The neighborhood is defined by Maple Avenue on the North, Delmar Boulevard on the South, Union Boulevard on the East, and Belt Avenue on the West. Visitation Park is a small neighborhood nestled southeast of the West End neighborhood, just north of DeBaliviere Place.

The area that today makes up the Visitation Park neighborhood remained largely undeveloped landholdings through the first half of the nineteenth century. Jean Pierre Cabanne had a farm just to the east. The area within its present-day boundaries became part of Survey 378, which was the property of Lucien Cabanne, James Clemens Jr. and Emanuel de Hodiamont. By 1875, several large estates with fashionable mansions were located along the west side of Union, north of Delmar, including homes of the Blossom, Monks, Cabanne, Colman and Gay families. As the century drew to a close, housing construction increased substantially as landholdings were subdivided into smaller residential developments. During the 1890’s and through the World’s Fair years, the area became home to exclusive subdivisions, small private places such as Windemere Place(1895), Beverly Place(1905), and Savoy Court(1909), as well as prominent institutions.

The area particularly became a center for educational institutions. Among these, Visitation Academy was one of the earliest to move to the area. The school was incorporated in 1858 by the Visitation Nuns who had arrived in St.Louis from Kaskaskia following the flood of 1844. In 1892, the school moved from a site on Cass near Twentieth Street to a large French Renaissance style building on a tract at the southeast corner of Cabanne and Belt Avenues. Other educational institutions that followed include:

• Smith Academy(1905), an elite preparatory school for boys and male-counter part to Mary Institute
• Soldan High School, which upon its opening in 1909 was the brightest gem in the city’s public school system
• and St. Philomena’s Technical School(1910), founded as a training school for girls.

Cultural organizations such as the St. Louis Artists Guild(1908) and Young Men’s Hebrew Association(1927) were also drawn to the area.

The years after World War II were a significant period of transition both for the city as a whole and within the small area today known as Visitation Park. Beginning during the 1930’s and continuing through this period, large numbers of African Americans migrated from rural area of the South to St. Louis. In the late 1940’s, the removal of restrictive covenants greatly increased housing options for African Americans. Simultaneously, many white middle-class residents moved out of the City to new homes in the county. These forces resulted in a dramatic transition in the neighborhood in the 1950’s and 1960’s, from predominately white community to a predominately African American community. During these years, the neighborhood was the childhood home of contemporary African American poet, playwright and novelist, Ntzake Shange. In Betsy Brown : A Novel, she deals with the black community in St. Louis during this time and the upheaval caused by court-ordered integration.

Churches and other institutions in the neighborhood responded to these changes in different ways. The Pilgrim Congregational Church, that had existed in the area since the World’s Fair, made a decision in 1953 to remain in the area rather than move west. It became one of the first St. Louis churches to welcome an integrated membership. While some institutions adapted or converted to different uses, many followed residents to their new homes in the county. Of those that moved west, some, such as Visitation Academy, the Y.M.H.A and the St. Louis Artist Guild, are now prominent institutions in the county. When Visitation Academy made a westward move in 1962, the property was sold to the City and became the site of Visitation Park.

In 1955, the West End Community Conference was organized by black and white neighbors to combat problems of blight in the area bounded by Hodiamont, Delmar, Union, Page, and the City limits. At this time, the present-day neighborhood was a smaller area of the West End neighborhood. In 1963, the City declared the 693-acre area of the West End to be blighted and eligible for $30,000,000 in urban renewal funds. One of the last bills of the retiring Alderman C.B. Broussard in early 1975 was to create the Visitation Park Historic District. The area around the park was delineated as a separate entity and thus, establishing the Visitation Park neighborhood.

