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Drawn by good transportation, population in the area grew rapidly. Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians made up the initial wave in the 1890s. As different immigrants settled the central urban areas, more established groups moved further out to areas like Irving Park.
- PO Box 18184 Chicago, IL 60618
- info@gipna.org
In 1910, the residents of Irving Park established their own park district and created eight local parks, the largest of which is Independence Park. Considered one of the finest landscaped neighborhood parks in the City for many years, Independence Park also served as the site of local Fourth of July celebrations.
- Benton Park/Cherokee Street. The Benton Park neighborhood and surrounding areas were originally part of the St. Louis Commons, a large common pasture south of the city.
- Carondelet. Carondelet was founded as its own city in 1767 by Clement Delor De Treget, near the confluence of the River Des Peres and the Mississippi. In 1832, the city was incorporated, and it began to grow in size around this time, as German immigrants began to arrive in Missouri.
- Central West End. The Central West End was initially settled in the late 1880s and early 1890s as wealthy St. Louis residents moved west towards Forest Park to escape the crowded neighborhoods closer to downtown.
- Downtown. Downtown St. Louis is where the city was originally founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau. Architecture from every decade since 1830 is represented here, including row houses and mansions from the 1840s and 1850s, commercial buildings and warehouses from the late 19th and early 20th century, as well as a number of Art Deco and Mid Century Modern Buildings.
Explore Irving Park with our guide to this North Side neighborhood, including the best restaurants, bars, stores and attractions.
- The Center of Native American Culture
- The Birthplace of 7-Up
- The Firsts in The World Fair
- The Source of Peanut Butter
- The Tallest Man-Made Monument
- American Kennel Club Museum of The Dog
- One of The Oldest Botanical Institutions
- Going Green
- Taking After New Orleans
- An Eye For Baseball
When looking into the history before the founding of St. Louis, it’s often cited as the center of Native American Mississippian culture. There are numerous temples and mounds on both sides of the river, all within the city’s boundaries. It’s the reason why St. Louis gets the nickname “Mount City.” Unfortunately, most of the mounds ended up being de...
Say what you will about fizzy drinks — they have a habit of being quite the icon in the US. The Howdy Corporation, headed by Charles Leiper Grigg, developed the drink around 1929. They first called the drink the Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda, which is quite the mouthful. It was part of the medicine product trend back in the day.
The World Fair in St Louis is (naturally) world-famous, especially for its various firsts. For example, did you know that the World Fair was where ice cream cones started? An ice cream vendor at the World Fair ran out of cups, and he figured he might as well use waffles to get the job done. The result is the ice cream cone we know and love today. I...
Thanks to St. Louis, did you know that peanut butter first became popular around the 1900s? Ambrose Straub was given a patent for the first peanut butter machine, making it that much easier to develop peanut butter. The World Fair also had a hand in its inception, as peanut butter started making the rounds in the World Fair around 1904. During the ...
It would be remiss to talk about St. Louis and not mention the tallest man-made monument — the Gateway Arch. There are quite a few fun tidbits about the arch, such as national security not allowing presidents from ascending the arch for security reasons. The only president to do so was Eisenhower, who signed its construction order. It’s also known ...
Considering how much people love dogs, it’s strange that there’s only one museum in the entire world (!) fully dedicated to man’s best friend. The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog holds the distinction, and it’s one of the reasons why so many tourists are looking to visit St. Louis. Unfortunately, while Branson might be known for its tourism,...
The Missouri Botanical Garden is situated in St. Louis and is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the US — it’s also a National Historic Landmark! It was founded in 1859 and continues to be a draw for tourists and locals alike. Some of its features include the Climatron geodesic dome conservatory and the Japanese Garden. As far as botanical...
While St. Louis is known these days for its clean air and push toward green projects, there was a time when the city was known for the worst air pollution in the US. In the early 1900s, St. Louis was known as a city with some of the worst air pollutions, which was why they made an effort to clean things up. In 1940, the city banned soft coal that w...
St. Louis has its roots with the French, as it was French fur trappers who founded the city in the first place. St. Louis takes Mardi Gras seriously, hosting a yearly parade and festival that’s only second to New Orleans as far as popularity goes. There were even some years when the St. Louis Mardi Gras festivals have outright done better than the ...
St. Louis is widely popular in the baseball world thanks to the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful baseball franchises in history. The Cardinals won 12 division titles, took home 19 National League pennants, and 11 World Series championships! You can’t get much better than the St. Louis Cardinals, which is why St. Louis goes crazy over...
St. Louis is known for steamboats, the 1904 World’s Fair, the Gateway Arch, unique foods and it’s music scene. From breweries, baseball, and shoe factories to sculpture gardens and historic landmarks, St. Louis is a city with a rich past and an exciting present.
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This walk will take you through neighborhoods with homes built in the Victorian, Foursquare, Revival, Craftsman and Bungalow style. It will take you by the oldest home left in Irving Park, built in 1856 as well as the beautifully restored Carl Schurz high school, known for its prairie architecture.
