The Greater Ville Neighborhood

The Greater Ville Neighborhood is located in the north half of the city of St Louis. The neighborhood surrounds the Ville Neighborhood on three sides. Those three inner boundaries around the Ville are Taylor Avenue on the west, St Louis Avenue on the north and Sarah Street on the east. The outer boundaries for the Greater Ville are Natural Bridge Avenue on the north, Vandeventer on the east, Dr Martin Luther King Blvd on the south and Marcus Avenue on the west. The Greater Ville Neighborhood is surrounded by seven neighborhoods. To the north lie the Penrose and O'Fallon neighborhoods. To the east is the JeffVanderLou Neighborhood. The Covenant Blu-Grand Center Neighborhood is to the southeast. The Vandeventer Neighborhood and the Lewis Place Neighborhood are to the south. And the Kingsway East Neighborhood is located to the west.

Schools

As with all the neighborhoods of the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Public School District serves the residents of The Greater Ville Neighborhood. The district has three elementary schools located there, Cote Brilliante Elementary School and Hickey Elementary School, both on Cora Avenue; and Farragut Elementary School on Sullivan Avenue. The neighborhood also has a private school, the De La Salle Middle School, a Catholic school found on Kennerly Avenue. Sumner High School is found in The Ville Neighborhood on Cottage Avenue.

Parks and Recreation

Two city parks are located in nearby neighborhoods which provide many recreation amenities for the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as for those in the Greater Ville Neighborhood. Fairground Park is one of the parks and is located just north of Natural Bridge Avenue. Visitors to the 131 acre park will enjoy a 9-acre stocked fishing lake, a skating rink, swimming pool, biking and walking trails, athletic fields for baseball, softball, soccer and football; basketball and tennis courts; and a playground. The other city park is Tandy Park located in The Ville at Kennerly and Pendleton. Tandy is a 5-acre park that includes amenities such as the Tandy Community Center with an indoor swimming pool; a playground, a skating rink, athletic fields for baseball and softball; and basketball and tennis courts.

Libraries

Conveniently located in adjoining neighborhoods are two branches of the St. Louis Public Library. One library branch is the Divoll Branch Library on North Grand Avenue and the other is the Julia Davis Branch Library on Natural Bridge. These branches are two of the 15 public library branches that are found throughout the City of St. Louis.

History Was Made Here

History happened in The Greater Ville Neighborhood that affected the entire nation. In 1939, J.D. Shelley, an African-American, and his family bought a home at 4600 Labadie. At the time, there were neighborhood convenants that placed 50 year covenants on individual properties that forbade the sale of the home to persons who where not Caucasian and 4600 Labadie had such a covenant. White neighbors across the street, Louis and Ethel Kraemer, filed a lawsuit against the Shelleys to keep the family from moving in. The Shelleys case went all the way to the US Supreme Court. In the landmark case, Shelley v. Kraemer, the US Supreme Court ruled in its 1948 decision that such covenants that limited ownership of property because of race violated the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. The "Shelley House" on Labadie is now a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Greater Ville Neighborhood Related Links:

City of St Louis Website