The Ville, St. Louis

Neighborhood of St. Louis in Missouri, United States

The Ville

Neighborhood of St. Louis

The Homer G. Phillips Hospital was built in 1937 to provide medical care to the black residents of a segregated city.[1]

Location (red) of the Ville within St. Louis

Country| United States
State| Missouri
City| St. Louis
Wards| 4
Government

• Aldermen| Samuel L. Moore
Area

• Total| 0.42 sq mi (1.1 km2)
Population

(2020)[2]

• Total| 1,427
• Density| 3,400/sq mi (1,300/km2)
ZIP code(s)|

Part of 63113

Area code(s)| 314
Website| stlouis-mo.gov

The Ville is a historic African-American neighborhood with many African-American businesses located in North St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.. This neighborhood is a forty-two-square-block bounded by St. Louis Avenue on the north, Martin Luther King Drive on the south, Sarah on the east and Taylor on the west.[3] From 1911 to 1950, The Ville was the center of African American culture within the city of St. Louis.[3]

## History[edit]

### Early history[edit]

After St. Louis was founded in 1764, the area now known as The Ville was set aside as part of the Grand Prairie Common Fields.[3] At this time period the area was full of farmed land, and the first Black residents arrived at this time as enslaved people by the local farmers in the area.[3] In the early 19th-century the first White settlers arrived in the area, mostly moving from the states of Virginia and Kentucky.[3] Some of the early landowners had recognition in local street names including: Kennerly, Wash (now Whittier), Goode (now Annie Malone Drive), and Taylor.[3] James Kennerly had a large plantation in the area, known as Cote Placquemine (or Persimmon Hill Plantation) near the present intersection of Kennerly and Taylor Avenues; and it was destroyed by fire in 1863.[3]

### 20th-century[edit]

Starting in 1911 the use of restrictive covenants and other legal restrictions prevented African Americans from finding housing in many areas of the city.[3] As a result, the African-American population of St. Louis was concentrated in and around the Ville (short for "The Village").[3] The neighborhood was the site of a number of important cultural institutions for the Black community, including Sumner High School, the first high school for Black students west of the Mississippi River; and Homer G. Phillips Hospital, established in 1937 as one of the few Black teaching hospitals in the United States and the only one in the city to serve Black people.

The Antioch Baptist Church on Market St., whose red brick Gothic-style building was constructed in 1921 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was an important cultural center of the Black community during segregation and beyond.[4]

The history of the neighborhood was reviewed and its surviving historic resources were assessed in a 1998 study,[5] and its extension in 2010.[6]

## About[edit]

As of the 2010 Census, there are 1,868 people living in The Ville and 6,189 people in the surrounding Greater Ville neighborhood.[7]

## Demographics[edit]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1990| 3,061| | —
2000| 2,695| | −12.0%
2010| 1,868| | −30.7%
2020| 1,427| | −23.6%
Sources:[8][9]

In 2020 The Ville's racial makeup was 95.9% Black, 1.7% White, 0.3% American Indian, 1.8% Two or More Races, and 0.4% Some Other Race. 0.3% of the people were of Hispanic or Latino origin.[10]

## Education[edit]

* De La Salle Middle School at St. Matthew's
* Annie Malone's Emerson Therapeutic Academy (located in De La Salle Middle)
* Sumner High School, 4248 Cottage Avenue
* Turner Middle School
* Williams Middle Community Education Center

### Former schools[edit]

* Cote Brilliante Elementary School (closed 2018), 801 North 11th Street[11]
* Marshall School (closed), 4342 Aldine Avenue
* Simmons Colored School (closed, formerly Colored School #8), 4215 Kennerly Avenue[12][13]

## Notable buildings[edit]

* Antioch Baptist Church (built 1921), 4213 North Market Street; NRHP-listed[4]
* Dr. Herman S. Dreer House (built 1930), 4335 Cote Brilliante Avenue; NRHP-listed[14]
* Harris–Stowe State University
* Homer G. Phillips Hospital (active from 1937–1979), 2601 North Whittier Street; NRHP-listed[15]
* Marshall School (built 1918), 4342 Aldine Avenue; NRHP-listed[16]
* St. Louis Colored Orphans Home (built 1922), 2612 Annie Malone Drive; NRHP-listed[17]
* Sumner Stone High School (built 1908), 4248 West Cottage Avenue; NRHP-listed[18]

