Southampton

The Southampton Neighborhood is a peaceful, charming neighborhood of tree-lined streets. Housing styles include "Neo-Tudor, Brick, Arts & Crafts homes and "Four Square" two story homes featuring gabled roofs, and friendly plant-filled porches, art glass and hard-wood floors.

Many services including restaurants, banks, a theatre, grocery stores (one even delivers), florists, dry cleaners and churches are within walking distance.

Another great advantage to Southampton living is the convenience to world-class cultural institutions. All of the following are located within a 5 to 15 minute drive from the neighborhood:

The Arch, St Louis Art Museum, Busch Stadium, Forest Park, The Fox Theatre, Kiel Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, Muny Opera Theatre, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center, Jefferson Museum of History, Powell Symphony Hall, Tower Grove Park and much more.

In the 1990 census, Southampton was rated as one of the top residential choices for families in the 25-35 age bracket.

NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY

The first homes in the Southampton Neighborhood were built around
1905. The brick "arts and crafts" homes were constructed primarily
in the 1930's. Original residents say this type of home took about
one year to build. Much of the original tract of land part of the
Decker Farm, was developed by the Merchantile Trust Company.

Mr Sihrett, supervised the building of the Subdivision and named
it "Southampton" after a town in his native England. Many other
streets in Southampton are also named after towns in England:
Nottingham, Hampton, Devonshire, Lansdowne, Murdoch, Sutherland,
Brannon and Macklind.

Early Southampton residents carried water to their homes from a
spring at Nottingham and Kingshighway until a water main was
contructed.

This area was one of several chosen as a possible site for the
1904 World's Fair It was determined to be almost impossible to
run adequate transportation facilities to the Southampton area,
and Forest Park ended up as the chosen location.

Names in the Neighborhood

Bancroft

Named for historian George Bancroft.

Brannon

Named for landowners Thomas and Louisa Brannon.

Buder Library:

Once located in Susan R. Buder School in the neighborhood it moved to its present location at Hampton and Eichelberger in 1962.

Christy Park:

This 32 acre tract of land was purchased by the City in 1910 and is named after Willam Christy, who owned established a clay products in 1857 in the area bounded by Chippewa, and Morganford south and west to beyond Kingshighway and Eichelberger. By the turn of the century the established clay mine had more than five miles of subterranean passageways.

Delor Street

Named after the founder of Carondelet, Clement Delor.

Itaska

Named after Lake Itasca in Minnesota.

Kingshighway

Named for the second oldest railroad in Missouri which ran from St. Louis to New Madrid.

Murdoch Ave.

Named after John Murdock, a farmer.

Neosho:

Named after the Neosho River in Kansas; An Osage Indian word for clear spring.

Rhodes

Named for the British statesman who founded the Rhodes Scholarship program, Cecil John Rhodes.

Sulphur Street:

Once had a sulphur spring on it near the intersection of Sulphur and Manchester Road.

Walsh Street:

Named for John B. Walsh, the first mayor of Carondolet.

Wherry Ave.

Formerly a creek which was paved over; named after Mackey Wherry,a surveyor and engineer.

Winona

Named for the daughter of Carl Wimar, the artist who painted the dome in the Old Courthouse.

Some of the historical information above was derived from the bookThe Streets of St. Louis by William B and Marcella Magnan.