County of site: Independent City of St. Louis
Location of site: Gravois Ave (N), Jefferson Ave. (W), I-55 (E) & Broadway (S)
Created: Park in 1865, neighborhood in 1866
Listed on NRHP: 1978, revised 1985
"Located on St. Louis' south side, the Benton Park District is a 19th and early 20th century immigrant neighborhood comprising approximately 1668 contributing buildings and 186 non-contributing ones. The majority of structures are residential; in addition,
there are three public schools, four churches and two parochial schools, two brewery complexes and three smaller industrial buildings. The contributing buildings were constructed
between circa 1848 and 1935; except for a small number of early frame one story houses, the buildings are brick, the traditional St. Louis building material. Residential examples predominately are multi-family, constructed as two- to six-bay, one and two
story detached houses and as two- and three-bay, two story attached rows. Two primary commercial strips on Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue have concentrations of buildings combining first story storefronts and second story flats; numerous other mixed-use buildings appear on corners throughout the District. While ornamental detailing and roof forms provide stylistic variations, District buildings are unified by their overall planar
facades, similar cornice lines, materials, color and scale. The District's street plan follows grids laid out at the time the subdivisions were originally platted. Three public parks, Cherokee Park, Carnegie Place and Benton Park (Photo #1) were set aside as open spaces in the 19th century.
"Compared with similar inner city neighborhoods, the Benton Park District has survived with unusually high structural density and little loss of integrity. The vast majority of streetscapes are intact with little demolition, few intrusions and minor alterations to buildings. Where alterations have occurred, they most frequently are replacements to deteriorated elements on rear elevations (Photo #31), cornices (Photos #54, 59, 83), porch
supports (Photos #17, 21), and mansard roofs (Photos ,142, 43). Some storefronts are boarded but the cast iron framing is undisturbed (Photos #63, 54, 88). The houses have been well-maintained and have a high rate of owner-occupancy.
"All non-contributing buildings are designated with an asterisk on the Architectural Survey Map; they include buildings which are less than fifty years old such as numerous one story brick in-fill houses (Photo #2) as well as various other commercial and industrial buildings (Photos #80, right; 103, right. Examples of non-contributing historic buildings which have lost integrity through radical facade alteration are illustrated in Photos ,13, 4, 5.
"All contributing buildings are coded by letter on the Architectural Survey Map under eight classifications (often overlapping) based on style and use. Dates assigned to
various style groups below often overlap as styles changed at different rates. ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Map - Northern Half Map - Southern Half