History:

Old North St. Louis is one of St. Louis’ oldest neighborhoods. It was founded in 1816 as the Village of North St. Louis and is a National Historic District. For decades, Old North was a vibrant urban neighborhood with shops scattered throughout. However, over the course of the last five decades, the neighborhood experienced tremendous depopulation and eventual deterioration of buildings as city residents left St. Louis for the suburbs. The Old North St. Louis Restoration Group was created in 1981, by community residents to “restore and develop the physical and social dimensions of the community in a manner that respects its historic, cultural, and urban character.” In the last five years, the Restoration Group’s revitalization efforts have resulted in major historic renovations and new construction of single-family homes throughout the neighborhood through a partnership with the Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance, a non-profit developer. The most recent project, Crown Square, is a $35 million revitalization of Old North’s historic mixed-use town center. The Restoration Group’s other efforts include neighborhood clean-ups, vacant building board-ups, street festivals, an annual house tour, and coordinated crime prevention initiatives. These efforts have all helped transform Old North St. Louis into a recognized model for community-based revitalization.

Old North St. Louis is located roughly one mile north of downtown St. Louis and is bordered by Branch Street on the north, Cass Avenue on the south, N. Florissant Avenue on the west, and Interstate 70 on the east. The neighborhood has an angled street grid with fairly narrow streets that are favorable for walking and biking though the neighborhood lacks bicycle facilities and a continuous sidewalk network. Old North St. Louis was built as a single-family neighborhood and it largely remains so today but many of the units have been divided into three or four units. The neighborhood also includes mixed-income apartments developed by the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and senior apartments. Almost 30% of Old North St. Louis’ housing stock was built before 1939. Within its approximately 95 blocks, Old North St. Louis also contains schools, churches, parks, and an urban farm.

• Old North St. Louis has a population of approximately 1,500 people.
• Approximately 70% percent of the residents are African-American and the remaining 30% are largely Caucasians; very small percentages of residents represent the other ethnicities.
• The median household income in Old North St. Louis is approximately $13,600.
• The poverty rate is double that of the rest of the city—nearly 50%.
• Approximately 27% of Old North St. Louis residents work in educational, health, and social services; approximately 12% work in public administration; and approximately 10% work in manufacturing

• Old North St. Louis Restoration Group

Read more about the redevelopment of the former 14th street mall, the North City Farmers Market, Jackson Park Improvements and more on the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group website.