History of Lafayette Square in St. Louis(Part 1) | Nathan's Neighborhood History

Explore Lafayette Square in St. Louis through a historical lens as we venture through the side streets with local historian, Nathan Jackson in this multi-part series. Part 1 focusses on the eastern end of the neighborhood and includes wonders such as the Cracker Castle and the oldest Synagogue west of the Mississippi River.
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Chapters:
Intro 0:00
Intro Montage 00:08
1885 Houses 00:42
4th City Subdivision 01:49
3 Story Greek Revival 2:46
Brewery 03:45
Cracker Castle 05:12
Kennett Place 07:10
Middle Class Living 10:19
Dolman Row 11:05
Outro 13:12
Images from MOhistory.org

[@ThisHouse]

Which house is your favorite?

[@crazynamehere6701]

HAS to be the cracker castle!

[@KellyBurnett138]

The dual mansion...never seen anything like it!

[@princesssolace4337]

House of Pain House of the Rising Sun Red House Little House on the Prairy Madhouse Our House Light House

[@princesssolace4337]

White House & 10 Downing Street Houses of the Holy 22 Acacia Aveneu

[@Dalt21]

Wish we had someone like you making videos in Philadelphia. Philly like St. Louis has some of the best architecture in the country. Love hearing the history of these beautiful homes

[@ThisHouse]

Perhaps we will make it out there someday to create a special episode. In many ways, St. Louis and Philadelphia are very similar in their 19th century residential architectural styles. Thank you for watching!

[@Dalt21]

@@ThisHouse that would be amazing! I hope you could do that! You would be able to highlight the 19th century while also being able to see many 18th century structures right within center city. There’s even some 17th century homes in philly, but a tad outside the main city area. Only one structure is inside the main city area, the Gloria dei church, was built between 1698-1700s and located within the “old city” neighborhood area of philly. Thanks again though, love the St Louis videos!

[@ThisHouse]

Thank you for the information! That sounds incredibly fascinating!

[@Dalt21]

@@ThisHouse you got it! Keep up the amazing work my friend 💪🏼

[@cobra5088]

Sounds like a calling for you Dalt21! All it takes is someone who loves their city and neighborhood and a camera. You sound like the person to make it happen. The people of Philadelphia will love you for it.

[@rustynailmendlesohn8710]

That Cracker House was something. That 1896 tornado must have been something to damage it so terribly it had to be torn down. Great vid. Loved it!!!

[@ShyDog827]

So nice that these gems survived ; they add So much beauty and character to the city, and bring pride to everyone living there . No modern construction does this.

[@frankcarey9567]

Well done Nathan, big fan of vids like this. Keep up the great work.

[@ryanhilliard1620]

Loving this channel! St. Louis is a treasure trove of architectural gems. You have endless opportunities for content. Can't wait!😊

[@ThisHouse]

Thanks! We have a lot of really interesting content planned! Can’t wait to share it all soon!

[@JapanSpr94]

Thanks for sharing. Very in-depth look at the neighborhood. I appreciate your love of detail of the homes. I used to own a Second Empire in the eastern part of Lafayette Square. Great neighborhood and great memories.

[@tammybrown4901]

I LOVE MY SAINT LOUIS MISSOURI ARCHITECTURE

[@susprime7018]

Good video, thank you.

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@crazynamehere6701]

i love this neighborhood!

[@davidrosenzweig1380]

i remember when you couldn't walk this neighborhood glad to see it restored

[@ThisHouse]

It really has come such a long way. Thanks for watching!

[@margaretorden7568]

I like how you include photos and maps. What beautiful houses!

[@tammybrown4901]

Just in awe of the many beautiful homes.

[@indiequas]

Very good execution on this one! Nathan has a lot to remember for these videos. I make videos about old cameras and it's really tough to remember all of the fine details

[@johnkennamann1462]

Nathan is a genius.

[@ericmoore571]

St Louis is really beautiful. It reminds me of Savannah Georgia.

[@marygrummer9189]

Fascinating! Being born and raised in St Louis county, these city neighborhoods were like another world to us! Thanks for showing them to me!

