Rediscovering JeffVanderLou: A Neighborhood of Strength, History, and Ongoing Advocacy
Recently, I had the opportunity to join a neighborhood bus tour organized by the St. Louis chapter of Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice—a powerful and eye-opening experience that brought us through JeffVanderLou, one of the city’s most historic and resilient communities.
This historic neighborhood, nestled on the north of downtown between the NSA site, the Greater Ville, Hyde Park, Fairground Park neighborhoods, boasts a history of an insular, self-sufficient, safe for playing kids, working-class black community. Grocery stores on every corner, Dunbar and Columbia elementary schools, three high schools: Vashon, Beaumont, and Central, junior college, car repair, funeral home, Carter Carburetor company, Homer G. Philips hospital, industrial companies, two gas stations, Tuckers (the first black department store), along with beautiful red brick homes, 20 small churches, and a few neighborhood parks.
It is neighborhood #59 out of 79 neighborhoods in the city of St. Louis, with a population around 3000 people. It’s heydays were in the decades before 1970. According to one of the guides in our Voices Raised tour, he thought the neighborhood decline started when the Cardinals left Fairground Park and moved to Busch stadium. He told a story of himself as a 9-year-old-kid, when the Cardinals won the playoffs in 1964 – and he and other 9-11 year old kids would park VIP cars for people going to the Sportsman’s Park for the games. When out-of-towners asked why kids were parking cars, they said they were raising money for sports supplies for their school baseball team.
Now there are many vacant properties, and many rundown properties owned by the disreputable “developer” Paul McKee. McGee is 3 years behind on back taxes on properties here, with little consequences, while residents sometimes are cited for property deficiencies? To address problem of speeders in the area, some concrete dividers are in place in some streets. There are 4 senior living apartment buildings, Archway hospital – a small hospital, large Doorways facility, Scott Joplin house. There are a couple gardens developed on vacant properties by neighbors with the help of Seeds St Louis assistance. They were supposed to get ARPA funding, but did not. No tornado damage assistance yet.
Carter Carburetor site is an eyesore, abandoned property. Separately, green space being considered by the PGA for a golf course, without any environmental studies or remediation. The neighborhood is asking for soil tests before PGA starts digging up the 10 acres eyed for the golf course. The land was sold by LRA to the Boys & Girls Club, which bought it for the prospect of spurring development in the area.
The neighborhood has a history of advocacy. 250 acres around NGA site was blighted under “Chapter 99” and neighbors went to Jeff City and have successfully fought to prevent properties from being declared blighted and residents displaced. The neighborhood petitioned against Metrolink as the plan was to tear up streets and locate trains very close to buildings. Right now many streets have concrete barriers limiting traffic to one lane as the walled off space was expected to be approved for the Greenline (express busses) that the neighborhood doesn’t want. The plan would tear up the streets for a subway that would be unused. Existing bus service is fine, according to the church tour guides. Their alderman is little help. They have to invoke sunshine laws to get answers on any questions regarding property issues.
Positive efforts of momentum include advocacy efforts are to acquire more land and make a land trust to build more affordable housing. And the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority bought or is funding a building to be developed into a museum about the Sorority. Columbia Elementary (where SOS member RoseBruce taught in her early professional years) is still thriving and a feeder to Vashon. They are working to open Dunbar elementary again. Beautiful building vandalized – copper pipes and marble removed.
This community caught my interest after hearing about the close, rooted neighborhood where families, churches, schools, and local businesses formed a strong social fabric like the one described in the Children of Mill Creek book, current positive efforts of momentum , and their history of advocacy which is ongoing. One of many rich histories of St. Louis neighborhoods yet to be (broadly) heard!