Over the years, Tower Grove South has grown from a prairie to a rich agricultural area to an active business and residential neighborhood. Through these changes, the glue of the neighborhood has been its people and their strong desire to create a great community.
During the nineteenth century, the land in the Tower Grove South area was called Prairie des Noyers. It was a rich agricultural area, divided into long strips called "common fields" and sold to anyone interested in farming the land. The Russell family acquired a significant portion of these common fields to build their family estate, Oak Hill.
Shortly after the Russell family built their estate, they discovered coal in the fields. The Russells realized the economic potential of coal mining as the nearby population of St. Louis City grew. The Parker-Russell Mining Company was formed and employed people in the community as miners.
In 1849, a cholera epidemic decimated the community, effectively closing the mines. Simultaneously the Parker-Russell Mining Company realized that the coal supply was dwindling and they needed to find another way to sustain their business. Oak Hill Fire Brick and Tile Works near the present day Utah Street, made a shift from mining coal to quarrying fire clay. This fire clay was the main component of the bricks that were being made in the area. The brick manufacturing industry in St. Louis helped attract new residents and businesses to the area.
Northward along Morgan Ford (then called Russell Street) were cottages occupied by workers at the plant and at Russell’s coal mines near Arsenal Street. Westward from Morgan Ford to Kingshighway and southward to Gravois, the land remained rural in character, with scattered farm homes and a few large estates. Two other neighborhood landmarks were the old Parker home at 3405 Oak Hill Avenue and the Russell mansion, formerly near Bent Avenue, which was destroyed by fire in 1888.
Artist Charles M. Russell was born in Oak Hill in 1864. He saw how fast St. Louis was changing, he also saw the continuous flow of people from the East. In his early 20s he headed out to record the American west before it vanished. He, like Frederic Remington, was a painter and sculptor and left a wonderful artistic record of the old West. His sculptures and paintings are now part of our American heritage and are in the collections of many museums, including the St. Louis Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institute.
In 1850 there was a significant influx of Germans into the neighborhood and they were quickly being employed as truck drivers and merchants. Churches, schools and other structures were built, turning the formerly agricultural area into a healthy small suburb of the city. In 1876 the city limits of St. Louis were expanded to include Tower Grove South.
The electric trolley line was extended westward so residents could travel down Arsenal to Kingshighway. When this trolley first starting running, the track was nestled in-between farmland. As time passed one and two bedroom brick homes were built. Tower Grove South slowly changed from an agricultural area to a more residential area.
As the homes were being built, the area was also attracting businesses. In the 1920’s, South Grand began to have banks, businesses, bakeries, drug stores and movie theaters. After a serious slump in the 1970s, the South Grand Business District became a destination for new Vietnamese immigrants who moved to the area, and opened new restaurants and shops. The past two decades have seen the additions of coffee houses, specialty shops, beauty boutiques and antique stores to this unique mix.
Today Tower Grove South Neighborhood and its business districts along South Grand and Morgan Ford are diverse, evolving, and thriving.
