Benton Park is a neighborhood in southside

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, just west of the

Soulard __NOTOC__ Soulard ( ) is a historic neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the home of Soulard Farmers Market, the oldest farmers' market west of the Mississippi River. Soulard is one of ten certified local historic districts in the city of ...

neighborhood. The official boundaries of the area are Gravois Avenue on the north, Cherokee Street on the south,

I-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 h ...

on the east, and Jefferson Avenue on the west. Benton Park is unrelated to Benton Place, a private street located in Lafayette Square, St. Louis. The area now comprising Benton Park proper was first used as the City Cemetery, from 1842–1865. Those buried in the cemetery were relocated in 1865, and the neighborhood was created on June 25, 1866, by city ordinance. The site of the park was originally 17 acres, but was reduced to 14 1/3 acres to accommodate perimeter streets. Noted horticulturist Edward F. Krausnick landscaped the park, incorporating a greenhouse, a footbridge, and two ponds. The park was used for botanical instruction and community activities and today is a popular recreational area. Originally named City Park, the park was later renamed after Thomas Hart Benton, the first U.S. Senator representing the people of Missouri. As the neighborhood grew, it attracted several breweries due to its location above a system of caves that were ideal for beer storage, or "

lagering Lager () is beer which has been brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of ...

" in German, as many of the popular German styles require. The caves maintain a constant 55 degree temperature that is ideal for beer storage. Today, all of the cave entrances are sealed. One such cave, the McHose & English Cave, is said to run underneath Benton Park to the Lemp Brewery, several blocks to the southeast. The Lemp Brewery was one of the most notable of the city's breweries, which still stands today, although defunct.

Demographics

In 2020 Benton Park's racial makeup was 68.1% White, 22.3% Black, 0.4% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 6.8% two or more races, and 1.1% some other race. 3.8% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino origin.

Demographics

See also

References

Sources

External links