Library of Congress
A detail of Plate 63 from Compton and Dry's "Pictorial St. Louis," 1876
Why is there that huge piece of land right in the middle of the city? That question arose recently regarding the old Shop 'n Save strip mall on Gravois Avenue in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. Surely there must be an intriguing story as to why there was such a large parcel available for the construction of a parking lot ringed by stores. And as usual, looking at old maps, records, photographs, and newspaper articles, both in English and in German, a truly fascinating story emerges going back to the 1860s for the land at the intersection of Gravois and Bamberger avenues.
The first business on the land was Bamberger’s Grove, founded by Phillip Bamberger by 1865, one of many suburban picnic grounds located outside the city that joined places such as Lemp’s Cave or Joseph Schnaider’s Beer Garden. What is now Bamberger Avenue was originally Hunt Avenue, named after the subdivision of land. We can be certain Bamberger’s Grove was in business by July 4, as St. John’s Lutheran Church in Tower Grove South can trace its roots back to a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Lutheran Young People’s Society of St. Louis on that day.
Newspaper advertisements reveal that Bamberger’s Grove seems to have largely served wine, showcasing varietals from the Rhine Valley of Germany, and only limited quantities of beer if at all. During the Christmas holidays, it operated a retail store on Market Street downtown, selling a gallon of wine for $1.50. An article that reads like a modern infomercial in the Daily Missouri Republican from August 7, 1868, describes the refreshments and atmosphere at Bamberger’s Grove.
“A delightful Summer Resort.—In the environs of our city there are not a few pleasant resorts, but to our mind the most agreeable of them is Bamberger’s Grove on the Gravois road, a short distance from Grand avenue. Over a beautiful greensward, decorated by flowers, beautiful forest trees cast their shade. The place is cool, calm and sylvan, and its very aspect refreshes the body and soul. Fine Rhine wines of every variety, creams, soda and other summer refreshments can be procured in a moment through the medium of attentive waiters always on hand. The best order and decorum characterize the place, and, as a spot to visit of a summer evening or whenever one has a spare hour, to taste the sweetness of country air with delightful accessories, it is without an equal in our city suburbs.”
Bamberger’s Grove clearly catered primarily to the German-speaking population in St. Louis, as most articles and advertisements for events appear in German-language newspapers. The Westliche Post article featured a moonlight party with plenty of beer on the night of July 4, 1879. The next year, a German fraternal organization celebrated on June 17 with Bollrath’s Orchestra. Bamberger’s Grove just barely made it onto the edge of Compton and Dry’s 1876 Pictorial St. Louis, and its appearance matches contemporary descriptions. The main house, where food and wine were served, is clearly visible, and other small pavilions can also be spotted among the trees of the grove. Judging from numerous advertisements, the venue was seen as family-friendly, and no reason can be found for why it closed in the late 1880s.
On March 7, 1890, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Adolphus Busch had purchased Bamberger’s Grove for $15,000, which worked out to about $1,150 an acre. The once-popular leisure ground had clearly fallen on hard times, as the article described the wood buildings as “ramshackle” and had been owned by Philadelphia real estate speculator Henry C. Lea. Readers were assured that Mr. Busch had a “surprise in store” in the future for the property.
The surprise turned out to be a “princely donation” to the Roman Catholic Sisters of the Good Shepherd for their new campus, having outgrown their old location further inside the city. As was common at the time, the breezes and country air were believed to help those suffering from various ailments. The Sisters counseled and trained girls and young women of “morally dead or drunk” parents, as well as prostitutes. As can be seen from an early photograph, the Sisters lived in a separate building from their charges according to their order’s constitution, though eventually the buildings were combined together by additions, as shown in a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map with the chapel as the fulcrum of the complex, which was specially designed as a cross, so four different congregations could sit separately but all face the central altar. The Convent sat up front along Gravois. The “Magdalenes” were the reformed prostitutes who lived in the back building and could stay in the complex for as long as they desired.
Photograph by Richard Henry Fuhrmann, courtesy of the Missouri History Museum
House of the Good Shepherd, on the northwest corner of Gravois and Bamberger
A Post-Dispatch article from October 18, 1895, tells the story of one Teresa Ortale who was working at a fruit stand in downtown St. Louis. Wanting to get an education but needing to find a way to attend for free at 14 years old, she went to the House of the Good Shepherd and told the Sisters of the temptations she faced at the fruit stand. The Sisters promptly welcomed her in and enrolled her in school with her father’s permission. Decades later, however, on May 5, 1967, police struggled to detain two 15-year-old girls who had escaped from the House while hundreds of onlookers watched near the Sears on South Grand. One patrolman sprained his ankle in the fracas.
Time was running out for the old buildings on Gravois Avenue, and the Sisters were planning a new complex in North County in 1969, where they remain today. A new $4 million shopping and office complex was announced for the site, though it seems the office component never materialized. Rubble from the old buildings was used as fill behind the new retaining wall along Gustine Avenue, which had been rerouted to the west, demolishing some houses in the process. In July, a reporter gave readers a tour of the beautiful artistry of what was about to be destroyed, describing the terrazzo floors, red and white brickwork, the marble altar in the chapel, and an organ too large to move to a new location. By September 10, 1969, the Post-Dispatch was reporting that most the old convent buildings and grounds had been demolished.
Today, we have asphalt in place of what had been a quiet, peaceful place of rejuvenation on first the edge and then the heart of St. Louis.
