__NOTOC__ Soulard ( ) is a historic neighborhood in

St. Louis, Missouri 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 ...

. It is the home of

Soulard Farmers Market Soulard Farmers Market is the oldest operating public market in St. Louis, Missouri in the Soulard neighborhood, and the only one operated by the city. It has a reputation of being the oldest public market in the United States west of the Missi ...

, the oldest

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. Soulard is one of ten certified local historic districts in the city of St. Louis.

History

It is named for

Antoine Soulard Antoine Pierre Soulard (November 16, 1766 – March 11, 1825) was an early settler and government official of St. Louis, Missouri. Early life Born to Henri Francois Soulard and Marie Francoise (Leroux) Soulard in Rochefort, France, Soulard becam ...

and Julia Cérre Soulard. Antoine Soulard first began to develop the land given to him by his father-in-law,

Jean-Gabriel Cerré Jean-Gabriel Cerré (August 12, 1734 – April 4, 1805) was a Quebec-born merchant in the Illinois Country and St. Louis. The son of Joseph Serré and Marie-Madeleine Picard, he was born in Montreal. Cerré established himself in Kaskaskia as ...

. Soulard was a surveyor for the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

government and a refugee from the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

in the 1790s. It is home to several nineteenth century church buildings, including Trinity Lutheran.

Present

One of the oldest communities in the city, Soulard is today a largely residential neighborhood whose many businesses include restaurants, bars, and the North American headquarters of

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

, which houses the St. Louis Brewery. The neighborhood is divided roughly by Lynch Street; north of which is mostly row homes and small apartments, and south of which is largely the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and headquarters. Many of its houses date to the mid- to late-19th century. Soulard also has several historic churches. Many of its bars host live music, especially the blues and jazz bands for which the city is known. The barrelhouse

blues piano Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

player

James Crutchfield James Crutchfield (May 25, 1912 – December 7, 2001) was a St. Louis barrelhouse blues singer, piano player and songwriter whose career spanned seven decades. His repertoire consisted of original and classic blues and boogie-woogie and Depre ...

lived in the neighborhood from 1984 until his death in 2001 and performed in many of the nightclubs. The district hosts regular

pub crawl A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. Background Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates a ...

s. Various neighborhood groups, including the Soulard Restoration Group and the Soulard Business Association, organize events, keep the neighborhood clean and safe, and publish a newspaper, ''The Soulard Renaissance''. Drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_Soulard_Market,_St

Drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_Soulard_Market,_St

It is home to

, the oldest farmers' market west of the Mississippi. More than a hundred vendors include farmers, produce vendors, meat shops, spice shops, florist shops, and food. Soulard Market is featured in the opening scene of Alan Schroeder's picture book ''Ragtime Tumpie''.

Events

Soulard hosts many events throughout the year, including celebrations of Mardi Gras and

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

Demographics

In 2020, Soulard's population was 75.2% White, 15.8%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 0.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from some other race, and 6.0% from two or more races. 4.3% of the population was of Hispanic origin.

Gallery

File:Mississippi St Louis USA1.jpg, The

and

Lemp brewery The Lemp Brewery was a beer brewing company established in 1840 in St. Louis, Missouri that was acquired by the Griesedieck Beverage Company in 1920, which subsequently became the Falstaff Brewing Corporation. The brewery complex property consis ...

buildings and Soulard in south city near the

, 2006 File:N82100407 30000431 5538.jpg, A two-family home in Soulard, around 2006 File:Soulard St Louis Anchor Star.jpeg, Stars are a common architectural motif from the era of Soulard's building, an

anchor plate An anchor plate, floor plate or wall washer is a large plate or washer connected to a tie rod or bolt. Anchor plates are used on exterior walls of masonry buildings, for structural reinforcement against lateral bowing. Anchor plates are made of ...

on brick. File:Pedestrians walk on South Eighth Street in Soulard.jpg, Pedestrians on South Eighth St., around 1910

References

External links

Soulard.org
Soulard Restoration Group - the neighborhood association of Soulard

at St. Louis Front Page.com
Mardi Gras Inc.
Organizers of St. Louis Mardi Gras
Soulard Farmers MarketSoulard Market Official SiteThe Lemp MansioniLoveSoulard.com
{{coord, 38.6053, -90.2086, dim:2000_region:US-MO, display=title French-American culture in Missouri Landmarks of St. Louis Neighborhoods in St. Louis French colonial settlements of Upper Louisiana