St. Louis Landmarks

Last Updated 10/21/2014

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To return to the "Genealogy in St. Louis" Web Site click here.


In researching a St. Louisian's genealogical past I've found that invariably I link those people to places around the city. So I thought I'd start a list of "famous" St. Louis places and show when they first showed up on the St. Louis scene (and, regrettably, when they ceased to exist (like the St. Louis Arena)). Click on highlighted ones for a photo.

For a great website devoted to St. Louis Architecture I suggest you visit Robert Powers' "Built St. Louis" website at http://www.builtstlouis.net/arch.html

St. Louis Landmark Opened Closed/Razed
Bloody Island 1764 1839
Chouteau's Pond 1765 1851-52
Pierre Laclede/Auguste Chouteau Home 1764 1841
Soulard Market (Building, 1929) 1779-1842
Manuel Lisa "Old Rock House" at Chestnut and Main (aka 1st St.) (now occupied by the stairs on the north side of the Arch) 1818 1939
Pierre Chouteau, Sr., later Vincent Guion Home 1819 razed 1944
Jefferson Barracks 1906
Jefferson Barracks
Jefferson Barracks 1942
Jefferson Barracks convoy
1826-8
Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (aka Old Cathedral)
Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (aka Old Cathedral)
1834
Lafayette Park 1836
Planter's Hotel (second one) (at Fourth and Pine) 1837 1891
McDowell Medical College (9th and Gratiot), later Gratiot Street Prison 1847 1882
City Hospital (original) 1847 ????
Chatillon - de Menil House 1848
Bellefontaine Cemetery 1850
Robert G. Campbell House (1508 Locust Street) 1851
Uhrig's Cave (corner of Washington and Jefferson) 1852 About 1900
Marine Hospital 1855 1945
Minoma Mansion (Northwoods, Missouri) 1856 1960
Calvary Cemetery (from the Henry Clay estate) 1857
Post Office and Custom House (now part of the Jefferson National Memorial Expansion) 1859 1939
Anheuser- Busch Brewery 1860
"Old Courthouse"
1845 - 1862
"Old" Lindell Hotel (Bounded by 6th, Washington Ave., 7th, and Green (now Lucas)) November 25, 1863 (largest hotel in United States) March 30, 1867 (Burned)
Southern Hotel (the first) (Fourth and Walnut) 1866 1877 (Burned to the ground)
Sportsman's Park AKA Busch Stadium (now Herbert Hoover Boy's Club on North Grand Ave.) 1866 1966
Union Market 1866 1925
Christ Church Cathedral (Gothic tower added 1912) 1867 (restored 1961)
Cracker Castle (Chouteau and St. Ange Lane) 1868 May 27, 1896 (destroyed by tornado)
Lemp Mansion 1868
Tower Grove Park (as it appeared during Superintendent James Gurney, Sr. era (1889-1920)
1868-1873
Alexian Brothers Hospital 1870
Four Courts Building (built on the site of Henri Chouteau's mansion (on Clark Street) 1871 1907
St. Louis Mutual Life Ins. Building (6th and Locust) 1871 1985 (now the site St. Louis Centre)
Water Tower (North Grand)(aka White Tower) 1871-3
Des Peres School (now Carondelet Historic Center) 1873
Eads Bridge 1873-4
"New" Lindell Hotel (Bounded by 6th, Washington Ave., 7th, and Green (now Lucas)) - replaced "Old" Lindell Hotel that had burned down in 1867. The Stix, Baer, and Fuller Building stands on this block now. September 28, 1874 Fire in 1885. Razed in ????
Christian Peper Tobacco Co. (now Raeder Place on Laclede's Landing) 1874
Forest Park, Carondelet Park, and O'Fallon Park 1875-76
Merchants' Exchange Building (now Adam's Mark Hotel) 1875 1958
Carondelet Park 1876
Turnverein (North St. Louis Gymnastic Club) 1879
Turnverein (South St. Louis Gymnastic Club) 1881
Museum of Fine Arts (19th and Locust) 1881 razed in 1911
Southern Hotel (the second) (Fourth and Walnut) 1881 1912 (Went out of business), 1933 (razed)
Old Post Office 1884
Exposition Hall (now the site of the St. Louis Public Library) 1884 1906
Missouri Crematory (Arsenal and Sublette) 1888 No longer in use, building still stands in Sublette Park
St. Louis University (founded 1818) 1888
St. Joseph College (Meramec Community College opened on site in 1964) 1888 1959
St. Leo's Catholic Church (23rd and Mullanphy) 1889 1978
Cupples Station ?
