Carondelet Directory 2024

14 2024 | Carondelet Community Directory Continued from page 12 development on Carondelet’s riverfront. Most notable among these early industrialists was James Buchanan Eads, whose shipyards gave the Union naval effort an important boost with the Carondelet class of gunboats, the first ironclad warships built in North America. After peace returned to the United States, this new industrial strength in Carondelet was quickly recognized and coveted by elected officials in both St. Louis and Jefferson City. In 1870, the Missouri legislature redrew the boundaries of the city of St. Louisto include Carondelet. The residents of old Vide Poche had no say in this new arrangement, which prompted city leaders to build Carondelet Park as a sort of peace offering to their new constituents to the south. Now a part of St. Louis proper, Carondelet benefited from a regional surge in economic clout during much of its second century. Irish, Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian immigrants joined the Carondelet melting pot following annexation. And though South Broadway was part of Carondelet’s original 18 th -century street grid, the thoroughfare now enjoyed increased significance as both a commercial district and the main arterial road transporting streetcars and eventually passenger vehicles from downtown to the newly developing southern suburbs. The construction of Highway 55 in 1961, however, dealt Carondelet a significant blow by cutting the neighborhood in two and severely diminishing traffic on South Broadway. Like much of the city of St. Louis from the 1960s on, Carondelet struggled through several decades of population loss and disinvestment. Nevertheless, numerous Carondelet businesses and landmarks survived these challenges and remain community linchpins today. The last public works project of the old city of Carondelet survives today as the South Public Market in the Patch section of the neighborhood. South Public dates to 1870 and is the oldest operating convenience store in St. Louis. Nearby Rathbone Hardware has likewise served Carondelet residents for well over a century and remains a vital hub on South Broadway. Further west, in the section of Carondelet once known as Quality Hill, sits both the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse and the Carondelet Historical Society. The Sisters of St. Joseph have been active since 1836 and represent the oldest religious organization in Carondelet. The Historical Society is housed in the old Des Peres School building, where in 1873 Susan Blow established the first public kindergarten in the United States. These historic community anchors have been joined in recent years by businesses such as RE Source, LLC, housed in the ornate former Hammel Realty office; and the Sinkhole, a music venue occupying a renovated South Broadway storefront. This history of flexibility and resilience in the face of ever-changing political and economic challenges over more than 250 years becomes all the more worth remembering. Prospects Shown here is St. Boniface Catholic Church at 7622 Michigan Ave., in 1893. It was sold in 2005 and became the Ivory Theatre. Continued on page 16