How well do you know the St. Louis metro region? Take this quiz, highlighting a dozen eye-catching sites, to test your knowledge. Then, after you see how you score (no peeking!), discover more about each of the spots by reading more below.
1. Broadway Oyster Bar Mural
More Info: Broadway Oyster Bar feels like a slice of New Orleans right in the heart of St. Louis. Colorful mosaics, sassy signs, and ink-covered benches complement the Cajun fare and nightly music on the patio. Behind the building, artist Jason Spencer (a.k.a. Killer Napkins) added this vibrant mural in 2017.
2. Hi-Pointe Drive-In’s rocket ship
More Info: Shortly after opening Hi-Pointe Drive-In, owner Mike Johnson shared the story behind the neon rocket ship with SLM: “We were visiting an artist who lived up on the river bluffs and I saw this old spaceship, in three pieces, that was being used as a chicken coop. Apparently it was used in retail displays 40 years ago. I took it to my artist friend Mark Pitliangas, who reassembled it, added neon, and installed it at the drive-in. People drive for hours just to have their picture taken next to it.”
3. Panda Paints Mural
More Info: “Panda Paints: A Bear for Wear” reads the small faded mural at the northeast corner of Sidney and Ohio. The three-story redbrick building, dating to 1892, at one time housed the St. Louis Paint Manufacturing Co., founded in 1933. Perhaps it’s apt, then, that the building is today home to the Koken Art Factory.
4. Pin-Up Bowl Sign
More Info: Delmar Loop developer Joe Edwards opened the Pin-Up Bowl in 2003. The bar and bowling alley’s artistic theme is one of homage to the pin-up models popular during and after World War II. The neon sign above the front door was drawn up by the firm of renowned designer Kiku Obata, who has offices in London and St. Louis.
5. Cherokee Street St. Louis Flag
More info: A boarded-up window at the back of The Whiskey Ring’s building, at Cherokee and Ohio, doubled as the template for a large-format mosaic depicting St. Louis’ flag for artist Derek Parker. “We didn’t know it would be that big,” says Whiskey Ring co-founder John Joern, “but he went all out.” Now the mosaic often inspires visitors to post about the bar on social media.
6. Terra Madonna Sculpture
More Info: Artist Uriel Starbuck refers to the stainless steel sculpture as his magnum opus. He welded it together in hopes of inspiring love and awe for Mother Earth. In 2016, he donated it to Soulard’s Pontiac Square Park. In that spot, Starbuck notes, she gleams in the morning sun and is bathed in children’s laughter from the nearby playground.
7. Bigfoot Monster Truck
More info: America’s first monster truck was Bigfoot: a 4×4 Ford F-250 that mechanic Bob Chandler built in a Hazelwood truck shop in the 1970s. He took it to a cornfield in 1981 to test its ability to roll over and crush other cars—and, indeed, it proved able. A promoter persuaded Chandler to do this stunt in front of audiences. Thus was born America’s love affair with monster trucks. Chandler’s company has created many new iterations, including Bigfoot No. 5, which is on display at B&H Market in Pacific, near the company’s headquarters.
8. St. Charles Waterwheel
More Info: During the Civil War, Union troops occupied what was once St. Charles Woolen Mills. In 1966, the historic building caught fire but was eventually restored and transformed into what would become Trailhead Brewing. In January, it became Schlafly Bankside. A rustic water wheel remains at the north side of the brick building, a reminder of the site’s rich history.
9. Heron Pond Avian Observatory
More Info: It’s no ordinary bird blind. Situated at the Audubon Center at the Riverlands, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the modern structure was designed and built in 2013 by Washington University architecture students. The brown exterior blends into the natural landscape, and a cantilevered side provides an ideal vantage point from which to watch for pelicans, bald eagles, and other migratory birds.
10. Black Madonna Shrine
More Info: In 1927, six Catholic monks emigrated from Poland to the forested hills of Jefferson County south of Pacific. Among them was Bronislaus Luszcz. As a rule, Franciscan missionary brothers are devout, but Luszcz felt an extraordinary love for Jesus’ mother, Mary. He cleared a patch of ground and built a shrine to Our Lady of Częstochowa, known for centuries as the Black Madonna because of her dark-skinned portrait. Luszcz also gathered barite rocks from Missouri’s Lead Belt to cobble together grottos, including one for Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Luszcz was working near it one day in 1960 when he suffered heatstroke. He was able to crawl over to the grotto before taking his dying breath.
11. Venice Café
More Info: The sign above the door reads, “May the God of your Choice Bless you.” A peace sign hangs nearby, above the iconic frog that greets visitors to Jeff Lockheed’s cash-only Benton Park bar. The inimitable atmosphere is a riddle of mosaics, multicolored lights, taxidermy, toys, sculpture, snakes, baubles, and a boat bar. Even the bathroom, known as The Blue Hole, is unforgettable.
12. Bevo Mill
More Info: A century ago, when August A. Busch Sr. was running the brewery, he wanted a place to stop on his long carriage ride back to his mansion at Grant’s Farm. So, in 1917, he built Bevo Mill. It’s known for its iconic windmill, but there’s another interesting architectural feature: the faux stork nest. In Germany, such nests are a sign of good luck. The Busch family has mounted them on other properties, too, including the arched entrance to the Bauernhof courtyard at Grant’s Farm.
