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Name:  Lewis Place Historic District
Address:  Lewis Place at Taylor Avenue
Year:  1890
District: National Register Historic District

History:
Lewis Place, laid out in 1890, was privately owned and developed by the family of William J. Lewis. In 1895, the gateway was designed by Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett. The homes were built between 1890 and 1928. As with many other streets in St. Louis, it was once covered by racially restrictive covenants that barred blacks from residence in the area. In the 1940s, a group of black St. Louisans, led by Robert Witherspoon, decided to fight the Lewis Place Covenant. They persuaded light-skinned blacks to purchase several homes and then transferred the deeds to the actual owners of the property, who voted down the covenant. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 1980.




Reference
Discovering African-American St. Louis

Lewis Place 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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