## Notable people from The Ville[edit]

* Arthur Ashe
* Josephine Baker
* Chuck Berry
* Grace Bumbry
* John Collins-Muhammad
* Julia Davis
* Herman Dreer
* Dick Gregory
* Sonny Liston
* Annie Turnbo Malone
* Vincent Price
* Maxine Waters

## See also[edit]

* Peabody–Darst–Webbe, St. Louis, a neighborhood of another city hospital

## References[edit]

1. ^ Built St. Louis: Homer G. Phillips Hospital
2. ^ 2020 Census Neighborhood Results
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Saunders, John; Josse, Lynn; Toft, Carolyn; Longwisch, Cynthia; Mitchell, Steven E. "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form: The Ville, St. Louis, Missouri MPS" (PDF). Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc., and Historic Preservation Program Division of State Parks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-13.
4. ^ a b Saunders, John; Josse, Lynn; Mitchell, Steven E. National Register of Historic Places Registration: Antioch Baptist Church. National Park Service. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
5. ^ John Saunders; Lynn Josse; Carolyn Toft; Cynthia Longwisch; Steven E. Mitchell (November 1998). National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic and Architectural Resources of The Ville. St. Louis [Independent City]. Missouri. National Park Service.
6. ^ Betsy Bradley; Jan Cameron; Andrea Gagen; Robert Bettis; Kathleen E. Shea; John Saunders; Lynn Josse; Carolyn Toft; Cynthia Longwisch; Stephen E. Mitchell (August 2010). National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic and Architectural Resources of The Ville, St. Louis (lndependent City), Missouri. National Park Service.
7. ^ "Census Results (2010)". City of St. Louis.
8. ^ "The Ville Statistics". St Louis, MO. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
9. ^ "Neighborhood Census Data". City of St. Louis. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
10. ^ "City of St. Louis" (PDF). City of St. Louis.
11. ^ Bernhard, Blythe (2020-02-28). "'Something has to change': Residents invited to discuss St. Louis school closures". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
12. ^ Kukuljan, Steph (2022-12-11). "Apartments proposed at former school in north St. Louis". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
13. ^ "Developer eyes apartment conversion for closed north St. Louis school". KSDK. December 16, 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
14. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Dreer, Dr. Herman S.. House" (PDF). mostateparks.com. 2009.
15. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Homer G. Phillips Hospital" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 1982-09-23.
16. ^ "Marshall School". NPGallery Digital Asset Management System.
17. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: St. Louis Colored Orphans Home" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 29, 2023. With accompanying pictures
18. ^ "Sumner, Charles, High School". NPGallery Digital Asset Management System.

## External links[edit]

* Media related to The Ville, St. Louis at Wikimedia Commons

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Neighborhoods of St. Louis

* Academy
* Baden
* Benton Park
* Benton Park West
* Bevo Mill
* Botanical Heights
* Boulevard Heights
* Carondelet
* Carr Square
* Central West End
* Cheltenham
* Chinatown (defunct since 1966)
* Clayton/Tamm
* Clifton Heights
* College Hill
* Columbus Square
* Compton Heights
* Covenant Blu Grand Center
* DeBaliviere Place
* "Dogtown"
* Downtown
* Downtown West
* Dutchtown
* Ellendale
* Fairground
* Forest Park Southeast
* Fountain Park
* Fox Park
* Franz Park
* Gate District
* Gravois Park
* Greater Ville
* Hamilton Heights
* The Hill
* Hi-Pointe
* Holly Hills
* Hyde Park
* JeffVanderLou
* Kings Oak
* Kingsway East
* Kingsway West
* Kosciusko
* Lafayette Square
* LaSalle Park
* Lewis Place
* Lindenwood Park
* Marine Villa
* Mark Twain
* Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial
* McKinley Heights
* Midtown
* Mill Creek Valley (defunct since 1960s)
* Mount Pleasant
* Near North Riverfront
* Northampton
* North Point
* North Riverfront
* O'Fallon
* Old North St. Louis
* Patch
* Peabody–Darst–Webbe
* Penrose
* Princeton Heights
* Riverview
* Shaw
* Skinker DeBaliviere
* Soulard
* Southampton
* Southwest Garden
* St. Louis Hills
* St. Louis Place
* Tiffany
* Tower Grove East
* Tower Grove South
* Vandeventer
* The Ville
* Visitation Park
* Walnut Park East
* Walnut Park West
* Wells/Goodfellow
* West End
* Wydown/Skinker

38°39′31″N 90°14′22″W﻿ / ﻿38.6587°N 90.2395°W﻿ / 38.6587; -90.2395
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