Today, Visitation Park remains connected but distinct from the West End neighborhood. For its size, one of the smallest of the 79 neighborhoods recognized by CDA, it contains an abundance of architectural, cultural and historic significance. This residential neighborhood is characterized by the beautiful homes that make up several private places. Windermere Place, historically home to many prominent St. Louisans, retains all of its original grandeur. It consists of large turn-of-the-century homes designed in a variety of styles, including both American and European influences. Many of the homes in the neighborhood have been lovingly rehabilitated, earning the area a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Homes vary from the very impressive ones described above to the substantial homes of Beverly Place and more affordable residences south of the park. The area also contains a number of multi-family units and several large apartment buildings. Unfortunately, many of these larger buildings, particularly those north of the park, have fallen into vacancy resulting in some deterioration of the blocks of Cabanne and Vernon Avenues. Nonetheless, although vacant buildings and lots have become significant problem on both blocks, there are still a number of very well-maintained private homes within each.

Residents are active in the preservation and development of the area. Because the neighborhood is such a small area and due to the existence of smaller private places, most residents participate at the level of the block unit. Nevertheless, West End Community Corporation continues to act as an umbrella organization for the area, mediating issues that arise and managing development. The WECC Housing Corporation works to improve the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods by rehabbing homes, assisting residents with home repair through non-repayable grants and maintaining an inventory of area housing. Executive Director, Marie Fowler, has a long history of leadership in the community and was instrumental in the renaming of Visitation Park. In the mid-nineties, the park became known as the Ivory Perry Park, named for the St. Louis civil rights activist. Recently the park underwent several improvements, including demolition of an old recreation center (once the gymnasium of Visitation Academy), the addition of basketball courts and new lighting and re-landscaping.

As was the case in the past, prominent institutions line the main thoroughfares of Delmar and Union and provide the neighborhood with strong cultural and educational anchors.

Both Clark Elementary and Soldan International Studies, a high school that is part of the St. Louis Public School’s magnet program, are located along this stretch of Union. Churches along these boulevards include: Union Avenue Christian Church, Pilgrim Congregational Church, Westminister Presbyterian Church and Parish Temple CME Church. Cabanne Branch Library was the second public library branch to open in the city.

When some of the institutions moved out of the neighborhood, the buildings were transformed into sites for social service providers. When the St. Louis Artist’s Guild moved to Webster Groves in the 1970’s, the building became Dignity House, a U.C.C. sponsored community and cultural-arts center, that provides after-school programs for youth and classes in marshal arts and dance. The former Y.M.H.A was donated to the City for use as a community center. Today, the WECC Community Center is the site of the WECC offices, a recreation center, Better Family Life, Inc as well as other community organizations. The recreation center, which is currently undergoing renovation, contains a swimming pool, basketball courts, a weight room and a new dance studio. In addition to community development, the WECC also has a range of youth and family-oriented programs, such as "Destination Manhood", a mentoring program for young African American males and a summer recreation program. Better Family Life, Inc. is an organization dedicated to the prosperity and growth of the African American family. Its mission is to plan and establish social, cultural, artistic, youth, economic and educational programs which help promote positive and innovative changes within the St. Louis community. The organization offers a variety of programs, including dance, music, mask-making and Kwanzaa celebrations.

In April, 1996, Metropolitan St. Louis Psychiatric Center moved into the area with the completion of a newly constructed facility. This State agency provides acute psychiatric services for the eastern region of the St. Louis metropolitan area. MSPC has become an institutional anchor for the area and brought additional employment opportunities.

Recent construction and improvements in the neighborhood include:

• The construction of Metropolitan St. Louis Psychiatric Center
• Improvements to Ivory Perry Park
• Improvements to the WECC Community Center

A significant ongoing residential development in Visitation Park is Vernon Estates. This project is the work of a private developer, Arthur El-Amin. It will consist of eleven new two-story, single-family, frame homes with brick facades along Vernon Avenue. The project is near halfway towards completion and has already sparked enhancements by homeowners to other existing properties along the block.

Better Family Life, Inc. has plans to build a cultural center and museum in Visitation Park. The new facility will be located at 5300 Cabanne Avenue, near Union, and will be designed to express and display the full, rich and diverse elements of the culture of people of African descent in America. The center will enable the organization to offer programs and services to the entire Metropolitan area. In addition to housing a permanent collection of artifacts, the center and museum will create hosting opportunities for outside programs, cultural and artistic events. Better Family Life, Inc. anticipates completion of the project by the end of 2001 and hopes the project will attract tourists and new investment into North St. Louis and the surrounding region.