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Name:  Central West End Historic District
District: Certified Local Historic District

History:
The Central West End Historic District is an area of large mansions and fine homes that was first developed during the 1880s for the upper and middle class. Private streets at that time were a popular way to detour the flow of traffic and create park-like streetscapes for the wealthy homeowners. Portland Place and Westmoreland Place were the first streets to privatized. Others, such as Westminster Place, Washington Terrace, Hortense Place, Lenox Place and Kingsbury Place, soon followed. These streets were cordoned off into cul-de-sacs with gate entrances. Deed restrictions imposed regulations such as 25-foot setbacks for new construction and minimum construction costs. Closer to the downtown district, high-rise apartment buildings became popular, and were interspersed with commercial buildings.

In the 20th century, public transportation made the area easily accessible, and middle class families began constructing single family and multi-family houses in more modest styles. Architecture styles in the Central West End include Queen Anne, Georgian, Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival, with varying materials of multi-hued brick, limestone, smooth and rough-cut stone with decorative wood, terra cotta, and copper ornamentation and sculpture. Churches were built in a variety of styles, including Romanesque, Gothic, Italian Renaissance, English Tudor, Classical Revival, Greek Revival.

The neighborhood became a local historic district in 1988.




People
Adler, Dankmar
Bell, Nicholas M.
 Cabanne, John C.
 Chouteau, Pierre Jr.
DeMun, Jules
Forsyth, William
Glasby, William H.
 Leffingwell, Hiram W.
 Lindell, Peter
McPherson, William
Papin, Marie Louise
 Pitzman, Julius
Skinker, Thomas C.
 Taylor, Nathaniel Pendleton

Reference
History of St. Louis Neighborhoods
 St. Louis Landmarks & Historic Districts



Central West End Historic District
Central West End Historic District
Central West End Historic District

 

 

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This site was funded in part by Federal funds administered by the Missouri State Historical Preservation Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.


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