St. Louis, Missouri STL
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Oldest neighborhood newspaper in St. Louis · Independent and all volunteer-run since 1970

Neighborhood History & Memories

Explore Skinker-DeBaliviere through neighborhood chronicles, oral histories, residents’ recollections and photographs. Discover the people, places and traditions that shaped this community.

Photographs from our shared past

Captions distinguish the date of a photograph from the date it appeared in the newspaper. Where the original gives no date or photographer, that uncertainty is retained.

Stories and recollections

The History Of Forest Park And Its Institutions

March 1991
Author not credited
The History Museum presents a new free lecture series, 'The History of Forest Park and Its Institutions," on Sunday, March 17, at 2 p.m. Caroline Loughlin, co-author of Forest Park, will give an overview of the park's history at the Jefferson Memorial Building in Forest Park. Pictured above are boaters…
Boaters in Forest Park in1897. Photo by Emil Boehl, from the collections of the Missouri Historical Society.

Parkview Celebrates National Recognition

June 1988
Author not credited
A crowd of Parkview residents stopped traffic Monday night, May 16, as they gathered at Waterman and Skinker to watch eighty-plus year resident John Green and past president Alan Wright pull the strings to unveil a plaque commemorating the subdivision's placement on the National Register of • Historic Places. Parkview…

Renewal Characterizes Churches, Neighborhood

May 1988
By King Schoenfeld
The churches and synagogues of the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood have played an integral part in the life of the area. In view of recent events, this article looks at our neighborhood and its religious congregations. Most of those persons interviewed agreed that the churches are the anchors of the neighborhood—stabilizing factors…
Delmar Baptist Church, at Washington and Skinker, represents the oldest congregation of any church in the neighborhood.

An Eagle Scout’s Recollection

June 1987
By Gary A. White
(Editor's Note: The following poem was written by Gary White, Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 98, upon receiving his Eagle Scout Award on Scout Sunday. Congratulations to Gary.) I am truly very fortunate, To have had the times I've had. The memories of my years of scouting, Some good, some…

Loyal Advertiser Moves After 50 Years

May 1985
Author not credited
What do you do to celebrate fifty years at the same location in University City? This was the problem facing Bill Buechner, owner of University City Hardware at 6511 Delmar—a loyal advertiser throughout the years. In reality, Bill outgrew his present location years ago and has been looking to relocate…

Times Past

November 1984
By Venita Lake
As The Times staff begins to organize another fund raiser in its never-ending battle to pay the bills, we recall some of our previous efforts. The results were mixed; some events might have been more properly called fun-raisers. In fact THE PROM has become neighborhood legend. Was it really way…
Costumed participants in the historical neighborhood prom photograph.

Skinker-DeBaliviere — “It’s Truly a Neighborhood!”

June 1983
By Venita Lake
In April, Venita Lake, co-editor of The Paper, talked with Karleen Hoerr about real estate in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood. As an agent for Feinberg Real Estate Co., homeowner and renovator, as well as current president of Rosedale Neighborhood Association, Karleen was asked to compare the area with conditions five or…

Parkview Perspective

June 1982
By Susan Krasniewski
As a neighborhood, Parkview has certain constants: characteristics that do not seem to change over the years. One of them is the trees. When my family first moved into Parkview more than 30 years ago the trees provided shelter, shade and, in the case of some smaller ones, convenient hiding…

Rosedale Event — James O’Flynn’s Neighborhood Recollections

February 1982
Author not credited
Have you ever wished your house could talk, other than the normal old house creaks and steam letting from old radiators? Since the house will remain mute or monosyllabic at best, Rosedale presents the next best thing — a visit with James O'Flynn, an oldtime resident, who will share vignets…

Fall Comes to a Changing Neighborhood

October 1980
By Dan Shea
It is always, in my recurrent dream about the neighborhood, late in the afternoon of a mild and golden autumn day. My side of the street has grown suddenly cool in its shadows, but across the street it remains bright and warm, immune from time. It is a Catholic dream,…

An Interview With Gwen Giles

September 1980
By Sandy Rothschild
Since December of 1977, Gwen B. Giles has represented the Skinker-DeBaliviere community in the Missouri Senate. She was elected to that post to succeed Franklin Payne, who was appointed a United States Marshall by President Carter. Although her tenure in the Senate has been relatively brief, her roots and commitment…

First Impressions of a “New” Neighborhood — Or Daddy, Is There Really a St. Methodist?

March 1980
By Ray Breun, Joan Breun
We moved in almost eight months ago. Six years before that Cal Stuart had taken us around the area, but then we stayed in Florissant not a very bright decision. However. Iowa is a nice place. Actually Florissant isn't in Iowa, but it might as well be. Except for corner…

Explore the collection by theme

Neighborhood Chronicles

Accounts of the neighborhood’s development and community traditions.

I Remember When

First-person recollections of streets, neighbors and everyday life.

Memories and recollections

Explore residents’ memories and the people who shaped the neighborhood.

School History

Discover Hamilton School and other neighborhood institutions.

House History

Follow the histories of local houses and their residents.

Share a neighborhood memory

Have a photograph, recollection or correction? Tell us the year, location, names and photographer when known. Contributions are reviewed before publication.