Dogtown Irish (St. Louis, Clayton, St. James: houses, neighborhood, new construction)

[Jimmy Burma]

Hey there St. Louis. I'm just curious to know whether there are many
"Irish American" families left in the Dogtown area? It seems that I might
have had a family connection to this area and I'm very interested
to learn more about it's current environment. I'm also considering
moving to St. Louis after I finish up college in KC and would
consider living in Dogtown due to it's proximitiy to Forest Park,
Freeway, etc and I do like the idea of an old school type neighborhood;
we don't really have anything left like that in KC. So, please feel
free to pass on any pertinent info concerning present day Dogtown.
Thanks in advance.

[Northwoods Voyager]

You might try different sites such as this one:


FOREST PARK: Dogtown and its relation to Forest Park, St. Louis, Mo. Missouri Caroline Loughlin and Catherine Anderson

[TGS]

Dogtown still has plenty of Irish families. The location can't be beat for proximity to downtown and Clayton. There is a small business district centered around the intersection of Clayton and Tamm with a coffee shop, restaurants, etc. The traditional Irish parish of St. James is still going strong, and it has a school. Most of the houses are small, but there are some teardown/new construction areas.

The area still has a working class/blue collar feel to it. There are lots of young professionals moving in, but Dogtown hasn't really turned the corner into a yuppie area. It is more of a relaxed area where people don't care if you are a millionaire or a janitor, so long as you bring beer to the backyard BBQs, keep your lawn mowed, and don't take up all of the parking spaces in front of your neighbor's house.

[aragx6]

Great desrip of Dogtown!

[Jimmy Burma]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I do appreciate it. I'll definitely keep Dogtown
in mind if I do decide to move to St. Louis. I've got awhile to figure that out
though and am also thinking about New England (Boston or maybe Portland, Maine).
I love the Midwest but also spent alot of time on the coast and miss the ocean. In any
case Dogtown sounds pretty good and I might try to make it to the St. Paddy's
Parade over there this year. Thanks again.

[anduarto]

I grew up in Dogtown and went to St. James. The pastor for a long time was a certain Fr. Flynn and, I think primarily because of him, we had St. Patrick's day off every year. The big bar then was called O'Shea's Tavern (where part of Seamus McDaniels is now). It was pretty much the place to go on St. Patrick's day and I seem to remember my mother forbidding us to go up there. (Maybe I'm making that part up, not sure).

Of course we went up there anyway and watched all the business men slowly get drunk throughout the course the day. The local notables would come, Mayor Cervantes, the Bishop, but while it was a big deal it wasn't quiet the Irish fete you see today. They didn't have the parade when I was a kid. I don't think that started until sometime in the 80's.

While the Irish presence was always definite, I think it's become a little overblown - one of those legends we make up after the fact. The neighborhood was almost evenly divided between germans, irish and italians. Many of the italians, in fact, were first and second generation so they actually made a bigger imprint on my imagination than the irish. (I'm half irish, half german so maybe they just seemed more exotic).

Lots of other nationalities were represented too, of course. There was even a small enclave of spanish speaking people for awhile. And while it was clearly a working class neighborhood, don't let the cliches fool you. Education was always highly prized. And being so near the city's central corridor added a layer of sophistication you didn't always find in other parts of So. St. Louis.

Dogtown's fortunes only seem to be rising. A great place to live. I'd highly recommend it.