Wait! Did St. Louis have a French Quarter like New Orleans? The city of the arch and Budweiser? If so, where is it? This though struck me recently when I came across a passage in Washington Irving's journals from a trip he took there in 1832...

Arriving by ship, Irving noted on September 13th from the Union Hotel: “St. Louis—mixture of French and American character—French billiard room—market-place where some are speaking French, some English—put up at Union Hotel—see Mr. Chouteau pere et fils.”

The Chouteaus were a founding family from New Orleans to the French trading colony that had founded the city in 1764 to trade with local Native groups, especially the Osage. Of course, St. Louis became eventually became an American possession after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Indeed, these original francophone families were still in power and their old city was very visible in 1832, around the St. Louis Cathedral. Originally a humble dwelling when built (as seen in this photo), it would be redone in its current form in Greek Revival style in 1834.

Irving had trouble sleeping while visiting in 1832, as he notes: “St. Louis—old rackety gambling house—noise of the cue and billiard ball from morning till night—old French women accosting each other in the street.” This lively port city was still evident from this photo in 1904

Even as this old French quarter acquired more warehouses and fell into decline due to the railroads, charming French American vernacular architecture was still evident...

The writer Kate Chopin born 20 years after Irving's visit grew up in an old St. Louis family, and spoke French at home and school and later wrote many famous stories about Creole Louisana...

St. Louis even had its own version of Mardi Gras, called the "Veiled Prophet's Ball". This image is from 1878

So where is this French Quarter? What an incredible resource for a city to draw in visitors and celebrate its heritage! Well, some of you know the twist-ending...

In the 1930s, it was decided as part of a renewal project that they would evict everyone and demolish the entire quarter! To save the city and revive its fortunes of course. This required a rigged-vote of course. Only the Old Cathedral was left standing.

After a couple of decades of total wast land eventually a monument to the Westward expansion of the USA was built, the Arch, symbolically stomping the French Quarter, and in further blow to @wrathofgnon #GoodUrbanism, an interstate now powered by the Church.

The City of St. Louis is now under a $500 million project to "revive" the Arch area. Though famous, it's cut off from the rest of the city, plus there isn't much else to attract visitors to the area, other than an up-close views--and weddings are popular at the Old Cathedral.

Besides the church, only the neighboring "Laclede's Landing" district (named after another French founder), gives a sense of what was destroyed, the last couple of blocks to stroll and contemplate St. Louis' lost French Quarter.