West End is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. This neighborhood is defined by Page Boulevard on the North,

Delmar Boulevard Delmar Boulevard is a major east-west street in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Route description Delmar Boulevard starts at North 14th Street in Downtown St. Louis, as a westward extension of Convention Plaza. It passes through the nei ...

on the South, Belt Avenue and Union Boulevard via Maple Avenue on the East, and City limits on the West. The neighborhood is home to the Emmanuel DeHodiamont House, one of the two oldest houses in St. Louis.

History

Land for the neighborhood was held by the family of Jean Pierre Cabanné. Between 1890 and 1920, lands were subdivided and most of its existing housing stock was built. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the West End saw significant racial transition. In 1950, neighborhood residents were 98.2% white. By 1960, the neighborhood was 30% white. Across the local area, 57,450 white families moved out and 56,150 black families moved in. Much of this transition occurred in the final three years before 1960. Investors encouraged white flight by

blockbusting Blockbusting was a business practice in the United States in which real estate agents and building developers convinced residents in a particular area to sell their property at below-market prices. This was achieved by fearmongering the homeowne ...

the neighborhood, and housing stock became more crowded. In the 1960s, middle-class black families left the neighborhood as the housing stock deteriorated. Landlords found that local rents did not cover operating costs, causing widespread "milking" and disinvestment.

Demographics

In 2020 West End's population was 71.5% Black, 10.5% White, 0.4% Native American, 6.8% Asian, 5.4% Two or More Races, and 5.4% Some Other Race. 7.7% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino Origin.

References

Neighborhoods in St. Louis {{StLouis-geo-stub