Grand Avenue Viaduct 1891 A suspension bridge over Mill Creek Valley on Grand Avenue. Built 1891 by the King Iron Bridge Company. Replaced 1960 as part of an urban renewal project. (Postcard image from Roland Fogt)
Planter House Hotel (third one) (site of Boatmen's Tower) 1891 1976
Wainwright Building 1892
Globe-Democrat Building (6th and Pine) 1892 Ended use in 1945, eventually razed for parking lot.
Union Trust Company Building 1892-3
Chain of Rocks Park (The 29.76 acre park was landscaped about 1910; received its present name in 1929.) 1893
Central High School (1030 N. Grand) 1893 1927 (destroyed by tornado)
Columbian Club, then K of C Hdqtrs, then Auto Club of MO (on Lindell, near Vandeventer) 1894 1975
DeMenil Building (7th and Pine) 1894 1976
Union Station 1894
Cupples Station 1894-1917 currently being rehabbed
Meramec Highlands (resort in Kirkwood) 1895 1912
Bradford-Martin Building (was May Co. from 1904-1913, now 555 Washington) 1896
City Hall 1896
Century Building on 9th Street between Locust and Olive 1896
Title Guaranty Building (aka Lincoln Trust Building) at 7th and Chestnut 1897-9 1983 razed
Chemical Building (Eighth and Olive) 1896
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church 1898
St. Louis Turnverein 1898
Compton Hill Water Tower 1899
St. Anthony's Hospital (Chippewa and Grand) 1900 Closed in 1975, razed shortly thereafter
St. Louis Club 1900 The Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA) originally was built in 1900 as the home of the St. Louis Club at a cost of $320,000. The idea for the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair is said to have surfaced at a dinner at the St. Louis Club, and much of the planning took place there. The building located at 3663 Lindell Blvd. was the center of St. Louis social life and was visited by a number of U.S. presidents, including Presidents Cleveland, McKinley, Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson and Harding. (Postcard image from Roland Fogt)
Ancheutz Mission Inn 1900 Mission Inn located at the intersection of Grand and Magnolia is considered the birthplace of the US Junior Chamber of Commerce or better known as the Jaycees. The restaurant was originally called Ancheutz Mission Inn and was later under the ownership of the Pirone family. One descendent of the later owners, George Pirone, currently lives close by on Botanical Street. It was built shortly after 1900 and was torn down in the late 1930s. it had a large beer garden in back and was said to be a quite popular place in its day. The St. Louis Junior Chamber will soon be celebrating their 100th Anniversary in 2015 and the national organization will celebrate theirs in 2020. From Dave DeLaney (June 2010)
Buder Building 1902 - 1984 The Buder Building, at the northwest corner of 7th and Market, was designed in 1901 by Albert Swasey. Once named the Missouri Pacific Building, it was razed for the Gateway Mall.
University City Hall 1903 extant
Frisco Building (13 story skyscraper at 906 Olive (across from the Old Post Office)) 1903
Jefferson Hotel (city's largest (at the time)- 12 story) at Locust and Tucker 1904
Washington University (present site) 1904-6
STIX BAER & FULLER DEPT. STORE N. side Washington Ave. from Sixth to Seventh Sts.) Architect: Mauran, Russel & Garden. Built on the site of the two previous Lindell Hotels. 1905-7 extant
City Hospital (present structure) 1905 198x (unoccupied)
Century Annex (known as the Syndicate Trust soon after its completion, directly behind the Century Building - see 1896. Syndicate Trust's major tenant was the upscale Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney department store) 1906-7
Wagoner Funeral Home 1906 May be razed in 2000
Wagner Electric Plant 1906 1982
Liederkranz Club
1907 2626 So. Grand (east side of Grand across from Magnolia) (Postcard image from Roland Fogt). Info from JoeAnne Miller: "The Missouri Historical Society has a picture of the "Liederkranz Club" like or similar to the one shown here and also one of the building after it became the "Alhambra Grotto" with the Masonic emblem on the front of the building. The address is shown as 2626 So. Grand. The Liederkranz Club I frequented was in a former residence at 2163 So. Grand (west side of Grand at Flad). I obtained this information from the St. Louis Public Library Research Department."
