Oldest St. Louis

St. Louis has thrived for over two hundred and fifty years—from its beginnings as a French settlement in 1764 to its rapid growth in the mid-1800s to the modern metropolis we know today. While many great structures have been lost or demolished, much of this history still lives on. Within the pages of Oldest St. Louis, get to know the history of the Mound City’s most iconic buildings and the stories that bring their walls to life. Included are some of the businesses and buildings from the city’s inception through the turn of the twentieth century that are examples of St. Louis’s living history like Eugene Field House (1854), Bissell Mansion (1820s), and homes in the historic Carondelet neighborhood that may date back to the late 1700s.

Author/historian NiNi Harris has researched and written 14 books on St. Louis history and architecture. Her education began with her grandmother recalling tales of life in the old immigrant communities as she baked cakes and pies from scratch. Much of Harris’s time is spent digging through crumbling records, documenting the history of this great City. Her works have explored the stories of the waves of immigrants who built St. Louis’s remarkable brick neighborhoods and great Gothic and Romanesque churches, along with the role St. Louis played in opening the American West and in the Union victory in the Civil War.