Downtown Directory 2025

16 2025 | Downtown Saint Louis Directory A Look Back… Before the Arch In 1911, Harry Pope left his home in Massachusetts to work at International Shoe Company in downtown St. Louis. While there, he became concerned about the quality of food for workers and eventually ended up running the company dining rooms. In 1933 he opened his first Pope’s Cafeteria at 3538 Washington Avenue. Three years later he opened his second location at 804 Washington Avenue (the view above actually shows the rear entrance of the restaurant on St. Charles Avenue). Pope and his family quickly expanded throughout the city and county, and in 1972 had 29 restaurant locations, including the Becky Thatcher steamboat on the riverfront. The 804 Washington Avenue location closed in 1980 and the last Pope’s location in 1989. At the site now is the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, which was built in 2003. Photo courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society.