June 2020 - Page 2 of 2 - Lafayette Square Archives

1914: The Life Of A Lafayette Park Policeman

Say what you will about composer Richard Strauss – he knew how to incite an audience. In his opera Salome, the temptress of the same name performs the erotic dance of the seven veils for King Herod. This in return for anything she named, and she demanded the head of John the Baptist. After strenuous objections by Herod, she gets her way. When she receives his head and begins affectionately stroking its hair, she’s rushed by Herod’s indignant soldiers and crushed to death by their shields. This was hot stuff for 1911. When the production came to St Louis, it caused a sensation.

1885: The Dark And Mysterious Places of St Louis

Among so many, there is a certain wonderful booklet from 1885 in the Mercantile Library, called “The Dark And Mysterious Places Of St Louis.” It’s an armchair investigator’s delight, in terms of being somewhere without having to go somewhere. This ‘where’ is St Louis society’s urban underbelly, full of, as the book cover promises, “Gilded Sin and Naked Vice!”

1896: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Comes To St Louis

From May 18 through May 24, 1896, the most famous show of its type, the original and biggest spectacle of its age, stopped in St Louis, setting up at the corner of Compton and Manchester. The show was so large that it required 15 acres of empty ground to stage.

1955: Why Lafayette Square Should Be Restored

The first essay in this long series covered the man who argued for restoration of Lafayette Square. In 1969 the creation of the Lafayette Square Restoration Committee was the pivot point for active change here, in terms of stemming demolition, stabilizing properties and enticing others to share the vision of rebirth in this neighborhood.