Benton Park, St. Louis

Saint Louis
Benton Park is a neighborhood in eastern St. Louis, Missouri, just west of the Soulard neighborhood. The official boundaries of the area are Gravois Avenue on the north, Cherokee Street on the south, I-55 on the east, and Jefferson Avenue on the west. Not to be confused with Benton Place, the first private street in America located in Lafayette Square, home to some of the finest families of St. Louis history.

The area now comprising Benton Park was first used as the City Cemetery. Those buried in the cemetery were relocated in 1865, and the neighborhood was created on June 25, 1866 by city ordinance. The neighborhood was later renamed after Thomas Hart Benton, the first U.S. Senator representing the people of Missouri. As the neighborhood grew, it attracted several breweries due to its location above a system of caves that were ideal for beer storage, or "lagering" in German, as many of the popular German styles require. The most noteworthy of these was the Lemp Brewery, which still stands today, although defunct.