Soulard: Home to residents of various classes
In 1975 Skip Gatermann and his wife, Darlene, began a 28-year love affair with an 1883 home in the Soulard neighborhood. The brick home, a modified flounder style, was a mess; the neighborhood recently had dodged the wrecking ball that had razed its sister neighborhood, Kosciusko, across South Broadway.
“We just absolutely loved our house,” Skip said. “You can’t buy a house like that anywhere else. It had such charm, such history — it was amazing. It was in deplorable condition. That, in turn, evolved into our love of the neighborhood.”
Gatermann served as the first editor of the Soulard Restoration Group’s (SRG)Soulard Restorationist newspaper.
“For many years my wife and I were involved in the neighborhood itself,” he said. “We directed a lot of our efforts into making sure the neighborhood was a success.”
This historic neighborhood has come a long way from 1947, when it was declared “obsolete” by the City of St. Louis’ comprehensive plan. Today Soulard is home to low-income residents as well as those who pay $300,000 for a home or $1,000 for an apartment. Rental units make up more than 70 percent of the housing.
“There are people who are working minimum-wage jobs, and people who have professional jobs as doctors, lawyers and other professions; it is a very mixed neighborhood,” said Alderman Phyllis Young, D-7th Ward, a former SRG president and 27-year resident of Soulard. “Soulard is like a small town within the city; people pay attention to what goes on around them. The neighborhood comes up with annual goals of what they want to accomplish (such as a citywide tree planting program). There’s a lot of attention paid to the historic standards and how those are implemented so the neighborhood retains the flavor of a historic district.”
Individuals and two organizations regularly promote the neighborhood, which increases its appeal, she said.
“Of course, Mardi Gras is the biggest (event) and Bastille Day is popular as well,” Young said. “On the other hand, there’s a house tour. I think the fact that (Soulard) Market’s there serves as a draw; people have an interest in going to an outdoor market that’s been there for more than 100 years. And I think when they get there, the people on the streets are very friendly to talk to, there’s shops to visit and lots of places to eat, and music. All those things add to the flavor of the neighborhood.”
In the early 1800s, Soulard was home to the French aristocracy as well as an African-American aristocracy. By 1850, it had attracted large numbers of German-Americans and Bohemians, followed by Lebanese, Syrians, Hungarians, Croatians, Italians and Serbians.
Some of the largest industrial plants in the city were located here, including the Welsh Baby Carriage Co., Anheuser-Busch, Nooter Boilers, the Helmbacher Forge and Rolling Mill. The neighborhood also is home to some of the area’s oldest churches, including Trinity Lutheran, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic, and St. Vincent DePaul Catholic.
By the mid-20th century, the neighborhood had fallen on hard times. In the ’50s, the neighborhood was chopped up for the Third Street Expressway (now Interstate 55). However, there was a benefit: the clear definition of boundaries, Young said.
“The boundaries are I-55 and Broadway on the east,” she said. “That defines us as Soulard.”
That Soulard would become one of the city’s most attractive neighborhoods while retaining many of its longtime working-class residents, speaks to hard work and dedication. Two neighborhood organizations — Youth, Education and Health in Soulard (YEHS), founded in 1972, and the SRG, founded in 1974, worked together to establish Soulard as a city historic district in 1975, protecting it from further random demolition.
YEHS has focused on securing and preserving low-income housing and programs. The SRG was founded primarily by sweat-equity newcomers who wanted to preserve, promote and improve the historic neighborhood. Both have been successful.
“I think the reason that Soulard has such great appeal is the neighborhood is basically intact,” Gatermann said. “It didn’t suffer mass demolition like a lot of the inner-city neighborhoods. The streetscapes are almost all intact. I think that is a main drawing card for the neighborhood. Plus the fact that like all the neighborhoods, it’s got a rich and long history.”
Soulard’s YouthBuild St. Louis AmeriCorps, a construction training and alternative education program for high school dropouts sponsored by YEHS, now has a charter school as well, director Joyce Sonn noted.
“It’s not just a yuppie neighborhood, partly because of the affordable housing our organization has been able to create over the years,” Sonn said of YEHS. “We’re targeting our graduates so they can buy the homes they’ve actually rehabbed or built. It’s families and people of all incomes and backgrounds and races. That’s what we wanted ... to not have gentrification exclude people because of their income.”
======================
Fast Facts
Population: 3,187
Total housing units: 2,216
Owner-occupied units: 27.73 percent
Renter-occupied units: 72.27 percent
Percentage of one-person households: 56.55 percent
Percentage of two or more-person households: 43.45 percent
Percentage of
residents ages 25 to 34 years: 31.50 percent
Percentage white: 79.86 percent
Percentage African-American alone: 16.32 percent
Percentage other: 3.83 percent
By Robbi Courtaway
Staff writer
12/31/2004
You can contact Robbi Courtaway at rcourtaway@yourjournal.com.
