Soulard Assets

Although not located within the geographic boundaries of Soulard, the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion is located in the Soulard Historic District. The mansion, which is open for tours, and adjoining restaurant are well known landmarks.

Paradoxically, the Soulard of 1974 bubbled with assets.

The richness of architectural styles of Soulard buildings was obvious. Although overlapping both ends, Soulard was largely constructed from 1850 to 1890, and the neighborhood boasts overtones of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Romanesque and Queen Anne styles, among others. All of this was brought to a rolling boil by a mixing of styles referred to as "vernacular" architecture. Built of brick, the structures offer extensive wood or tin cornices, plain to fancy stonework, cast iron fences and other architectural condiments, all of interest to the eye, all part of unique and endangered assets.

In addition, there is a range of sizes and shapes of buildings, including multi-family dwellings, storefronts and single-family structures, large and small. There was a size to fit every need.

But the assets didn't stop there. One end of the neighborhood was anchored by the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, a stately Greek Revival home with a columned portico visible from Highway 55. The north end of Soulard was defined by the Soulard Market, complete with a market building design based on the entranceway of the Foundling Hospital in Florence, Italy.

On a Saturday morning the Professor of Funk and the lead drummer of the Lost Children Band provide some lively street theatre in front of the Soulard Market, perceived by many as having the potential to be the greatest asset of the neighborhood.

Between these two points sat the neighborhood, cheek by jowl with the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

If you didn't know where one of these landmarks was, then you knew where the other two were. Knowledge of the location was married to the location itself: Soulard was well-defined by I-55 and South Broadway and was in fact an island, moated on the west by the highway and on the east by the under inhabited Kosciusko Industrial District and the Mississippi River. It was not a pass-through neighborhood.

And Soulard had a pedigree. In 1972 Soulard had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a City of St. Louis Historic District on Nov. 6, 1975, complete with a construction standards code.

Rumors to the contrary, Soulard did not suffer for want of which might be called "blue collar" city services. Trash pickup, fire protection and the spectrum of city services were all available and were of the quality any other St. Louis neighborhood enjoyed. The Third District Police Station was located in Soulard.

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