Southwest Garden, St. Louis
Saint Louis
The Southwest Garden District is a Horse head shaped neighborhood between The Hill and Tower Grove Park. It is bordered by Southwest, I-44 and Columbia Ave. to the North, Tower Grove Avenue and Kingshighway to the East, Hampton Avenue to the West and Magnolia, Connecticut and Scanlan Avenue to the South.
Tower Grove Park is adjacent to the area and offers tennis courts, bike paths and sports fields.
Sublette Park is located in the neighborhood at the top of St. Louis Hill (namesake of The Hill) and has a playground, tennis courts and soccer field.
Located at "The Entrance to the Hill," the Southwest Garden District has some of the most notable small shops in the area. These shops include Gringo Jones Imports, The Bug Store, and The Do-nut Shop. Another landmark of the area is the old Southwest Bank, with the gold, rotating eagle that sits atop the time and temperature monitor at the peak of the corner facade of the building.
Southwest Garden is represented by the Aldermen of Wards 8, 10 and 24. History
Southwest Garden west of Kingshighway has a history similar to its more famous 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.[3]
The establishment of St. Aloysius Gonzaga parish in 1892 helped further spur settlement. As a historically German parish, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, helped establish the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood. The parish was located at Magnolia and January Avenues. It was razed in 2006. St. Aloysius Gonzaga served as a counterpoint and rival to the Italian St. Ambrose on The Hill; both parishes being a major factor in the different ethnic makeup of the two neighborhoods.[4]
Southwest Garden east of Kingshighway is on land originally purchased by Henry Shaw in the 1850s.
