Community Information

The Neighborhood Association

In 1977, residents formed the Southwest Garden Neighborhood Improvement Association, incorporating in 1978 and now doing business as the Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association (SWGNA). 

Other Organizations Serving Southwest Garden Neighborhood

There are three business associations cover parts of the neighborhood: including The Hill Business Association, Hampton-Chippewa Business Association, and the South Kingshighway Business Association. The area is also served by three commercial district managers, each working closely with the respective business association. Commercial district managers provide technical assistance to all businesses, large or small, in dealing with any concern involving government response, review or assistance.

Area green spaces include Tower Grove Park, Missouri Botanical Garden, and Sublette Park. Tower Grove Park is the only municipal park in Missouri on the National Register of Historic Places. Per the will of the late Henry Shaw who donated the land to the City, the park is governed independently of the City Parks Department. The Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest continuously operated public garden with on-site research facilities. Also part of Shaw’s former estate, the Garden remains one of St. Louis‘ most popular attractions. Sublette Park is a neighborhood park with tennis courts, a playground, baseball and soccer fields. Set on the highest point of the City, the park offers views of the Downtown skyline.

For recreation and reading, area residents are served by the South City YMCA and the Kingshighway Branch of the St. Louis Public Library. South City YMCA is a modern 45,000-square-foot facility, offering programs such as youth sports, swimming, gymnastics, fitness classes, a skate park, and day camps. The Kingshighway Branch replaces the original library branch opened in 1962. The current building is three times the size of the old, offering a collection of 40,000 items, computers and meeting space.

Community gardening and beautification groups are headquartered in the neighborhood, including Gateway Greening and Operation Brightside. Gateway Greening is a non-profit community gardening organization, specializing in gardener training. Operation Brightside is a non-profit offering anti-littering, graffiti removal and greening programs to improve neighborhoods and public gardens.

Neighborhood churches include The Journey Church and Southwest Church of the Nazarene. Schools within the neighborhood include Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, Cleveland NJROTC High School, Bunche International Studies Middle School, and Meda P. Washington Educational Resource Center. Many schools are located just outside the neighborhood, including St. Ambrose Parochial, Tower Grove Christian, Shaw Visual and Performing Arts, Mason Elementary and Premier Charter School. Having an array of magnet, charter, regular public and private schools in the area afford area families an abundance of educational choices.

The Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association also partner with other non-profit organizations to help promote and support other services in the neighborhood. Partnering non-profit organizations include:

Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (TGNCDC)

St. Louis Activity Center

Prime Theatre

Local History

The architecture and construction of Southwest Garden are unique and tell a colorful history. Within the seventy blocks that comprise the neighborhood, you will find turn-of-the-century frame and brick homes and storybook bungalows. There are blocks of two- and four-family “flats” (apartments), while others are virtually all single-family homes.

The area west of Kingshighway was found to have clay deposits in the late 1830s. The industry did not flourish until an ordinance banned frame construction in response to St. Louis‘ own “Great Fire” destroyed fifteen city blocks in 1849. That event and the completion of the railroad in 1852 hastened development of the clay mines and brick industry. German, Irish and Italian immigrant factory workers and free Blacks working the railroad were all attracted to both The Hill (north of Columbia Ave.) and Southwest Garden as the mines expanded in the 1890s.

The settlement patterns of Germans in the area (once known as the “Blue Ridge”) and the Italians on The Hill were, in part, a result of the establishment of the St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Ambrose Churches. Fondly known as St. Al’s, the historically German parish was founded in 1892. The earliest Catholic parish in the area, S. Al’s was established with the purchase of ten acres near Magnolia and January Avenues. Three blocks laid out on the property, the center block was reserved for the church. The others were subdivided and sold, the parish quickly having its first 130 families. In 2006, St. Al’s was razed and 26 new homes are now being built in its place.

East of Kingshighway, the neighborhood occupies land originally purchased by Henry Shaw in the mid 1850s. “Shaw’s Garden” (renamed Missouri Botanical Garden) was adjacent to his home. Private developers built homes surrounding the Garden in the early twentieth century, with expansive multi-family construction surrounding the extension of street car lines. With an eye for beauty and aesthetics, landscaped architects designed the streets and plantings. Buildings have a consistency of scale and size, along with a wealth of architectural details.

Today, you will find a variety of homes throughout the neighborhood, including four-room “shotgun” houses, large frame houses and townhomes, brick and frame bungalows. A few two- and four-families are interspersed throughout. As in many city neighborhoods, Southwest Garden has seen renewed interest in its residences and businesses. New comers and former residents returned to rehab once neglected houses, rent owner-occupied flats, start a small business and revitalize the neighborhood.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of the neighborhood, a book was written and is available for purchase. Proceeds benefit the Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association.

You can see much of the neighborhood’s historically diverse housing stock by attending the annual Home and Garden Tour in May. Call the Southwest Garden Neighborhood office (314) 772-6082 for more information.

National Historic Designation

The United States Department of the Interior has formally recognized two different segments of the Southwest Garden Neighborhood on their National Register of Historic Places. These are PDF documents of the designations and contain many photos of the neighborhood as well as an inventory of the structures.

• Reber Place Historic District – January 20, 2012 – The area roughly bounded by Arsenal Street, Kingshighway Boulevard, Southwest Avenue, and the Alley East of Hereford Street. (PDF – 6.7MB)

• Shaw’s Garden Historic District – February 22, 2012 – The area roughly bounded by DeTonty Avenue, Tower Grove Avenue, Shaw Avenue, Alfred Avenue, Magnolia Avenue, Kingshighway Boulevard, and Vandeventer Avenue. (PDF – 55.4MB)

The following survey was prepared in advance of the national designation and provides a lot of detail on the structures in the neighborhood.

• SW Garden Cultural Resource Survey Report (PDF – 5.2MB)

• SW Garden Sample Access Database Entry (PDF)