Laid out in 1816, the town of North St. Louis was first settled by Anglos from Kentucky. By the mid-1850s, when the neighborhood became part of the City of St. Louis, the area was overwhelmingly German-born with a smattering of Irish and a colony of utopian French Icarians.

Today almost moribund, the best known survivor from 14th Street's heyday is the timeless Crown Candy Company located immediately north of a two-block pedestrian mall created in the Model City era.

In retrospect it seems clear that closing the street and demolishing rear buildings for metered parking were unwise. The challenge is what to do now.

One building burnt and another was demolished right before 1992 Preservation Week. Nevertheless, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group continues its hard work to conserve the neighborhood building stock and attract new residents.

A drawing in the group's February 1995 newsletter portrays a scene reminiscent of historic St. Charles where reopening a pedestrian mall to traffic helped turn decay into development. The feature story about North 14th Street, written by LANDMARKS Board member John Bratkowski, along with an editorial about arson by the group's president warrant a call to the Old North St. Louis office (241-5031) to ask for a copy of the newsletter.