Southwest Garden, St. Louis

Southwest Garden
Neighborhood of St. Louis
Southwest Garden Neighborhood sign at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer Avenue, March 2011
Southwest Garden Neighborhood sign at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer Avenue, March 2011
Location (red) of Southwest Garden within St. Louis
Location (red) of Southwest Garden within St. Louis
CountryUnited States
StateMissouri
CitySt. Louis
Wards8, 10, 24
Area
 • Total
0.86 sq mi (2.2 km2)
Population
 (2020)[1]
 • Total
5,245
 • Density6,100/sq mi (2,400/km2)
ZIP code(s)
Parts of 63110, 63139
Area code(s)314
Websitestlouis-mo.gov

Southwest Garden is a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, located south of The Hill and Forest Park Southeast, west of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, east of Lindenwood Park and Clifton Heights, and north of North Hampton.

Bisected by Kingshighway Boulevard, one of St. Louis’s major arterial roads, Southwest Garden is named for its proximity to the Botanical Garden. The neighborhood is notable for its architectural heritage, containing two National Historic Landmark Districts:

  • Shaw’s Garden, containing the portion of the neighborhood between Kingshighway and the Botanical Garden, covers a tract of land formerly owned by Garden founder Henry Shaw. This area is notable for its highly intact collection of multifamily residential buildings (primarily duplexes and fourplexes) dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[2]
  • Reber Place, located directly west of Tower Grove Park, which contains a diverse mix of frame homes, multifamily buildings, and bungalows dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[3]
Series of brick duplexes on a residential street. A street sign in the foreground indicates the “Garden District” of the Southwest Garden neighborhood.
1920s “American Movements”-style duplexes on Shenandoah Avenue in the Shaw’s Garden National Historic Landmark District.

In addition to the Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, other notable locations within the neighborhood include:

  • The St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center, a 196-bed psychiatric hospital operated by the Missouri Department of Mental Health on a 32-acre (13 ha) campus on Arsenal Street in the southern portion of the neighborhood.[4] The campus includes the former St. Louis County Lunatic Asylum, designed by architect William Rumbold and completed in 1869.[5] The Romanesque Revival building is adorned with a prominent 200-foot (61 m) tall cast iron dome.[6] Situated on the highest point in the city, the structure can be seen from up to 30 miles (48 km) away.[5]
  • Sublette Park, a neighborhood park including a playground, a pavilion built by the Boy Scouts of America, tennis courts and a soccer field.

The neighborhood is covered by St. Louis Board of Aldermen wards 8, 10 and 24.

  1. ^ 2020 Census Neighborhood Results
  2. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Shaw's Garden Historic District" (PDF). Missouri State Parks. 2012-02-12. pp. 174–184. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Reber Place" (PDF). Missouri State Parks. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  4. ^ "St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center". University of Missouri–St. Louis – St. Louis Psychology Internship Consortium. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  5. ^ a b Schremp Hahn, Valerie (2019-04-14). "150 years: From Lunatic Asylum to St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. pp. B1.
  6. ^ "Women in Health Sciences". Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. 2009. Retrieved 2023-02-19.