Narrow brick rowhouses and iron lacework mark the heart of Soulard, one of St. Louis's oldest neighborhoods. The French and Spanish colonial periods left their architectural mark here in ways still visible today: narrow brick rowhouses, shared party walls, interior courtyards, and iron lacework on second-floor galleries — all signatures of a building tradition that the city inherited from its New Orleans connection. French Creole culture in St. Louis was a blend: European settlers, free Black residents, enslaved people, and Indigenous traders all moved through these streets.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, American settlers poured in and the French Creole character of the city began to give way, but Soulard held on to its identity longer than most neighborhoods. In the 19th century, waves of German and Irish immigrants settled here, drawn by the market and the nearby brewery jobs. Anheuser-Busch's brewery just a few blocks away employed thousands.
Today Soulard is known for its vibrant bar scene, its annual Mardi Gras celebration — the largest outside New Orleans — and its remarkably intact 19th-century streetscape. Walk the brick sidewalks. Duck into a courtyard.
The old city is still here if you know where to look.