Historical September 1984 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
That Baron de Carondelet was Spanish is probably of no consequence to the many Germans who live in South St. Louis.
As a matter of fact, it meant little to Angel Garcia, Atanasio Fernandez, Ramon Quevedo or Francisco Rodriquez in 1904 when they were running boarding houses for the immigrating Spanish citizens.
The World’s Fair was the big event in St. Louis at the time, but to the Spanish the main attraction was the Edgar Zinc Company between Robert and Blow Streets on the Missouri Pacific Railroad line.
The men had moved to St. Louis from the zinc mines and smelters of West Virginia and Kansas. Nearly all had come from the Asturias region of Spain, and agents in Spain signed up more immigrants from that area to come to Carondelet.
The Asturias region is in northern Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Spanish Town as it was already called before World War I centered in the area of the 6900 to 7300 blocks between South Broadway and Minnesota Avenue.
Once the men were successful enough to bring their families over, the entire area took on the flavor of the inhabitants. Stores, recreation areas, and sporting clubs emerged.
In 1927, many formalized their cooperation and formed the Spanish Society.
It moved to what is now called the Spanish Society Building at 7107 Michigan Avenue in 1937, just a couple blocks north of St. Boniface Church.
The Asturias Soccer Team was organized in 1907, the same year Prudencio Garcia moved to Carondelet with his family. Named after the home area in Spain, that team was something of terror to the other members of the Municipal Soccer League.
One of its most famous alumni was Prudencio who retired from the team in 1931. Known as Pete Garcia, he became a referee when he retired and was chosen by the United States Football Association to be an official in the North American elimination games in Mexico City in 1949.
In 1950, he refereed the World Soccer Games in Rio de Janeiro; four years later he was an offical at the Olympics of Central America. Bernabe Alvarez came to Spanish Town in or about 1906 when he bought the store opened by Dominco and Dubois.
He had been living in Iola, Kansas, prior to the Spanish-American War in 1898.
He became a major benefactor in the community and was instrumental in bringing entire Spanish families to St. Louis.
Many of his philanthropic activities came to an end in 1956, when he finally retired from the business; however, his impact on the community was deep and continuous.
The focus of the Spanish community, the Edgar Zinc Company, left St. Louis in 1921, moving to Fairmont, Illinois.
The community itself, however, had diversified by that time and did not move out. That year also saw the beginning of the work of Arienne Edy who ran the Spanish Mission program in the area.
The mission was closed in 1932 when the Archdiocese decided it was not necessary to continue a Spanish language program.
However, Miss Edy continued to work in the area as a volunteer and was particularly instrumental in the formation of a number of groups for young women.
When she died in 1966, a major part of the community history came to an end.
The Spanish Society still functions in the heart of Spanish Town in Carondelet. Annual events along with numerous socials and parties are held every year. Over the years the young people have intermarried with other ethnic groups; at the same time the identity has remained quite solid, adopting non-Spanish into their social and community programs without any hesitation.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September 1984.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1984_09.pdf, printed page(s) 11; PDF page(s) 11.
