Welcome to the Lafayette Square Historical Archives. Our charter is to collect, curate, and share our history in electronic form. If you’ve got a photo or document you’d like added, please contact archives@lafayettesquare.org. The map pictured above is eastern Lafayette Square, from Compton & Dry’s 1875 Pictorial St. Louis. You can read more about this map’s invaluable view of our past here.
1956: German House/St Louis House Hosts The Symphony March 17, 2019 - Part four of our visit to the German House finds the St Louis Symphony hard at work. Shhh... let's listen in.
1946: German House/St Louis House Welcomes The Teen Thirty Club March 10, 2019 - Say what you will of 2345 Lafayette Avenue - that old building could jump!
German House/ St Louis House: The Spiritualists March 3, 2019 - In this episode we resume piecing together the mystical story of a four story building at 2345 Lafayette Avenue. Here, we take a walk in faith along an assortment of entrepreneurial pathways to Heaven, when the instruments of salvation chose to land at the St Louis House and gathered up wool from the local Continue Reading
German House/St Louis House: The Earliest Years 1928-1942 February 24, 2019 - 2345 Lafayette Avenue is for sale. Our largest, newest and arguably least understood building. Tuck into the first of six essays bringing it back to life.
Coming Sunday – The First In A Six Part Series On The German House/St Louis House February 21, 2019 - 2345 Lafayette Avenue, at that street’s intersection with Jefferson Avenue, is one of the newest, most heavily documented, yet least understood structures in Lafayette Square. The Lafayette Square Archives has done its research to wind back the clock on Das Deutsche Haus, and serve it up Continue Reading
1977: Happy Valentines Day From Lafayette Square February 10, 2019 - A look back at historical parallels between mating rituals in Lafayette Square and Dogpatch USA in 1977.
1940 – William Swekosky’s Second Act January 27, 2019 - Late last summer the Archives posted an essay entitled “Trouble In Paradise: Swekosky - The Early Years” https://lafayettesquare.org/1921-swekosky-in-his-early-years-trouble-in-paradise/ In brief review, an amorous young dentist from Preston Place in Lafayette Square got himself in deep water with the ladies. We left him in 1923, bankrupt, alone, and difficult to track. Forward seventeen years to September Continue Reading
Winter 1888 – Coasting The Streets Of Lafayette Square January 13, 2019 - Ever trudge up Mississippi Avenue from Chouteau and wonder what it would be like to sled down it? Well, it's been done many times and to great local acclaim. Here's a 19th century take on the sport.
1893 – A Fine Day For Skating Away In Lafayette Park December 30, 2018 - Victorian thrills abound in the wintertime at Lafayette Park. Sharpen your skates and let's get cracking!
1984 – Restorationist Holiday Cheer From Lafayette Square December 16, 2018 - These weren't always doll houses, y'know... Written by one who knows that tough folks manage to laugh through tough times