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Published: 2022-03-29 22:41:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 171; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 1
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Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, March 27, 2022.In 1950–51, the gates that once guarded the east entrance to Vandeventer Place, were relocated to this otherwise empty spot in Forest Park.
Vandeventer Place was once considered the most exclusive address in St. Louis in the late 19th century. Founded in 1870, it was named for Peter L. Vandeventer, a successful Wall Street stockbroker who owned much of the land on which it was built. It was bounded by Grand, Bell, Enright and Vandeventer Avenues. Vandeventer Place was designed by Julius Pitzman.
Eighty-six lots faced a central parkway, and stately houses designed by well-known architects such as Henry H. Richardson and the firm of Eames and Young graced its streets. The gates themselves were not installed until 1894, by which time the dirt and smoke of the surrounding city began to press upon its boundaries, and it began to fall from favor as a fashionable area.
The houses have all been razed and replaced with two of the ugliest buildings in St. Louis. In 1947, the eastern half was razed for the new Veterans Hospital. Not long after that, the City tore down the western end and built a juvenile detention center.