__NOTOC__ Soulard ( ) is a historic

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the home of Soulard Farmers Market, the oldest farmers' market west of the Mississippi River. Soulard is one of ten certified local historic districts in the city of St. Louis.

History

It is named for Antoine Soulard and Julia Cérre Soulard. Antoine Soulard first began to develop the land given to him by his father-in-law, Jean-Gabriel Cerré. Soulard was a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

for the Spanish government and a refugee from the French Revolution in the 1790s. It is home to several nineteenth century church buildings, including Trinity Lutheran.

Present

One of the oldest communities in the city, Soulard is today a largely residential neighborhood whose many businesses include restaurants, bars, and the North American headquarters of Anheuser-Busch, which houses the St. Louis Brewery. The neighborhood is divided roughly by Lynch Street; north of which is mostly row homes and small apartments, and south of which is largely the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and headquarters. Many of its houses date to the mid- to late-19th century. Soulard also has several historic churches. Many of its bars host live music, especially the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...

s for which the city is known. The barrelhouse blues piano player James Crutchfield lived in the neighborhood from 1984 until his death in 2001 and performed in many of the nightclubs. The district hosts regular pub crawls. Various neighborhood groups, including the Soulard Restoration Group and the Soulard Business Association, organize events, keep the neighborhood clean and safe, and publish a newspaper, ''The Soulard Renaissance''. Drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_Soulard_Market,_St

Drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_Soulard_Market,_St

It is home to Soulard Farmers Market, the oldest farmers' market west of the Mississippi. More than a hundred vendors include farmers, produce vendors, meat shops, spice shops, florist shops, and food. Soulard Market is featured in the opening scene of Alan Schroeder's picture book ''Ragtime Tumpie''.

Events

Soulard hosts many events throughout the year, including celebrations of

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

and Oktoberfest.

Demographics

In 2020, Soulard's population was 75.2% White, 15.8% Black, 0.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from some other race, and 6.0% from two or more races. 4.3% of the population was of Hispanic origin.

Gallery

File:Mississippi St Louis USA1.jpg, The Anheuser-Busch and Lemp brewery buildings and Soulard in south city near the Mississippi River, 2006 File:N82100407 30000431 5538.jpg, A two-family home in Soulard, around 2006 File:Soulard St Louis Anchor Star.jpeg, Stars are a common architectural motif from the era of Soulard's building, an anchor plate on

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. File:Pedestrians walk on South Eighth Street in Soulard.jpg, Pedestrians on South Eighth St., around 1910

References

External links

Soulard.org
Soulard Restoration Group - the neighborhood association of Soulard

at St. Louis Front Page.com
Mardi Gras Inc.
Organizers of St. Louis Mardi Gras
Soulard Farmers MarketSoulard Market Official SiteThe Lemp MansioniLoveSoulard.com
{{coord, 38.6053, -90.2086, dim:2000_region:US-MO, display=title French-American culture in Missouri Landmarks of St. Louis Neighborhoods in St. Louis French colonial settlements of Upper Louisiana