a block, others are right next to occupied homes.
Just look at the birdseye view of the entire neighborhood to get a feel for the amount of fallow ground. It is staggering.
Some examples of where urban infill is drastically needed:
Abandoned homes are still everywhere.
Ranken Technical College continues to root down in the neighborhood. Let’s hope they respect the city and the grid and don’t hit us with suburban sprawl designs.
There is an art installation that was installed in 2022 called Rite of Location, described as: “Using brick as a common denominator, Rite of Location references and abstracts the surrounding architectural landscape as sculpture. Traditional brick detailing is employed to create negative and positive space on opposite faces of the piece. The recessed and protruding brick form appears to move through the piece itself, creating a visual imbalance. This visual imbalance is a direct reference to the actual imbalance within the city’s resources marked by the Delmar Divide.”
And you will notice some other new infill aside from the North Sarah homes.
What Are The Future Needs?
The main streets that frame or bisect Vandeventer have seen a rough decade, from the suburban buildings surrounded by fencing on Vandeventer to the continuous cycle of decay on Page and MLK, this needs to be priority number one.
Second, it would be great to see the North Sarah and Finney Homes expand to another phase or two around Turner Park. This is some momentum that needs to continue to keep people feeling hopeful.
And finally, the gorgeous housing stock that survived needs stabilization and investment from two sides: low interest loans for current resident wanting to get windows and a roof…the basics. And, low interest loans and tax breaks on historic rehabs and materials.
The location of Vandeventer is fantastic, and this place is worth the investment. We need to move on from segregation and isolation of poor people in homes that need a lot of attention and money to keep them inhabitable and dignified. We need racial mixing and mixed income residents moving here. It is simple, really. People are very set in their ways in this city, and we need to welcome any good person wanting to invest. and root down here.
Check out these gorgeous homes and classic St. Louis architecture, this place is so worth saving.
We’ve lost a lot in the last decade. We need to stop this now, lest these neighborhoods will loose their look and feel of St.Louis.
