Benton Place Archives - Lafayette Square Archives

1903: A Lafayette Square Sanborn Map

Sanborn Maps have been created for around 12,000 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico. They were designed so that insurance companies could gauge their risks, and therefore their liabilities from fire. These maps have been published since 1867. The largest collection is online at the US Library of Congress. A more local assortment from the early 1900’s is also available on the Missouri Digital Heritage site, referenced below.

They’re intriguing to explore for the snapshot they provide of our neighborhood during a particular year. Here are a couple of extracted examples, from the 1903 and 1908 Sanborn Maps.

1960: Retta Reed – ‘Mayor’ Of Benton Place

If John Albury Bryan was the father of the restoration of Lafayette Square, it might be fair to ask who the mother was. The answer is most likely Ruth Kamphoefner, and rightly so. However, there were movers before Ruth moved to the Square in 1972. Consider the fascinating lady that lived about 100 feet from Bryan on Benton Place. She died eight weeks before him, and the passing of these two must have resonated in the neighborhood. Let’s take a time trip back and look in on Henrietta “Retta” Strantz Reed.

1938: Zeitinger Can’t Beat The System

A 1938 Post-Dispatch obituary noted the death of Christian J. Zeitinger – inventor, promotor and hydraulic engineer. He was 73 years old and died from “the infirmities of age.” It recalled his frequent appearances in bankruptcy court, the result of financial scheming in the development of a gravity flour mill invention.

In 1946, Retta Reed, who lived for years at 35 Benton Place in Lafayette Square, bought and razed the abandoned house across from hers. Curious about 40 Benton Place, I began an expedition backward through the newspapers.

1970: Sketches Of Lafayette Square

Here are a terrific series of sketches, originally published in St Louis Commerce magazine in May of 1970.

The drawings are by George Conrey, who was head of the art department at the Post-Dispatch in the early 1960’s. The magazine itself was a periodical from what is now known as the St Louis Regional Chamber Of Commerce. It began publication way back in 1918, about the time George was graduating art school at Washington University. It ceased operations in 2012.

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.