It’s no secret that St. Louisans like to take a nice, long look back. Old attractions are lamented, as if lost family friends. Traditions are kept close to the heart. And time occasionally feels measured by how many years we’ve moved away from 1904, our local version of the BC/AD calendar delineation.
So it was 55 years after the World’s Fair that a tornado hit a West End neighborhood loosely called Greenwich Corners. Already a home to several well-regarded bohemian taverns, Greenwich was renamed Gaslight Square after the tornado damage was cleaned away and as new night-time operators moved into the spaces left by day-trading neighborhood merchants. The effect of that tornado wasn’t as long-lasting as it might’ve been, as Gaslight burned brightly only until the late ’60s, with the last landmark, O’Connell’s Pub, leaving in 1972.
There’s some information about the Square online, but there’s nothing like thumbing through yellowing, weathered publications of the time. Our daily papers covered the area plenty, but looking at “Near By,” you really get a full sense of the neighborhood and the needs of its residents.
Founded by Mary Lehmann in the late ’50s, “Near By” gave a storefront-level view of what was happening between Kingshighway and Boyle and between Olive and Lindell. And what an interesting time to come into being! The headlines and articles are enough to make the nostalgic cry. Sculpture workshops were held at the Musical Arts Building. Baby teeth were collected for strontium research. The Channel 11 studios in the Chase were under construction. New taverns were cropping up alongside the old standbys, with insurance monies from the tornado serving as a stimulus. And opera festivals were the cultural touchstones that ran over multiple issues.
Some of the topics could be simply cut-and-pasted into today’s civic conversations. Would dead-ending streets cause a drop in crime? What should the role be for the city in development issues? Should zoning laws allow for non-conventional uses of old buildings, like failing hotels? In one prescient piece, this question was considered: Does St. Louis need two newspapers? According to the writer, “the end of the Gutenberg era” was already envisioned—in 1959.
In another debate, residents were asked what improvements they’d like to see for the city. Answers ranged from a return of professional hockey (check) to a new baseball stadium (since checked twice) and a riverfront harbor for pleasure craft owners (hmm). The suggestion of more movie theaters probably wouldn’t fly today, but keeping historic housing intact sounds better today than ever.
“Near By” is a quality read and provides some amazing time traveling opportunities along the way. Thanks to Mary Lehmann for saving and sharing it. The debates in its pages have proved as durable as the paper on which they were printed.
