The Caves of St. Louis have been important in the economic development of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. The city was built upon a complex of natural caves which were once used for the

lagering Lager (; ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "''lager''" comes from the German word for ...

of beer by early German immigrant brewers. Caves are naturally cool, which was especially attractive to brewers before the advent of

refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

Breweries

Several breweries were built atop these natural caves, which were altered to suit their purposes. Stone arches and brick ceilings prevented water seepage and uneven cave floors were paved with brick. In addition to being used for the storage and lagering of beer, such naturally cool places were sometimes employed as

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

s, places for entertainment. John Adam Lemp, coming to St. Louis from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1838, started a brewery using natural caves for refrigeration. His son William J. Lemp took over the business and built the Lemp Brewery industrial complex which still stands in St. Louis.Lemp Mansion
The

Lemp Mansion The Lemp Mansion (3322 DeMenil Place, St. Louis, Missouri) is a historical house in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is also the site of three suicides by Lemp family members after the death of the son Frederick Lemp, whose Lemp Brewery, Willi ...

was constructed by the Lemp Family and included a tunnel through the natural cave system leading to the Lemp Brewery. The Lemp Family would use this tunnel to go to work.

Underground Railroad

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

in St. Louis links the cave system with the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. According to this tradition a tunnel behind the house at 3314 Lemp Avenue was used as a secret entrance to the caves. One entrance to the caves opens near the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, where the

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

could make their way to freedom.

Cherokee Caves

Cherokee Caves was one attempt to turn the caves near the Lemp Brewery into a commercial attraction. They were closed and the site was demolished to make way for the construction of

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

.Cherokee Cave
/ref> In January 2019, th
Missouri Speleological Survey
printed th
History of Lemp Brewery Caverns and Cherokee Cave

Entrances

Old caves were often filled with rubble from the demolished buildings above them. Therefore, there may be many homes and houses currently built above entrances to the old system of caves which have since been filled in with rubble. The Lemp caves or Cherokee caves still exist.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Milestones of Missouri's HiddenHallowsSt. Louis Public Library - Caves of St. LouisPeople's Weekly World - Underground RailroadDismantling 3314 Lemp SiteHistory of Lemp Brewery Caverns and Cherokee Cave
{{St. Louis, Missouri Geography of St. Louis Caves of Missouri Limestone caves