[@lisalockettjackson5207]

I loved this video with all of the information and the background music and photography. This video, on a whole, is very well executed and a great commentary for St.Louis.

[@ThisHouse]

Thank you so much!

[@tadabrown9095]

Very nicely narrated. Thank you.

[@workoutmom2b1g]

I appreciate Nathan’s soft spoken pace. Thank you for your content!

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@KellyBurnett138]

These homes are very well taken care of, especially the fact St.Louis gets some serious winter weather...wow! 😍 Excellent research too!! 🤗 very Interesting history...

[@mikekeeler6362]

Some of those homes on Lafayette Square were vacant for a while and some of them were turned into boarding homes then in the early eighties some people started buying them and rehabbing them and returning them to their former glory a lot of them put more money into it and they will get back one lady told me it was a labor of love

[@lynngehringer1073]

Great job explaining the history of Lafayette Square. I'm enjoying this Video so much I feel it would be so fun to go with some friends and have a look for myself seeing close up the beauty of these gems! Thank you for what you do!! Linda from Michigan +

[@laurierardin4438]

Great job thakyou some of the best architecture in the country

[@kathy9399]

Wonderful video! My grandparents owned 1125 Dolman until sometime in the 70's.

[@lj5801]

Actually, Joseph Swan (English) invented the light bulb in 1850. Edison just perfected the filament.

[@kenlodge3399]

Other than Budweiser and the St. Louis Cardinals I never gave St. Louis a second thought. You've made me a believer, almost, knowing the city has some class by taking care of its heritage.

[@ThisHouse]

While the city gets a bad rep sometimes, there really is more good than bad! We're so glad that we could lend you a new perspective!

[@janetcarbone4213]

👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love ur knowledge and the respect I give these wonderful homes!

[@1976mcfarlane]

Great video. I love this stuff

[@patriciasentz4950]

Very cool presentation. Enjoyed it a bunch!!

[@ThisHouse]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jimreilly917]

It’s great that widows walks survive on some of those homes. Very interesting video. Thanks.

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@salavalos]

Great history Nathan! Very fascinating. Do you have walking tours of the neighborhood?

[@dustydruid6670]

I love this look into our local history and architecture! If you ever run out of 19th century stuff to talk about, I'd love to hear about the history and architecture of our south city neighborhoods from the turn of the 20th century

[@ThisHouse]

We are slowly, but surely, working our way down there! Stay Tuned!

[@dustydruid6670]

@@ThisHouse Great!

[@johnreed1268]

Very good post! Well done.

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bigdaddy1363]

Nice presentation.

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you liked it!

[@seanmccluskey1049]

I grew up in this neighborhood all the neighborhoods in that area or even on the other side of 44 the McKinley heights area which was a lower-class area has a lot of beautiful brick architectural designs

[@lynntaylor7513]

Great vid! Thanks!

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you liked it!

[@natesmemes1794]

Great video, very interesting and informative

[@ThisHouse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@5rmorehouse]

Btw, I should have first said, thank you! I love your videos!

[@5rmorehouse]

The image up during the section referring to the Peabody Housing Project is not part of the original project. That section was built within the last 2 to 3 decades. The original "Peabodys" were multi-story towers, at least as I knew them from the '70's on through at least the '90's.

[@jerrytraub8645]

"I welcome you to Crackerbox Palace" (George Harrison)

[@Shahrdad]

I have the original of the Ernst Janssen photo. I wonder if I should give it to the History Museum.

[@ThisHouse]

That’s really amazing! The Missouri History Museum would be a very safe place to preserve it for future generations to enjoy

[@Shahrdad]

@@ThisHouse it’s a photo of Louis Stockstrom and “Earnie” Janssen duck hunting on the Missouri River in St. Charles, sometime in the 1930s. Louis grandson gave me the pic. He remembered Janssen, who was good friends with his grandpa.

[@mikekeeler6362]

Some of those homes in the 70s were turned into boarding houses

[@williamlovely450]

I lived there from 1972 untill 1978 then moved to soulard for ten years the squaere waso the brink of destruction most of what you see now was shells burned by absent t land lards millions have been invested since then

[@princesssolace4337]

a.k.a Castle of Crack Headers