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LoginStreet name in the St. Louis area
Moderators: Maria Garcia Alvarez, Moderators
Street name in the St. Louis area
My grandparents' Ellis Island immigration record indicates that they intended to stay with my grandmother's father in the St. Louis area. It gives a street address of 7000 Valsoway. The initial "V" is partially written over and hard to make out. It could even be a different letter. Does anyone know of such a street in or nerar St. Louis, East St. Louis, Fairmont, Collinsville or any other nearby communities?
As you know, many names and other words were butchered by immigration officials due to the language barriers. The closest street names I can think of are Vandeventer in St. Louis and Vandalia in Collinsville. Just for further info, here is some general info about the Spanish neighborhoods in the St. Louis bi-state area (Missouri and Illinois).
St. Louis: Most Spaniards lived in the south side of St. Louis in the Carondelet neighborhood clustered on Michigan St. Other streets in the area were Louisiana, Mississippi, Gravois, Grand, Jefferson, Broadway. THe Spanish Society is still located in this neighborhood (and still active). My dad lived there as a young child in the 20's and still has vivid memories. He and his father both played soccer in the leagues in Carondelet Park. The Catholic Parish was St. Boniface and the public grade school in the 20's and 30's was called Blow School. The main cemetery used by the SPaniards was Sts. Peter and Paul and they have a website: www.stlcathcem.com.
East St. Louis, IL (Just across the Mississippi River): The neighborhood was called Lansdowne and the SPaniards were centered around the intersection of 40th St. and Waverly Ave. Their parish was Holy Angels which is now closed but the Belleville, Il diocese maintains its records. The public schools were Hawthorne grade school, Lansdowne Jr. HIgh and East St. Louis Senior HIgh (East Side). Many are buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in nearby Belleville, IL and some in St. John's cemetery in Collinsville. My father also lived in this neighborhood as a child (and I grew up nearby). His father owned a pool hall on Waverly and after his father's death, his mother ran a boarding house there. When she remarried another Spaniard they moved to Fairmont City. This neighborhood is now predominately African-American.
Fairmont CIty, IL: Now this is where it can be confusing for those of you looking up old records. Fairmont is home to American Zinc where many of our relatives worked. It is literally withing walking distance of East St. Louis and because it has no post office, mail was often addressed to East St. Louis. Fairmont is also part of the East St. Louis school district. Also Fairmont had many streets that shared the same numbers
as East St. Louis, so it is easy to get them confused. The main streets are Cookson, Maple, COllinsville Road and 31st St through 62nd Street. It is still a vibrant community of immigrants. From early in the 1900's it attracted many Asturianus, Mexicans and Poles as well as a few Serbs, Croations and Yugoslavians. They all lived in harmony together and many intermarried. In fact, my husband and I both have father's of Asturian descent but his mom is Mexican and my Mom was Polish. Our son is a true product of Fairmont! My Father just recently moved from there after 70 years of living there (downsizing to a condo). Of course, the zinc plant closed in the 60's and the town is definitely lower middle class, but still a wonderful community. Many new Mexican immigrants. The parish is Holy Rosary and is going strong. Fr. Dave Wilke speaks fluent Spanish and is very kind. Even though my husband and I moved to COllinsville 7 years ago, we still belong to Holy Rosary Parish. We own 2 of the oldest businesses in Fairmont, a tavern (of course) and a trucking company founded by the Garcia family in 1921. WE bought it in 1992. I am in possession of a census list of Fairmont City from 1930 if anybody is interested.
Many Spaniards moved up and out of these neighborhoods and are scattered all over the area in Belleville, Il, Collinsville, Il, St. Louis suburbs, etc. I will be happy to help anyone looking for ancestors in any of these places. Mt. Carmel Cemetery has rows and rows and rows of graves with SPanish names and I know the people who run it. If anyone would like to explore their family ties in the St. Louis area, please feel free to call me for assistance.
St. Louis: Most Spaniards lived in the south side of St. Louis in the Carondelet neighborhood clustered on Michigan St. Other streets in the area were Louisiana, Mississippi, Gravois, Grand, Jefferson, Broadway. THe Spanish Society is still located in this neighborhood (and still active). My dad lived there as a young child in the 20's and still has vivid memories. He and his father both played soccer in the leagues in Carondelet Park. The Catholic Parish was St. Boniface and the public grade school in the 20's and 30's was called Blow School. The main cemetery used by the SPaniards was Sts. Peter and Paul and they have a website: www.stlcathcem.com.
East St. Louis, IL (Just across the Mississippi River): The neighborhood was called Lansdowne and the SPaniards were centered around the intersection of 40th St. and Waverly Ave. Their parish was Holy Angels which is now closed but the Belleville, Il diocese maintains its records. The public schools were Hawthorne grade school, Lansdowne Jr. HIgh and East St. Louis Senior HIgh (East Side). Many are buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in nearby Belleville, IL and some in St. John's cemetery in Collinsville. My father also lived in this neighborhood as a child (and I grew up nearby). His father owned a pool hall on Waverly and after his father's death, his mother ran a boarding house there. When she remarried another Spaniard they moved to Fairmont City. This neighborhood is now predominately African-American.
Fairmont CIty, IL: Now this is where it can be confusing for those of you looking up old records. Fairmont is home to American Zinc where many of our relatives worked. It is literally withing walking distance of East St. Louis and because it has no post office, mail was often addressed to East St. Louis. Fairmont is also part of the East St. Louis school district. Also Fairmont had many streets that shared the same numbers
as East St. Louis, so it is easy to get them confused. The main streets are Cookson, Maple, COllinsville Road and 31st St through 62nd Street. It is still a vibrant community of immigrants. From early in the 1900's it attracted many Asturianus, Mexicans and Poles as well as a few Serbs, Croations and Yugoslavians. They all lived in harmony together and many intermarried. In fact, my husband and I both have father's of Asturian descent but his mom is Mexican and my Mom was Polish. Our son is a true product of Fairmont! My Father just recently moved from there after 70 years of living there (downsizing to a condo). Of course, the zinc plant closed in the 60's and the town is definitely lower middle class, but still a wonderful community. Many new Mexican immigrants. The parish is Holy Rosary and is going strong. Fr. Dave Wilke speaks fluent Spanish and is very kind. Even though my husband and I moved to COllinsville 7 years ago, we still belong to Holy Rosary Parish. We own 2 of the oldest businesses in Fairmont, a tavern (of course) and a trucking company founded by the Garcia family in 1921. WE bought it in 1992. I am in possession of a census list of Fairmont City from 1930 if anybody is interested.
Many Spaniards moved up and out of these neighborhoods and are scattered all over the area in Belleville, Il, Collinsville, Il, St. Louis suburbs, etc. I will be happy to help anyone looking for ancestors in any of these places. Mt. Carmel Cemetery has rows and rows and rows of graves with SPanish names and I know the people who run it. If anyone would like to explore their family ties in the St. Louis area, please feel free to call me for assistance.
Marleen Menendez Suarez