St. Louis Hills is an exquisite Neighborhood. Through the pages of her new book St. Louis Hills: A Walk through History, NiNi Harris guides visitors and residents through the over century-long evolution of the neighborhood beginning with the origins of Francis Park–the neighborhood’s emerald-like centerpiece. Using both photos and story, St. Louis Hills recalls how developer Cyrus Crane Willmore envisioned a neighborhood that was anchored by great churches, both spiritually and visually.
Use this as your guide through the neighborhood’s streets– lined with beautifully-crafted, charming cottages, handsome Colonial Revival style homes and houses that look like miniature castles or Tudor Estate homes. Flamboyant St. Louis Art Deco apartment buildings punctuate the architectural landscape. At each tour stop you’ll learn about the craftsmen, architects, and builders who created this masterpiece of a neighborhood and how St. Louis artisans redefined the Art Deco Movement (begun in Paris in 1925) with brick, glass-block, terra cotta trim, and art glass windows. This walk through history pictures the generations of builders and neighbors in St. Louis Hills: the craftsmen compelled to build with beauty; the neighborhood boys who fought World War II; Red Schoendienst, Joe Garagiola and Stan Musial who, despite their fame and success as St. Louis Baseball Cardinals, were down-to-earth neighbors; and the current generation of parents pushing baby carriages, power walkers, and people walking their dog friends around Francis Park.
Free, reservations not needed. Books available for purchase.
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Life-Long St. Louis City resident, NiNi Harris has researched and written 18 books on St. Louis history, ethnic groups, and architecture. In her books, she has chronicled the history of the Carondelet and Holly Hills neighborhoods and the remarkable evolution of Downtown St. Louis. She has explored the stories and documented the history of the Polish immigrants to St. Louis, the immigrants who built Bohemian Hill, and the 18th and 19th century history of Black St. Louisans. Harris has been studying and giving walking tours of St. Louis Hills history and architecture for four decades.
