In Unseen St. Louis, I’ve been researching lots of different topics about the city’s history. My goal is to touch on a wide range of topics to bring a new appreciation to St. Louis history that’s often forgotten.
For each article, I’ve started with my own questions, looking into things I’ve been curious about. I’ve explored the history of things I’ve encountered within the city, and I’ve dug into this history of things that I remembered from growing up here. I was born here, but left St. Louis for college in the 1980s, and only moved back in 2019. That means a lot of things are “new” to me—and I have lots of questions stored up!
However, I’d also love to hear from you. Let me know what you’d love for me to tackle in a future article! Memories, nostalgia, urban legends, weird places—if it’s about St. Louis or the surrounding area, I’d love to learn more about it too!
Here’s what I’ve written about so far:
A little but mighty bridge: an almost 100-year-old bridge crossing River Des Peres that got this whole thing started
The sulphur springs of Cheltenham: my further investigation into the history of Cheltenham area (specifically, Hampton & Manchester)
Apr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022Liked by Jackie Dana
Firstly, thank you for taking so much time to create this blog, Jackie. I'm a somewhat recent transplant (2018), a writer myself (genre fiction), and have become enamored of the greater metro's history. I've been working on a cycle of stories and a novella all set in STL and drenched in the region's history for the last two years, and discovering your work was one of my most pleasant discoveries of the last couple months.
That all being said: a topic I'm extremely interested in (that would definitely be a lot to bite off) is STL's brick manufacturing history. There's so much interesting info out there but very little available online. Where exactly were the clay mines located in the metro? What was life like in Richmond Heights in the 1800s (originally established to house black miners)? Since STL brick is still sought-after today, what made the brick manufacturing boom die off around the 1960s? I'm not sure if this is something that interests you, but regardless I know you'll keep covering fascinating topics.
Thank you again for putting so much love into your work!
EDIT: I suppose I should add that I know this wouldn't be a brand new topic for your coverage, the city's brick history makes a prominent appearance in your Cheltenham article, but I feel that there's more there. I guess the argument could be made that there's always more left to find!
So sorry -- tried to get on the Discord account for Writers. You left me a note on substack office hours. I will try again in the morning but I think it didn't think i was human :).
What are your questions about St. Louis?
During Prohibition in the 1920's and 30's, were there gangsters in St. Louis, similar to Chicago?
Firstly, thank you for taking so much time to create this blog, Jackie. I'm a somewhat recent transplant (2018), a writer myself (genre fiction), and have become enamored of the greater metro's history. I've been working on a cycle of stories and a novella all set in STL and drenched in the region's history for the last two years, and discovering your work was one of my most pleasant discoveries of the last couple months.
That all being said: a topic I'm extremely interested in (that would definitely be a lot to bite off) is STL's brick manufacturing history. There's so much interesting info out there but very little available online. Where exactly were the clay mines located in the metro? What was life like in Richmond Heights in the 1800s (originally established to house black miners)? Since STL brick is still sought-after today, what made the brick manufacturing boom die off around the 1960s? I'm not sure if this is something that interests you, but regardless I know you'll keep covering fascinating topics.
Thank you again for putting so much love into your work!
EDIT: I suppose I should add that I know this wouldn't be a brand new topic for your coverage, the city's brick history makes a prominent appearance in your Cheltenham article, but I feel that there's more there. I guess the argument could be made that there's always more left to find!
Jackie, I’d love to know about all the old bakeries - you’d mentioned one that had Paczki!
So sorry -- tried to get on the Discord account for Writers. You left me a note on substack office hours. I will try again in the morning but I think it didn't think i was human :).