County of building: Independent City of St. Louis
Location: 3401 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis
Built: 1895
Today: Rent-A-Center occupies the lower floor
"MULTI-ENTRANCE WITH DISPLAY WINDOWS
The Multi-Entrance with Display Windows commercial property sub-type is described in Section F of the Multiple Property Submission "South St. Louis Historic Working- and Middle-Class Streetcar Suburbs." This property sub-type is exhibited in late nineteenth through mid twentieth century architectural styles as documented in the associated historic theme "Architectural Patterns of South ST. Louis Streetcar Suburbs: 1880-1940." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
4555
3401 S.Jefferson Ave. Date of Construction: c. 1895 Integrity: Good to Fair
Property Type: Multi-Entry with Display Window(s)
Style: Second Empire
No. of stories: 2
Foundation: Stone
Walls: Brick
Roof Shape: Mansard
Porch: Stoop
Architect/Builder: Becker, Geo. (1910)" ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Registration Requirements
Because of the variety of architectural treatments and size, the integrity thresholds established for the general property type apply to this sub-type.
7A. NAME OF PROPERTY SUB-TYPE: MULTIPLE ENTRANCE COMMERCIAL BUILDING PROPERTY TYPE
Description
This storefront design features display windows set in a double-wide storefront with multiple stores on the ground level and residential or office space above. Separate entrances provide access to each shop and the second floor spaces
Significance
In addition to the significance documented for the general property type, this sub-type is an important
building for sales and services commercial buildings found along commercial enclaves in streetcar suburbs.
Registration Requirements
Because of the variety of architectural treatments and size, the integrity thresholds established for the general property type apply to this sub-type" ~ NRHP Multiple Property Submission Form
The map of this district
"The Gravois-Jefferson Streetcar Suburb Historic District is located within the boundaries of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. The -715-acre District is a triangular area generally bounded by the intersection of Gravois and South Jefferson Avenues at the north, South Jefferson Avenue and South Broadway Street
(south of Chippewa Street) on the east, Meramec Street on the south, South Grand Boulevard on the west, and Gravois Avenue on the northwest. 1 Gravois Avenue is a major arterial street and historically served as a wagon, streetcar, and vehicular transit corridor. South Jefferson Avenue also was and is a major
transportation corridor. Meramec Street is a major collector street. Mixed commercial, institutional, and residential use along these major city thoroughfares visually and historically defines the survey area. Within the triangle formed by the District's arterial street boundaries, the setting retains its overwhelming
residential land use and its buildings and streetscapes retain a high degree of historic architectural integrity. The building stock contains similar functional and architectural property types associated with the evolution of early working-class housing and related commercial and institutional property types typically found in early working- and middle-class streetcar suburbs in St. Louis. The vast majority of these buildings are one- and two-story brick buildings sited on narrow urban lots arranged in a cohesive
grid system platted in blocks bisected by brick alleys. The uniformity of lot size, sidewalks, alleys, and building set-backs as development evolved southward and the continuous rows of one- and two-story residences that share the same scale, massing, and repetition of architectural styles and ornamentation provide a cohesive character to the District. The retention of the granite curbs and the original brick paving in alleys and on many interior streets further reinforces the District's visual unity. The dense
assembly of red brick buildings with raised limestone foundations, the majority of which were built in a thirty-year time span, further contributes to the integrated nature of the -early streetcar neighborhoods that compose the District.
"There are 4,642 contributing resources in the District dating from circa 1880 to circa 1940. Of these, 629 are contributing ancillary buildings. There are 1,679 non-contributing resources, of which 1,055 are ancillary buildings. There are also 251 vacant lots that are not counted as being contributing or noncontributing. Of the contributing primary resources, over 90 percent are residential buildings, of which 4 percent are single-family residential properties and 96 percent are multi-family residential housing types. Of the contributing resources; more than 7 percent are commercial buildings and 1'percent are cultural and recreation resources. As a group, these contributing resources retain an exceptionally high degree of integrity. The greatest loss of integrity is along the arterial streets of South Jefferson Avenue/South Broadway Street on the east and along Gravois Avenue/South Grand Boulevard on the west.
"The District is part of a larger area in the city's historic South Side, which is generally bounded by Lafayette Avenue on the north, South Broadway Street on the east, Bates Street on the south, and South Grand Boulevard on the west. The land in this general area is rolling karst plains that slope
southwestward to the River Des Peres and west to a ridge along South Grand Boulevard. During the 1960s, federally funded urban renewal programs leveled the neighborhoods on the north edge of Mill Creek Valley near South Jefferson Avenue. The construction of a federal interstate system in the area beginning in the mid-1960s further destroyed historic neighborhoods. Considerable demolition occurred in the construction of what is today Interstate 55 to the east of the District and Interstate 44 to the north of the District. The limited access and elevated right-oi-way of these freeway systems formed artificial boundaries, further severing important physical and synergistic connections between the South Side neighborhoods. Other than the Soulard Neighborhood in the area between Interstate 55 and the Mississippi River, the area that was once the earliest to develop in South St. Louis retains little of its original residential, commercial, and industrial neighborhoods." ~ NRHP Nomination Form