Forest Park Highlands Amusement Park
Also see Doug Garner's outstanding site by clicking here
pre 1908 July 19, 1963 (burned)
St. Louis Coliseum (SW corner of Washington Blvd. and Jefferson Ave.) 1908 1953
American Theatre 1908 sold in 1953 - eventually razed for parking garage
Bellerive Park 1908
McKinley Bridge 1910 Closed October 30, 2001
Central Public Library 1912
St. Louis Zoo 1912
Majestic Hotel 1914
Municipal Courts Building
Note: Top postcard (1914)with tower and bottom postcard (1915)without tower
Pre 1914
New Cathedral 1908-14
Railway Exchange (city's largest office building) Famous-Barr, 6th and Olive 1914
Missouri Athelic Club 1914
Webster College 1915
Orpheum Theatre (Ninth and St. Charles Streets) 1915
Bevo Mill 1917
Poro College (St. Ferdinand and Billings Aves.) 1917 1965
Statler Hotel (20-story hotel at 822 Washington Ave. Renamed Gateway Hotel in 1966. Comment from Brian Till, (dated 9/15/2008) "Reopened in 2003 as the Renaissance Grand Hotel, with 918 rooms (a few more than the Adam's Mark, in order to the biggest in downtown!). The original lobby and rooftop ballroom were restored to original condition. I'm an architect that spent 5 years on the project; just wanting all the hard work of hundreds to be go noticed!") 1917 Vacant from 1987 (fire) to 2003
American (formerly Orpheum) Theatre 1917
Fontbonne College 1917 (chartered), 1926 (present location)
Arcade/Wright Building 1918
Muny Opera (in Forest Park) 1919
Fur Exchange (now Drury Plaza Hotel) 1919
Lambert Airport 1920
Chase Hotel 1922
CBC High School (Clayton Road) 1922
Civil Courts Building 1923 (funded)
Scottish Rite Cathedral 1924
Loew's State Theatre (715 Washington Ave.) August 21, 1924 August 1977
Union Market (Drury Inn) 1925
Mayfair Hotel 1925
Powell Symphony Hall (St. Louis Theatre) 1925
New Cathedral 1926
Shell Building 1926
Ambassador Theatre 1926 Closed 1970s
Deaconess Hospital (Forest Park Hospital is the former Deaconess Central Hospital; Des Peres Hospital is the former Deaconess West Hospital) 1928
Arena 1929 1999
Park Plaza Hotel 1929
Lennox Hotel (24 story hotel (largest hotel in St. Louis when opened at 827 Washington Ave., adjacent to America's Center. Converted to apartments in 1982. Vacant since about 1992. Reopens in March 2002 as the 165 suite Renaissance St. Louis Suites Hotel. 1929
Continental Building 1929 Apartment/condominums
Fox Theatre 1929
Kiel Auditorium 1932-4
Firmin Desloge Hospital 1933
Casa Loma Ballroom 1935
Oakland Express Highway (precursor to US40/I64) 1936
Jewel Box in Forest Park 1936
Aloe Plaza 1940
Admiral (now permantently moored, called President Casino) 1940 1978 (Ceased cruises)
World War II Street Scene 1941 The people are protesting on 8th & Chestnut because the German consulate was once right across the street from the Wainright building (700 block of Chestnut). (Postcard image from Roland Fogt)
Veterans Bridge (Memorial (MLK) 1950
Northland Shopping Center 1953
Lambert Airport Terminal 1956
Crestwood Shopping Center 1956
Blanchette Memorial Bridge 1958
Mark Twain Espressway (aka I70) 1961
University of Missouri - St. Louis 1963
Gateway Arch 1965
Busch Stadium (second with that name - located downtown) 1966 Razed in 2005
Poplar Street Bridge 1967
500 Broadway Building about 1970
Equitable Building 1971
Mercantile Bank Tower 1976
McDonald's Restaurant on the Riverfront 1980 2000
Metropolitan Square 1985-89
Gateway One Building 1986
America's Center 1991
Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse 2000
Busch Stadium (third with that name - located downtown) 2006
SouthPointe Hospital, formerly Lutheran Medical Center ????
Compton Heights Hospital, formerly Lafayette-Grand Hospital (which was known as Incarnate Word Hospital before Tenet acquired it), and now is Saint Louis University's Salus Center ????
Unknown ????