“We just absolutely loved our house,” Skip said. “You can’t buy a house like that anywhere else. It had such charm, such history — it was amazing. It was in deplorable condition. That, in turn, evolved into our love of the neighborhood.”
Gatermann served as the first editor of the Soulard Restoration Group’s (SRG)Soulard Restorationist newspaper.
“For many years my wife and I were involved in the neighborhood itself,” he said. “We directed a lot of our efforts into making sure the neighborhood was a success.”
This historic neighborhood has come a long way from 1947, when it was declared “obsolete” by the City of St. Louis’ comprehensive plan. Today Soulard is home to low-income residents as well as those who pay $300,000 for a home or $1,000 for an apartment. Rental units make up more than 70 percent of the housing.
“There are people who are working minimum-wage jobs, and people who have professional jobs as doctors, lawyers and other professions; it is a very mixed neighborhood,” said Alderman Phyllis Young, D-7th Ward, a former SRG president and 27-year resident of Soulard. “Soulard is like a small town within the city; people pay attention to what goes on around them. The neighborhood comes up with annual goals of what they want to accomplish (such as a citywide tree planting program). There’s a lot of attention paid to the historic standards and how those are implemented so the neighborhood retains the flavor of a historic district.”
Individuals and two organizations regularly promote the neighborhood, which increases its appeal, she said.
“Of course, Mardi Gras is the biggest (event) and Bastille Day is popular as well,” Young said. “On the other hand, there’s a house tour. I think the fact that (Soulard) Market’s there serves as a draw; people have an interest in going to an outdoor market that’s been there for more than 100 years. And I think when they get there, the people on the streets are very friendly to talk to, there’s shops to visit and lots of places to eat, and music. All those things add to the flavor of the neighborhood.”
In the early 1800s, Soulard was home to the French aristocracy as well as an African-American aristocracy. By 1850, it had attracted large numbers of German-Americans and Bohemians, followed by Lebanese, Syrians, Hungarians, Croatians, Italians and Serbians.
Some of the largest industrial plants in the city were located here, including the Welsh Baby Carriage Co., Anheuser-Busch, Nooter Boilers, the Helmbacher Forge and Rolling Mill. The neighborhood also is home to some of the area’s oldest churches, including Trinity Lutheran, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic, and St. Vincent DePaul Catholic.
By the mid-20th century, the neighborhood had fallen on hard times. In the ’50s, the neighborhood was chopped up for the Third Street Expressway (now Interstate 55). However, there was a benefit: the clear definition of boundaries, Young said.
“The boundaries are I-55 and Broadway on the east,” she said. “That defines us as Soulard.”
That Soulard would become one of the city’s most attractive neighborhoods while retaining many of its longtime working-class residents, speaks to hard work and dedication. Two neighborhood organizations — Youth, Education and Health in Soulard (YEHS), founded in 1972, and the SRG, founded in 1974, worked together to establish Soulard as a city historic district in 1975, protecting it from further random demolition.
YEHS has focused on securing and preserving low-income housing and programs. The SRG was founded primarily by sweat-equity newcomers who wanted to preserve, promote and improve the historic neighborhood. Both have been successful.
“I think the reason that Soulard has such great appeal is the neighborhood is basically intact,” Gatermann said. “It didn’t suffer mass demolition like a lot of the inner-city neighborhoods. The streetscapes are almost all intact. I think that is a main drawing card for the neighborhood. Plus the fact that like all the neighborhoods, it’s got a rich and long history.”
Soulard’s YouthBuild St. Louis AmeriCorps, a construction training and alternative education program for high school dropouts sponsored by YEHS, now has a charter school as well, director Joyce Sonn noted.
“It’s not just a yuppie neighborhood, partly because of the affordable housing our organization has been able to create over the years,” Sonn said of YEHS. “We’re targeting our graduates so they can buy the homes they’ve actually rehabbed or built. It’s families and people of all incomes and backgrounds and races. That’s what we wanted ... to not have gentrification exclude people because of their income.”
======================
Fast Facts
Population: 3,187
Total housing units: 2,216
Owner-occupied units: 27.73 percent
Renter-occupied units: 72.27 percent
Percentage of one-person households: 56.55 percent
Percentage of two or more-person households: 43.45 percent
Percentage of
residents ages 25 to 34 years: 31.50 percent
Percentage white: 79.86 percent
Percentage African-American alone: 16.32 percent
Percentage other: 3.83 percent
By Robbi Courtaway
Staff writer
12/31/2004
You can contact Robbi Courtaway at rcourtaway@yourjournal.com.
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