CHELTENHAM (41)
Click [ HERE ] for the PDF version.

LOCATION
The Cheltenham neighborhood is defined by Oakland Avenue to the north and Manchester Avenue to the south. Macklind Avenue forms the eastern edge and Hampton Avenue, the western edge.

HISTORY
Cheltenham traces its roots back to 1798. In the 1830s the Sulphur Springs resort was established and the neighborhood was named after the manager’s birthplace. But in the latter half of the century this meaning was lost, as Cheltenham became synonymous with firebrick. This change of direction was greatly due to the extension of Pacific Railroad line to Cheltenham in 1852. Because of the accessible transportation, the availability of high-quality clay, and an immigrant labor force, around a dozen companies eventually joined the community’s earliest and largest manufacturer, Laclede Fire Brick Company, which was established in 1844. In addition to its claim to fire brick fame, the neighborhood was also the leading producer of sewer pipe in the nation by 1889. The community around the industry grew steadily as Irish, Italian, German, and Polish immigrants came to work in the mines and factories.

The community was a center of education long before the Forest Park campus of the St. Louis Community College opened. Near the site of the old Arena was the campus of the Forest Park University from 1891 to 1927. It was founded in 1861 as the Kirkwood Seminary by Anna Sneed Cairns and was the first university in the United States to be chartered solely for women.

CHARACTERISTICS
The majority of Cheltenham’s housing stock is one-story single family homes. The residences are predominantly frame houses with porches overlooking the sidewalks of the neighborhood streets. Many of the houses are built in shotgun style and only a few feet apart from each other. The residences sit comfortably inside a perimeter of industrial, commercial, and retail businesses. The northern edge is Oakland Avenue, which overlooks Interstate 64. The southern edge is bordered by the railroad and is predominantly industrial and commercial. Its western edge is the heavily traveled Hampton Avenue, which is lined with convenience stores, fast food, and other restaurants that cater mostly to those who travel past Cheltenham on their way to Interstate 64 or are en route to nearby South St. Louis neighborhoods.

Cheltenham is a tight-knit community diverse in age. According to the 1990 census, the population was evenly spread throughout all age brackets, with around 120 children among its approximate 600 residents. The community is largely working class, with heavy traces of various ethnicities, including Italian.

INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Forest Park Community College is an anchor not only to the Cheltenham community, but to the entire St. Louis region. Because of its central location off I-64, the college is accessible for most people throughout the region. The college also serves as a performing arts center for the region.

The Humane Society is headquartered on Cheltenham’s eastern edge, Macklind Avenue. The Humane Society was originally founded in 1870 and today houses an adoption center, a veterinary clinic, and an educational center. This institution has served the St. Louis region in its Cheltenham location since it relocated from Cass Avenue in 1958.

The Cheltenham Neighborhood Organization has been active since the mid 1980s. In the eighties, the neighborhood protested proposals to blight the area and more recently raised their concerns over the demolition of the St. Louis Arena. The residents consider their neighborhood an educational center and preferred that the St. Louis landmark be renovated for purposes of a museum or aquarium.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
The demolition of the beloved St. Louis Arena in Winter 1999 was a subject of not only neighborhood concern, but also of regional controversy. Currently the site of the old Arena is being developed for the construction of an office park. Oakland Avenue is already sporting banners for the future office complex, which will carry the “Highlands Park” reminiscent of the historic amusement park, Forest Park Highlands, once located at the neighboring site of the community college.