History of the West End

History of the West End. . , Beginnings, Prior to European settlement, what is recognized today as St. Louis was home to various Native American people: first a large Mississippian community numbering in the thousands, and later groups that moved in and out of the area such as the dominant Osage, the Missouri, the Illinois, and the Fox. When the French settled along the riverfront in February of 1764 the West End was prairie and forest, reachable from the levee by horse or carriage in a journey taking several hours., As this area shifted from a rural outpost to a thriving residential and commercial neighborhood, the distinct boundaries of what is known as the West End have changed. Today, the West End is bordered by Page Boulevard on the North, Delmar Boulevard on the South, Belt Avenue and Union by way of Maple Avenue on the East, and the City Limits on the West., Early Development, In 1796 the Spanish lieutenant governor of St. Louis granted land under U.S. Survey Number 378 to Madame Marie Louis Chouteau Papin, a descendent of the founding family of St. Louis. Her farm extended from what is now Art Hill to Maple Avenue (one block south of Page), and from Union Blvd. to Hanley Road, in all 2,720 acres., In 1818, Josephine Loisel and her husband Hypolite Papin, the son of Madame Papin, purchased the land. They sold a portion of it in 1829 to Emmanuel de Hodiamont, a former Trappist monk who became wealthy dealing in real estate. Shortly thereafter, De Hodiamont constructed a house that still stands today at 951 Maple, the oldest residence in the West End and the second oldest in the city. It is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places., De Hodiamont gradually sold off parcels of the original 1829 plot. Land speculators Ringrose Watson and James Spillman of Harrodsburgh, Kentucky purchased the last acreage in 1871, anticipating the coming of a railroad in a few years. Along with Mary E. Page and her husband James C. Page, who owned an estate in the West End, Spillman platted this part of U.S. Survey 378 and called it Maryville. , Page was also instrumental in the creation of the West End Narrow Gauge Railroad (a passenger steam locomotive) in 1875 (later called the Hodiamont Streetcar line0 along with Dr. Erastus Wells, who wished to facilitate travel to his West End home from his practice in the city. The creation of the Narrow Gauge enabled the exodus of affluent families to what was considered the suburbs. , Hamilton Rowan Gamble, for whom Hamilton Avenue is named, owned another large portion of Survey 378. Dubbed Rose Hill - for the flower that he carefully cultivated - the Gamble estate covered 400 acres running from present day Union on the East, what later became City Limits on the West, Delmar Boulevard on the South and Martin Luther King Avenue on the North. A prominent attorney, Gamble became state attorney general, a member of the Missouri Supreme Court, and eventually governor of Missouri from 1861 until his untimely death in 1864. While on the Supreme Court, Gamble heard the case of Dred and Harriet Scott (an enslaved couple suing for freedom) and favored granting the Scotts their emancipation. , After Gamble's death, his vast estate was subsequently subdivided into 30 blocks. In 1871 "579 magnificent lots" were being offered for sale in Rose Hill by public auction for suburban residences. The area was attractive to wealthy families anxious to escape the encroachments of commerce and industry in the city; they migrated west to build primary residences or country homes. In 1876, the city annexed the Rose Hill subdivision, with the western boundary becoming City Limits. , Expansion and Growth, The West End developed fairly rapidly, known for large homes and plush estates, alternatives to the soot-infested city. Among the city's elite living here were William Gay, who made his fortune in the dry goods and grocery business; James Clemens, Jr., a wealthy merchant who invested heavily in real estate; insurance magnates Chalmers and Henry Blossom; Norman Colman, the first secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland and an internationally known agronomist; and the descendants of Jean Pierre Cabanne, who amassed the wealth in the fur trade. , Other subdivisions began to appear: Clemens Place in 1885, Hamilton Place and Cabanne subdivision in 1887, Rosedale in 1888, and the Arcade Addition in 1893. The Rose Hill section was later subdivided again to create Chamberlain Park, Horton Place, Amherst Place, and Mount Gamble., The West End's reputation as a fashionable district was enhanced by the coming of the 1904 World's Fair. The luxurious Hamilton Hotel, built in anticipation of the Exposition and located on the Southeast corner of Hamilton and Maple, boasted that its rooftop garden gave a "delightful view" of the fairgrounds. As an added bonus, it advertised that it was only a 10-minute walk from the Fair's main gates. , Exclusive to Inclusive, There were always African Americans living in the West End; but, until the middle of the twentieth century, these men and women generally worked as servants of wealthy families and were not woven into the fabric of community life. As the black population of the city increased, African Americans began to look for housing westward. In the 1950s the destruction of the Mill Creek area (an African American neighborhood within the city of St. Louis) displaced 20,000 black residents and added to the growing need for living space. Barriers to segregation, both physical and psychological, began to fall. By the late 1950s, African Americans were increasingly moving North and West., The first black family to move west of Union Avenue was that of Dr. Charles Herriot, a physician who bought a house at #2 Windermere Place in 1955. The Herriots typified the African American families that set up residence on Windermere: affluent and respected leaders of the community. These included Dr. Jerome Williams, the head of outpatient services at Homer G. Phillips Hospital, Rev. Herman Gore, pastor of Southern Mission Baptist Church, Dr. Bearmanoir Prophete, a physician who was also the Haitan consul in St. Louis, Sidney Redmond, a Harvard trained attorney, Civil Rights activist, and former alderman, and Dr. Paul Williams, a surgeon at Homer G. Phillips Hospital, whose daughter Paulette changed her name to Ntozake Shange and gained fame as the author of For Colored Girls, and Rock and Roll legend Chuck Berry and his wife Themetta., In the 1950s and 1960s, Windermere Place gained national attention as a model of integration. To date, it maintains its diversity., (photo captions:), ·The West End (Survey 378, upper right hand side of map) before streets, highways, parks and Metro is rolling, green fields and winding streams. This early township map shows St. Louis in 1846. Current streets and parks are shown in green. Atlast o fthe County of St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis: (unreadable) Hutawa, 1847., ·West End resident, Hamilton Rowan Gamble, and the chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, heard the case of Dred and Harriet Scott in the Missouri Supreme Court. The landmark case was eventually settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the couple their freedom. Oil on canvas portrait of Dred Scott by Louis Schultze, Louis, 1888. , ·The destruction of the Mill Creek neighborhood - home to thousands, including the likes of famed entertainer, Josephine Baker - caused many families to seek better housing conditions west of the city in neighborhoods like the West End. Sidney Maestre and Mayor Raymond Tucker on rooftop overlooking area of Mill Creek Valley slated for clearance. , ·The former Homer G. Phillips Hospital is now the Homer G. Phillips Senior Apartments and Health Center on Whittier and Kennerly Roads.