The Victorians of Lafayette Square

Parts of this story: Introduction | Historical beginnings | The Great Cyclone of 1896 | The age of blight | Lafayette Square today | Tour Lafayette Square

Lafayette Square, to the south of downtown St. Louis, began its life as a "public parade ground" in 1836. Dubbed "Grimsley's Folly," it was used for weekly maneuvers by the Union Army's Colonel Thornton Grimsley and his cavalry.

It was not until the late 1870s that Lafayette Square became St. Louis's first suburb. The wealthiest and most notable citizens settled themselves away from the bustle of downtown and into the stately mansions built around the park's perimeter. The development of Lafayette Square into a neighborhood of stature, and a refuge and haven for its important residents, was lead by a group of wealthy visionaries. Their success captured the fancy of all of St. Louis.

On Sundays, citizens of St. Louis made their way to the park by horse drawn carriage from downtown. Orchestra music wafted through the air from the park's bandstand. Visitors strolled on velvet lawns shaded by majestic oak and maple trees. Swans glided on a pristine lake with marvelous fountains that shot clear waters into the air.

Lafayette Park was not only a summertime treat -- it was the place for the fashionable of St. Louis to "see and be seen."

By 1896, the neighborhood's popularity lead to its decline. No longer a secluded and peaceful retreat, the Lafayette Square was abandoned by wealthy and influential residents, who migrated further west to St. Louis's newly fashionable Central West End.

The departure marked the beginning of the Square's first demise and eventual disintegration of its original strategy and direction.